A shootout between rival tribes appears to have sparked clashes, with women and children among the victims.
At least 11 people have been killed and eight injured, including women and children, in tribal clashes in northwestern Pakistan, according to a local official.
Tensions rose in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Saturday after two people were seriously injured in a shootout between rival tribes. It was not immediately clear what caused the shooting.
The vehicles were attacked in different areas of the district, resulting in more casualties, said senior official Javedullah Khan.
Khan said efforts were being made to secure travel routes and restore normalcy. The injured were taken to a hospital.
Pir Haider Ali Shah, a former parliamentarian and member of a tribal council, said the elders had come to Kurram to mediate a peace deal between the tribes.
“The recent shooting incidents are regrettable and have hampered efforts to achieve lasting peace,” he said.
Last month, at least 25 people were killed in days of clashes between Shiite Muslims and armed Sunni Muslims over a land dispute.
Although the two coexist largely peacefully in the country, tensions have existed between them for decades in some areas, especially in Kurram, where Shia Muslims dominate in some parts of the district.
Balochistan Liberation Army
Meanwhile, a separatist group in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 21 people.
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) said its fighters attacked a coal mine in Dukki district with heavy weapons, rocket launchers and grenades on Thursday night.
It gave higher casualty figures: 30 dead and 18 injured. He also said that Pakistani security personnel were disguised as workers, without providing evidence.
He threatened more attacks unless the military withdrew from the province.
Balochistan is a hotbed of armed movements, among which the BLA stands out.
They accuse the central government in Islamabad of exploiting the province's rich oil and mineral resources to the detriment of the local population of the country's largest and least populated province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
On Monday, the BLA – designated a “terrorist group” by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States – claimed responsibility for an attack targeting Chinese nationals near Pakistan's largest airport.
China's embassy in Pakistan said at least two of its citizens were killed and a third injured after their convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device believed to have been detonated by a suicide bomber.
Local media reports suggest that at least 10 people were injured in total, four cars destroyed by the explosion and 10 more vehicles damaged in the resulting fire.
