Tremendous communal violence has broken out in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. So far, more than 80 people have died in this violence. More than 150 people have been injured. According to the AFP news agency, there have been conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis in Kurram for several months. Due to this, more than 300 families have migrated from here.
This violence between Shiites and Sunnis began last Thursday. It all started when a convoy of Shiites was attacked by gunfire. More than 40 Shiites were killed in this shooting. Since then, bloodshed between Shiites and Sunnis continues in Kurram.
After dozens of deaths, a seven-day ceasefire was imposed between the two groups on Sunday. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to form a high-level commission to resolve the conflict between Shias and Sunnis.
How did all this bloodshed start?
All this bloodshed began on November 21. 200 vehicles carrying Shiites were ambushed and attacked. This convoy of Shias was heading from Peshawar to Parachinar. They were attacked in Began Town in Kurram district.
According to the Pakistani newspaper ‘Dawn’, the convoy was ambushed and attacked from four sides. Mohammed, 14, who survived the attack, told Dawn that the attack continued for about half an hour.
Azmeer Hussain was one of those injured in this attack. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. He told AFP that the shooting started suddenly. He said the shooting continued for five minutes.
It is reported that 82 people have died in this violence that began last week. While more than 150 people have been injured. An official said the dead included 16 Sunnis and 66 Shiites.
According to an AFP report, some 300 families have fled since the violence began. They have been held in Peshawar and Hangu.
But why this attack?
Kurram district, bordering Afghanistan, has a long history of communal violence. Here there are often tensions between Shiites and Sunnis over territorial disputes.
On October 12 of this year there was a violent confrontation between both groups. There were shots between the two. In this violence, 15 people died, including two women and a child. Dawn cited sources as saying that the November 21 shooting was to avenge this attack.
What is the fight about?
Kurram district is a tribal area. By 2023, the estimated population here was around 7.85 lakh. Of them, 99% are Turi, Bangash, Jaimusht, Mangal, Mukbal, Masuzai and Parchamkani tribes. Turi and Bangash are Shiites, while the rest are Sunnis.
About 45 percent of the Kurrams are Shiites. Most of the Shia population lives in the Upper Kurram, while the Sunnis dominate in the Lower and Central Kurram.
There was a time when Shias also dominated in the Lower and Central Kurram. But now they are limited only to Upper Kurram.
According to a report in the New York Times, Kurram’s demographics began to change when refugees from Afghanistan began arriving in the 1980s. This was the period when the Pakistan- and US-backed mujahideen army was in Kurram to fight against the Soviet Union. As soon as the Taliban emerged in Afghanistan in the 1990s, they began arming their Sunni mujahideen in Kurram, further increasing violent incidents here.
Pakistan is a Sunni majority country. When the United States attacked Afghanistan in 2001, thousands of Sunnis fled to Pakistan. Afghan Sunnis settled in many areas of Pakistan. But the Shias of Kurram did not allow the Sunnis to come here. Due to this, the conflict increased even more. However, from 1997 to 1988, when Pakistan was under the military rule of General Zia ul-Haq, Sunnis from Afghanistan were given refuge in Kurram to weaken the Shias.
In April 2007, several bloody clashes broke out between Shiites and Sunnis in Kurram. Meanwhile, in 2008, an anti-Shia terrorist organization called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was formed, further increasing the violence.
More than two thousand people died in this war that lasted almost four years. A peace agreement was finally reached in 2011, but sporadic violence continued. When the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan in 2021, violence began here.
bloodshed in kurram
The reason for communal violence in Kurram is not just the local population. In fact, Saudi Arabia and Iran are also held responsible for the violence here. While Saudi Arabia is a majority Sunni country, Iran is a Shiite country.
The report by Pakistan’s Center for Strategic and Contemporary Research shows that Saudi Arabia supported Sunni extremist organizations in Kurram. While Iran promoted Shia organizations here. Iran has created an organization here called the Zainbiyun Brigade, which fights Taliban-backed organizations. The Government of Pakistan has declared the Zainbiun Brigade a terrorist organization.
According to Pakistani government data, between 2007 and 2011, more than two thousand people were killed in fighting between Shiites and Sunnis in Kurram, while more than five thousand were injured. During this period more than ten thousand people were displaced.
In July this year, a violent conflict between Shias and Sunnis occurred in Parachinar, in which around 50 people were killed.
Conflict between Shiites and Sunnis continues around the world
The conflict between Shiites and Sunnis is religious. They both believe in the Quran and Shariat. However, despite this, a survey by Pew Research shows that most Sunnis do not consider Shiites Muslims.
This conflict between the two has continued since the death of the prophet Muhammad. After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the Shias, on the one hand, consider Hazrat Ali Ibn Ali Talib as their “caliph”, while the Sunnis consider Abu Bakr as their “caliph”.
The real reason for the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis has to do with the “Caliphate.” Sunnis consider prophets to be all those mentioned in the Quran. But for them the last Prophet was Muhammad. While Shiites claim that after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, his son-in-law Ali should have been declared Caliph. There is a conflict between Shiites and Sunnis over who should be the last leader or caliph of the Muslims.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), there was peace between Sunnis and Shiites despite differences, but after the early 20th century, tension between the two increased. The Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 further increased this dispute.
According to the CFR, 85 percent of the world’s population is Muslim and only 15 percent is Shia. The CIA World Factbook estimates that of Pakistan’s 96.5% Muslim population, 85 to 90% are Sunni and 10 to 15% are Shia.
