Peshawar: Gunmen in northeastern Pakistan killed at least 38 people in two attacks on Thursday, officials said, adding that the incidents were linked to sectarian violence that has claimed dozens of lives in recent months.
"Two separate convoys of Shiite people... were targeted by the terrorists in the Kurram district," Javed ullah Mehsud a senior administration official, told AFP.
"The death toll has now risen to 38, with 11 others injured in both attacks," he said, revising an earlier toll. "Initial reports confirm that the victims include six women, several children, and police officers," he added.
"Approximately 10 attackers were involved in both incidents, firing indiscriminately from both sides of the road." A police officer confirmed the latest toll, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"Both convoys consisted of around 40 vehicles travelling under police escort," he told AFP. Mehsud said that "women and children sought refuge in local houses, and we are currently searching for (the attackers) in the area."
"Initial reports suggest it was the same sectarian issue that has plagued the region for months," he said in an earlier statement, adding that most of the victims were Shia.
Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes have been engaged in intermittent fighting for several months in Kurram, in the mountainous northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In October, at least 16 people, including three women and two children, were killed in a sectarian clash in the district. Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a jirga, or tribal council called a ceasefire.
