Pakistan tribes reach truce after clashes leave 37 dead

Shiite and Sunni tribes in northwestern Pakistan reached a truce Friday after a week of fighting that left 37 people dead and more than 150 injured, officials said.

"The conflict ... has been brought to a ceasefire with the help of the administration, police, and local elders," said Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The province's Kurram district, formerly a semi-autonomous area, has a history of bloody confrontations between tribes belonging to the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years.

July clashes over land involving the same tribes ended only after a jirga (tribal council) called a ceasefire, with officials attempting to broker a new truce.

Fighting involving heavy weaponry had erupted in 10 areas of the district despite efforts by security forces and locals to reach an agreement, an official posted in Kurram told AFP before the deal was struck, requesting anonymity.

"What began as a land dispute has escalated into a full-fledged sectarian clash involving the use of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, as well as mortar shells," he said.

He added that 37 people had been killed and another 153 wounded. Another security official, stationed in the provincial capital Peshawar, added that "28 houses have been damaged".

Tribal and family feuds are common in Pakistan.

However, they can be particularly protracted and violent in the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where communities abide by traditional tribal honor codes.

In Pakistan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, the Shiite community has long suffered discrimination and violence.