Fourteen Die As Pakistan Tribes Clash Over Water

WATER WORLD

File photo: Tribal guards stand alert in the mountains of Pakistan. Photo courtesy of AFP.

by Staff Writers
Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
Pakistani authorities Tuesday negotiated a temporary truce after at least 14 people died and 35 were wounded in a gunbattle between two tribes over access to water, officials said. The rival groups left their hillside trenches after two days of fighting with assault rifles and rocket launchers near Parachinar, the main town in the Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, a government statement said.

"The clashes left 14 people dead and 35 wounded from the two sides," local administration chief Mohammad Saleem Khan said in the statement.

The shootout erupted on Monday when members of one clan diverted water from a canal near Parachinar and attacked farmers from a rival tribe when they demanded a share.

The two sides took up positions on nearby hills and heavy firing continued until midday Tuesday, residents said. The authorities arranged a council of tribal elders to negotiate with leaders of the feuding tribes.

"A ceasefire has been arranged and the armed men have come out of their trenches," Khan said.

The tribal council is also engaged in negotiating a settlement of the water dispute, he added.

Police and paramilitary soldiers have been deployed amid tensions in the area, he said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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