パキスタンで宗派間抗争、８２人死亡　７日間「停戦」へ

【ペシャワール（パキスタン）ＡＦＰ＝時事】パキスタン北西部カイバル・パクトゥンクワ州のクラム地区で数日にわたって続いている宗派間の銃撃戦で、これまでに計８２人が死亡、１５６人が負傷した。パキスタン当局は２４日、７日間の「停戦」を宣言した。（写真は、パキスタン北西部カイバル・パクトゥンクワ州のイスラム教シーア派のモスクで、宗派間襲撃犠牲となった人々の遺体のそばに立つ弔問者）
　パキスタンではイスラム教スンニ派が多数派を占めるが、アフガニスタン国境に近いクラム地区はシーア派人口が多く、両派は数十年にわたって抗争を繰り返してきた。
　カイバル・パクトゥンクワ州の報道官は「双方は７日間の停戦に合意した。その間に捕虜交換および遺体の返還も行う」と述べた。
　今回の衝突は２１日、警察の護衛下で移動していたシーア派の二つの車列が襲撃され、少なくとも４３人が死亡したことが発端となった。
　当局者によると２１～２３日の衝突と車列襲撃で８２人が死亡、１５６人が負傷した。宗派別の死者数は、スンニ派が１６人、シーア派が６６人となっている。２３日には約３００世帯が避難した。
　州政府代表団は同日、シーア派側と、２４日にはスンニ派側と会談し、「停戦」合意が成立した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/11/25-17:01）

Pakistani officials announced a seven-day truce Sunday after days of bitter sectarian gunfights in the country's northwest Kurram district that have killed at least 82 people and wounded 156 more.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram -- in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan -- has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
Both sides have agreed to a seven-day ceasefire, during which they will also exchange prisoners and return bodies to one another, said Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government.
A second local official told AFP that efforts were being made to return up to 20 people who were missing on both sides.
The latest violence began on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling under police escort were ambushed, killing at least 43 and sparking two days of gun battles.
The clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22, and 23 have resulted in 82 fatalities and 156 injuries, said a local administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Among the deceased 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community, he told AFP.
Around 300 families fled on Saturday as gunfights with both light and heavy weapons continued into the night. No fresh casualties were reported on Sunday morning, however.
The mobile network across Kurram remains suspended and traffic on the main highway is halted, said the local administration official.
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The ceasefire deal came after a delegation from the provincial government held talks with the Shiite community on Saturday and met the Sunni community on Sunday.
A security official in the provincial capital of Peshawar told AFP the negotiators' helicopter had come under fire as it arrived in the region, although no one was harmed.
Once a truce was agreed, we can begin addressing the underlying issues, provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said earlier Sunday.
Last month at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a sectarian clash in Kurram.
Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council, called a ceasefire.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people were killed between July and October in sectarian clashes.
Several hundred people demonstrated against the violence on Friday in Pakistan's two largest cities, Karachi and Lahore.