Rival sectarian groups agree to seven-day ceasefire in Pakistan

Local Sunni and Shia armed groups have clashed for decades, but the most recent fighting has killed more than 30 people.

Pakistani officials have announced a seven-day truce between rival sectarian groups after days of clashes killed dozens of people in the northwest of the country.

The violence between the groups began on Thursday after gunmen attacked civilian convoys, killing at least 40 people, who mainly were Shia Muslims. In retaliation, residents in the area of Kurram targeted Sunni Muslims.

Local Shia and Sunni Muslims have engaged in sectarian rivalry for decades over a land dispute in the Kurram district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.

Following the violence, Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government and a member of the mediation team, said on Sunday that both sides had agreed to a seven-day ceasefire.

“They will also exchange prisoners and return bodies to one another,” Saif said.