Thirty-five people have been killed in days of clashes between tribes, some of whom use automatic rifles and even mortars, in northwestern Pakistan, local officials said Sunday.

Clashes between the Sunni Madagi and Shiite Mali Hel tribes have erupted since last Wednesday, when a man opened fire in the middle of a meeting that was supposed to resolve a decades-old land ownership dispute, a police spokesman said. , Murtaza Hussain.

Although there were no injuries in the incident, the attack escalated old tensions between the two tribes, who lived together in the Khurram region near the border with Afghanistan, he said.

“The dispute over land ownership devolved into sectarian violence,” Mr. Hussain told AFP, noting that the death toll had reached 35 by yesterday.

The government and local leaders are making efforts to end this conflict in coordination with the jirgas (including the councils of tribal chiefs), but they have not succeeded so far, he added.

Conflicts between clans, or families, are common in Pakistan.

Especially in the mountainous region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where tribal codes of honor are held in high esteem and security forces struggle to enforce order, they can both perpetuate themselves and take a bloody turn.

A senior official in Khurram, who asked not to be named, confirmed that 35 people had been killed, adding that 151 others had been injured.

“The conflict, which is in its fifth day, has now degenerated into clashes between Shiites and Sunnis,” he added.

Pakistan, a Muslim country, has a majority Sunni population and many Shiites complain of systematic discrimination and violence.

The official noted that 30 of the dead are Shiites.

But an AFP police source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said both tribes were using automatic rifles and howitzers, and that the fighting was centered on the community of Parachinar, which has been cordoned off by authorities as the firefight rages.