Tribal clashes kill 49, wounds 210 in N. Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, At least 49 people were killed and around 210 people received injuries during a weeklong clash between two tribes in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province bordering Afghanistan, said officials on Tuesday. In a statement, the medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital, Dr Mir Hassan Jan said that the killing of 14 more people on Monday took the death toll to 49, adding that 210 people were left injured, with at least 12 critically wounded. Deputy Commissioner Javedullah Mahsud confirmed that the tribal clash ongoing for the past seven days in different areas of KPK has come to a halt. The armed clashes took place between Boshehra and Maleekhel tribesmen, which used heavy weapons to target each other's positions. The security forces had been deployed at fighting positions, adding that they would remain stationed there until the situation returned to normalcy, noting that all businesses and schools are closed due to clashes. Chief Minister of the KPK province, Al i Amin Gandapur took notice of the "clashes between parties and the loss of precious lives over a property dispute." "The district administration and the police should play an effective role in the ceasefire between the parties, and no one shall be allowed to take the law into their hands and ruin the area's peace," said Gandapur. He offered sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured. Source: Kuwait News Agency