At least 43 are the dead – among them seven women and three children – in the latest episode of violence between Shiites and Sunnis in the northwest Pakistanwhich is torn apart by religious violence. In fact, for months now, both Shia and Sunni families have not gone to areas where members of the other branch of Islam live without a police escort.

Yesterday there were two attacks on convoys of vehicles carrying Shia families in Khurram, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan

Another “sixteen people were injured,” of which “eleven are in a critical condition,” noted Javed Ullah Mesoud, the city’s municipal official.

The two convoys of Shia families took place sieve from the spheres “about ten attackers”, according to another local government official.

This morning, many bodies were lined up at a Shia mosque in Parachinar to offer prayers.

State of Emergency in Kuram

As the majority of the victims were Shiites, in Parachinar, a Shiite stronghold in Kurram, “residents staged a sit-in at night in the central market,” which “is continuing,” another local government official said.

In response, “the mobile phone network was cut” and a “traffic ban was imposed on the main road”, where traffic was “suspended”, he added.

According to Mr. Masud, a jirga – a council of tribal chiefs – was convened “to restore peace and order”.

In this mountainous province, tribal customary law is generally considered to be superior to state laws, and when authorities find it difficult to enforce, such councils are convened to calm things down.

But at least three times since the summer, clashes between members of different clans and/or religious persuasions have recurred in Khurram despite agreements made at such councils, with light and heavy weapons, including assault rifles.Yesterday

Between July and October, 79 people were killed in clashes between Shiite and Sunni tribes, often fueled by disputes over land ownership, according to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, the country’s main rights watchdog.

For the organization, how often such bloody incidents break out proves that local and federal governments are unable to guarantee the “safety of ordinary citizens.”

Earlier this week, attacks in the country’s mountainous northwest killed at least 20 soldiers and seven police officers were kidnapped and held for a day.