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Islamabad warns tribal areas

Karachi: Authorities in Pakistan warned of military action in strife-torn tribal areas near the Afghanistan border after bloody sectarian clashes left around 40 persons dead.

Army troops have already moved into Parachinar town in the Khurrum tribal agency and helicopter gunships hovered over the area which has witnessed frequent sectarian violence since last year, local officials said.

``We are talking to tribal elders of the area to quell this vilolence and restore normalcy. But if the situatoin does not improve then we will have to take military action,'' said an official.

The authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew in the town for the last three days after clashes erupted between Shia and Sunni sects over a disputed shrine. Last year, 20 persons had died in violence over the same issue.

The official said they had counted 15 persons dead in three days of violence but local residents said the death toll was close to 40 with around 100 injured as the fighting had spread to nearby villages.

Security officials said the trouble had started this time after some Shia Muslims came out of their mosque and raised slogans against the Sunnis who retaliated. Soon gunshots were exchanged and it escalated into a full blown sectarian feud. — PTI

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