At least 32 people died in fresh violence between Sunnis and Shiites in the northwest Pakistana member of the local authorities told AFP today, two days after anti-Shia attacks killed 43 people.

Since the summer, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites in Khurram, an area of ​​the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwaon the border with Afghanistanhave left an estimated 150 people dead as violence flares again despite decisions by jirgas, tribal councils, to restore peace and order.

On Thursday, about ten attackers opened fire on two convoys carrying Shiite families and a police escort in the mountainous region. At least 43 people were killed and “11 of those injured” remain in a “critical” condition, authorities said.

Yesterday evening, Friday, after a day of charged funerals in Khurram and Shiite marches, which denounced a “bloodbath”, “the situation worsened”, a senior police official told AFP.

“In the evening, angry Shiites attacked the Bagan market, which is mainly run by Sunnis,” he said.

For three hours, “the attackers who were armed with light and automatic weapons and shells opened fire. Sunnis retaliated,” he continued.

Today “violent incidents between the Shia and Sunni communities continued in many places. The latest reports indicate 32 dead: 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites,” a member of the local authorities, who asked not to be named, told AFP at the same time.

THE Javed Ullah Mehsudanother member of the local authorities, told AFP that “hundreds of shops and houses were set on fire” in the Bagan market sector.

“Efforts are being made to restore peace. Security forces have been deployed and a jirga is being convened,” he added.