The killing of at least nine people during a clash between two tribal groups, over a property dispute, in the Lower Kurram area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is an indication that gun culture has destroyed Pakistan's society.
As weapons are easily available in most areas of Pakistan, members of different clans killing each other on petty issues. As reported in Pakistan media, the groups clashed with each other in the Mahora area, merged earlier with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, over a property dispute. The members of the two groups, opened indiscriminate fire at each other resulting in several casualties.
The bodies and the injured were shifted to the district hospital in Parachinar. According to hospital sources, the condition of some of the injured was critical.
Quoting the police, Pakistani media reported that two clans had a dispute related to property ongoing for some time. The area was said to be still tense following the armed clash.
Dawn reported that residents of Sherjan Kallay and Sago Kallay had a dispute over the ownership of 'Shamilat' or joint community land in the lower subdivision of Kurram district.
"Rival groups came across each other in the morning and exchanged hot words, which resulted in an armed clash. Residents of both the villages resorted to heavy firing and six people died on the spot while 13 others sustained bullet injuries", the newspaper reported.
A community leader Agha Muzamil Hussain said disputes among the tribes over ownership of 'Shamilat' land had become a routine that caused a law and order situation in the area.
Bloody clashes among tribes a routine affair in Pakistan
Due to the easy availability of sophisticated weapons, bloody clashes among different communities on petty issues have become a routine affair in different areas of Pakistan. On May 17, a tribal clash over livestock claimed the lives of 10 persons of a family in Kashmore-Kandhkot district of Sindh.
As per the report in the Express Tribune newspaper of Pakistan the assailants, belonging to the Jagirani and Sabozai tribes attacked Zaman Chachar village on the riverbed area in the limits of Durrani Mehar Police Station and killed ten men.
The Chachar community complained that the police arrived at the crime scene belatedly, allowing the attackers to easily escape after killing the family members in broad daylight. Following the killings, the two sides continued to exchange fire for some hours, setting up pickets in their respective areas.
The incident happened near a site, where a bridge is being constructed on the Indus River to connect Ghotki district with Kandhkot.
On April 10, a violent clash between the clans of Jalbani and Katohar in Jacobabad killed eight people in Jacobabad district when armed men from the Jalbani clan opened fire in the village of Panhi-Bhatti.
The shooting claimed the lives of six individuals including two children and a woman while injuring three others.
The attack was said to be linked with a long-standing feud between the two clans. In retaliation, members of the Katohar clan also attacked in Qambar Shahdad Kot district, which claimed two more lives.
