Sectarian violence broke out on November 21 in the volatile Kurram district of northwest Pakistan, near the Durand Line. The violence lasted for three days and resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people. The conflict involved the two major Muslim sects: Shia and Sunni. The initial attack was carried out by armed gunmen believed to be Sunni extremists, who opened fire on a convoy of Shia individuals. This was followed by retaliatory strikes from Shia militants, reportedly members of the Iran-backed Zainebiyoun Brigade, targeting the Sunni community in Bagan Village.
There were also some horrifying visuals making rounds on social media, such as vans carrying dead bodies on the road, the burning of the Bagan bazaar, and the severed head of an elderly man, reportedly a prayer leader of the local mosque, put on public display. Additionally, there were accounts of Sunni women being abducted by Shia militants.
Syed Amir Hussain, a 28-year-old local shopkeeper who was part of the attacked convoy and lost his brother in the attack, recounted his experience to The Diplomat: “I heard firing from all sides. I crouched down to shield myself from the bullets. When the firing ended, I looked around and saw only one other man alive in the van. Everyone else was dead, including my own brother, whose body lay covered in blood.
“This senseless killing has taken countless lives, and there is no end in sight to it,” concluded Hussain, his voice trembling with grief.
Following the violence, a seven-day ceasefire was agreed upon by the conflicting parties, which was expected to put an end to the hostilities. However, clashes persisted despite the ceasefire, leading to a death toll of 130. Additionally, shops, schools, and roads, including the main road connecting Parachinar to Tal, remained closed.
While schools and shops have now been reopened, this crucial road is still closed. Prior to the incident on November 21, the road had been closed for more than 30 days. As the only route connecting the region to the rest of the country, it is frequently closed following any violent incident.
After the failed week-long ceasefire last week, another ceasefire has recently been announced between the conflicting sides. However, considering the historical context of the issue, it is unlikely that this ceasefire will last long.
Kurram district, especially its central town, Parachinar, has a long history of recurring sectarian violence. Over the years, this conflict has involved heavy weaponry and rocket attacks, resulting in thousands of deaths and displacing many families. Both Shia and Sunni militant groups have actively participated in the violence.
In one of the most violent episodes of sectarian violence in Kurram – starting in the area in 2007 and lasting till 2011 – around 2,000 people were killed, the majority Shia people. It is believed that the surge in violence took place was when the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attempted to take over the district.
Kurram is the only district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in which the Shia community is in the majority, although it is surrounded by areas with a Sunni majority. The district is divided into three parts: Upper Kurram, Lower Kurram, and Central Kurram. Upper Kurram is home to over 80 percent Shia Muslims and is strategically important because of its location. Lower Kurram has a diverse population, comprising both Shia and Sunni communities. Central Kurram is the largest region with a significant Sunni population but is largely underdeveloped. Upper and Lower Kurram consist of 164 villages, while in Central Kurram there are over 100 villages.
Among the Pashtuns, Turi is the only tribe that is entirely Shia. It is also the largest Shia tribe in the Kurram district, followed by a Shia segment of the Bangash tribe in a Sunni neighborhood.
Kurram was merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in 2018. Before its merger with the province, Kurram was governed directly by the central government as a Federally Administered Tribal Area.
Map showing the location of Kurram District within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Image via Wikimedia Commons/RightQuark.
Roots of the Conflict
The conflict in the Kurram district has its roots in the period before the Partition of India in 1947. Sectarian tensions first began to emerge in 1938 when clashes broke out in Lucknow. During this time, some tribesmen from Kurram attempted to travel to Lucknow to support their respective sects. However, their journey was obstructed by members of rival sects, which laid the groundwork for ongoing sectarian conflict in the region.
After Partition, the first sectarian conflict took place in 1961 in Sadda, a Sunni-majority area in Lower Kurram, during a Muharram procession. Clashes erupted again in 1971. The situation was further complicated by Iran’s proxy wars and the dictatorship of Gen. Zia ul Haq in Pakistan, leading to recurring sectarian conflicts in Kurram in 1987, 1996, and 2007, with tensions persisting up to the present day.
