21 killed, 120 wounded in Pakistan clashes
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims this week in remote northwestern Pakistan have left at least 21 dead and 120 wounded, a doctor said Thursday.
Authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew in the Kurram tribal area after the violence broke out four days ago, Dr. Nasir Ali said at a state hospital in the main town of Parachinar.
He said doctors were performing surgery until 3 a.m. Thursday. Many of the victims had gunshot wounds, and the curfew was likely preventing others from reaching hospitals, Ali said.
Kurram, a semi-autonomous region near Afghanistan, is prone to sectarian violence. In April, fighting sparked by an attack on a Shiite mosque left about 50 people dead. Then in November, three days of clashes left 91 dead before the warring sides declared a cease-fire.
It was not immediately clear why the cease-fire broke down this week.
Parachinar resident Saqhi Shah said fighting was reported in the town of Sadda and the villages of Alizai, Baghzai and Tangi. He said that relatives he had contacted in these places reported at least 53 dead.
Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the reports.
Violence between Shiites and Sunnis — a majority in Pakistan — is a perennial problem in this Muslim nation.
While most members of Shiite and Sunni sects live peacefully with each other, extremists on both sides often target each other's leaders and activists. The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
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