More than 80 people have been killed in renewed sectarian violence in northwest Pakistan, officials say.
Another 156 people are believed to have been injured in three days of fighting in the Kurram tribal district, near the Afghan border.
The violence began on Thursday, when Gunmen attack Shia Muslim convoy passed through the area under police escort. More than 40 people died in that incident, sparking revenge attacks.
Shia and Sunni Muslims have been engaged in tribal and sectarian rivalries over land disputes for decades.
“Clashes and convoy attacks on November 21, 22 and 23 left 82 people dead and 156 injured,” a local government official told AFP news agency on Sunday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said 16 of the dead were Sunni and 66 were from the Shia community.
Those killed in the attacks on the convoy on Thursday included women and children. Passenger Saeeda Bano described to BBC Urdu that she feared she would be killed as she hid under the car seat with her children.
Hundreds of residents fled amid escalating violence on Friday and Saturday.
It comes after dozens of people were killed in attacks over the past few months, prompting the tribal council to call for a ceasefire.
Provincial officials began negotiations with both Shia and Sunni community leaders, AFP reported on Saturday.
A security official in the provincial capital Peshawar told AFP that negotiators’ helicopters were shot at when they arrived in the area.