These violent episodes in Kurram have claimed the lives of thousands of individuals from both the Shia and Sunni communities. Recently, in response to escalating violence in Kurram, Riaz Ali Turi, a local activist from the Shia community, posted on the social media network X:
For decades, the people of Parachinar have endured unimaginable persecution. Their blood has been spilled across every corner, as they have been brutally targeted in bombings, shootings, and suicide attacks. Not a single home has been spared; families have been torn apart by this barbaric violence. Their graveyards are filled with red flags – symbols of the grief experienced by widows – while thousands of children are left orphaned. Innocent women, men, and even infants have been shot in cold blood, their lives taken without mercy.
His tweet embodies the prevailing local sentiment in Kurram’s Shia community, which harbors deep fears of annihilation by the Sunni-dominated areas in Kurram itself and the neighboring districts.
Conversely, the Sunni population perceives Shia militants as actively seeking to suppress and dominate their local Sunni counterparts.
Zubair Shah, a 30-year-old Sunni resident of Kurram, told The Diplomat, “While it is usually said that the Sunnis kill the Shias and carry out their genocide, the reality is that Sunnis in the district feel overwhelmed by the Shias, especially the armed ones.”
The long-standing sectarian animosities and resulting mistrust perpetuate violence throughout the region.
Land Disputes at the Heart of the Conflict
In addition to the sectarian basis of the Kurram conflict, a major cause of inter-tribal violence in the region are disputes over land. There are multiple land disputes in Kurram involving different tribes. The first attempt to settle lands was made by the British in 1901, followed by another effort in 1944-43.
After the Partition, there was no effort made to resolve the land disputes between the different tribes until 2021, when the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government established a land commission to address the remaining unsettled lands and resolve the disputes. Complicating these land disputes further is the complex nature of land ownership, which involves individuals from various tribes.
Notable land disputes exist in specific areas such as Balishkhel, Boshera, and Taida, or between rival villages, such as Pewar and Gido, and Ghoz Garhi and Kunj Alizai.
“There are numerous land disputes that frequently result in sectarian violence between different tribes over an extended period,” said Sufaid Mangal, a 40-year-old resident of Kurram. “Both the provincial and central governments have not made a genuine effort to resolve these disputes permanently, which is why we continue to be in a perpetual state of war.”
The disputes are a day-to-day thing in Kurram now, ruining people’s lives.
“Every other week, we have a dispute over land that leads to fighting, which engulfs the entire district. During these times, we cannot do anything because everything shuts down, and at times, we are close to starving,” Mangal added.
Boshera, situated in Upper Kurram, has become the central focus of a heated land dispute that has escalated since 2023.
Zai Ur Rehman, a journalist and researcher covering sectarian violence in Pakistan, said that the decades-old disputes over land had “led to repeated clashes, armed confrontations, and significant loss of life. Although multiple attempts have been made to resolve the matter through tribal jirgas, the conflict persists.”
In July of this year, a conflict erupted in Kurram over a land dispute that continued for a week and took 49 lives. Intermittent clashes continued between the rival tribes even after a ceasefire. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 79 people were killed in the region in sectarian clashes between July and October.
Regional Proxies Exacerbating the Conflict
The Kurram conflict is worsened by the array of militant groups operating in the district and the surrounding areas. Whenever sectarian violence breaks out in Kurram, both Sunni and Shia militant groups often converge to join the conflict. The Iran-backed Zainebiyoun Brigade, also referred to as Liwa Zainebiyoun, aligns with the Shia side, while the TTP and other Sunni factions support the Sunni side. The Zainebiyoun Brigade acts as a proxy for Iran, whereas the TTP is increasingly viewed as a proxy for the Afghan Taliban. Moreover, since the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021, there has been a troubling change in the dynamics of the conflict in Kurram.
“The scale and intensity of conflict over land disputes in Kurram has escalated, driven by an influx of advanced American weapons left behind by retreating Afghan forces,” said Rehman.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba militants also join the fray on such occasions. These anti-Shia militant groups are notorious for their past attacks on Shia people in Pakistan.
Rahmatullah Ullah Bangash, a 34-year-old local farmer, told The Diplomat, “In times of conflict, various militant groups can be seen battling each other in the region. It’s challenging to determine who belongs to which faction and who is allied with whom.”
Iran recruited Shia fighters from the Kurram region in the past for its proxy wars in Syria and Iraq.
While Pakistan has banned the Zianebiyoun Brigade, Tehran still exerts a great deal of influence in the Kurram area. “Militants bearing yellow flags of Zainebiyoun can be seen in the area during the fighting,” said Bangash.