Nine killed in suspected sectarian violence in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — At least nine people were killed and 30 wounded in suspected sectarian violence in an area of northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, security officials said.
Four people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a supply convoy bringing food for Parachinar town, troubled by rivalry between Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities, they said.
The victims included one truck driver, two helpers and one security guard, a security official said.
The attackers who ambushed the convoy in the tribal Kurram region used heavy weapons including rocket launchers and Kalashnikov assault rifles, he said.
Army helicopters reached the area and started shelling, killing five suspected attackers.
"A total of nine people were killed and 30 injured in the two incidents," the official said, requesting anonymity.
The village in which the food convoy was attacked is dominated by Sunni Muslims, he said, adding that "it appears to be linked to the sectarian tensions" simmering for the past several months.
Parachinar, which has a population of about 70,000 people, was rocked by bloody sectarian clashes in April in which some 50 people were killed.
Tribesmen who arranged a ceasefire at the time blamed elements from neighbouring Afghanistan for triggering the violence.
Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan's Sunni-dominated population, but are in the majority in Parachinar.
Sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shiites has claimed more than 4,000 lives since the late 1980s.
