PESHAWAR, Nov 23: Around 300 families fled sectarian violence on Saturday in northwest Pakistan as fresh sectarian clashes killed another 32 people.
Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.
"Approximately 300 families have relocated to Hangu and Peshawar since this morning in search of safety," a senior official told AFP, adding that more families were preparing to leave the province's Kurram district.
Another senior administrative official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations", with 32 people killed in clashes on Saturday, including 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites.
The fresh violence came two days after gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with police escort in Kurram, killing 43 people and with 11 wounded still in critical condition, according to officials.
Shiite Muslims also attacked several Sunni locations on Friday evening in Kurram, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in hundreds of deaths over the years. —AFP
