The conflicts Sunnis and Shia Muslims in the northwest Pakistan claimed the lives of 13 more people in the past two days, a local official said Saturday, bringing to 124 the death toll of the last 10 days of violent incidents.

“There is an extreme lack of trust between the two sides and neither tribe wants to comply with government orders to end hostilities,” a government official in the region told AFP on condition of anonymity. Kuram.

He spoke of two dead on the Sunni side and another eleven on the Shiite side.

More than 50 people were injured, the official added, while clashes were still ongoing yesterday morning.

Pakistan is a country where the population is largely Sunni. But in the district of Kuram, in the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwawhich neighbors Afghanistan, has a large Sunni community.

The cycle of attacks and reprisals, with light and heavy weapons, began about ten days ago, when gunmen opened fire on two convoys of Shiite families with a police escort.

Over 40 people, including children, were killed.

In retaliation, armed Shiites launched raids against Sunni villages, setting fire to hundreds of shops and homes. Sunnis responded by opening fire.

The tribes have been settling their disputes with guns for decades.

A seven-day truce, announced by the local government last Sunday, did not last. Clashes resumed on Monday. A new ten-day truce, announced as agreed on Wednesday, also proved empty.

“The police say that many people want to leave the area because of the violent incidents but the worsening security situation is making it impossible,” the official explained in Khurram.

Confirming the tally of 124 dead, a security officer at Peshawarthe regional capital, noted with displeasure that “none of the measures promoted by the provincial government were fully implemented to restore peace”.

“There are fears that we will have more victims,” ​​he added, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Police have generally struggled to control violence in Khurram, part of Pakistan’s once-semi-autonomous tribal areas, until Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ceased to have special status in 2018.

According to him Human Rights Commission of Pakistanat least 79 people were killed due to inter-communal clashes in the region between July and October.

The conflict, fueled by religious differences, is often fueled by land disputes in Pakistan’s mountainous province.