By DPA
Islamabad : At least 96 people have died in three days of sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, including troops sent to separate feuding Sunni and Shia tribesmen, the military said Sunday.
About 85 civilians were killed in exchange of fire with heavy weapons that erupted Friday in the Kurram Agency area bordering Afghanistan, along with 11 members of the security forces, army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
Another 32 troops were wounded after taking fire from both the warring factions around the district’s main town of Parachinar, where about 60 people died in violence in April.
“The army and the Frontier Corps have not gone up to fight anybody but just to implement curfew and to separate people,” the spokesman added.
Running battles broke out between the factions after gunmen opened fire on a Sunni mosque after Friday prayer, injuring two people. Groups took position on hilltops around the town and were trading fire with rocket launchers and mortars.
Shias account for 20 percent of Pakistan’s Sunni-dominated population of 160 million but are in a majority in Parachinar.
Meanwhile, helicopter gunship and artillery continued to pound militant positions in the Swat valley, which is also located in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Arshad said.
Known as a centre of tourism, the scenic valley has since late October been terrorised by militants advancing east from the direction of Afghanistan in support of local pro-Taliban radical cleric.
Maulana Fazlullah is calling for the imposition of Shariat law in Swat and a holy war against security forces.
The Pakistani army has amassed around 15,000 troops in the valley before an imminent operation to rout more than 400 militants thought to be present there.
Fuelled by the conflict in Afghanistan, insurgent operations this year spread deeper into Pakistan from the mountainous border region.