In a Region of Majestic Beauty, Sunnis and Shiites Wage Bloody War

The deafening roar of rocket launchers and mortar explosions shattered the tranquillity of Kurram, a Pakistani district of majestic peaks, ancient maple forests and fertile fields bordering Afghanistan. People huddled in makeshift bunkers, exchanging desperate volleys as their villages became battlegrounds.

For months, Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the area have been fighting intermittently over land disputes, the latest flare-up in a conflict that has simmered for decades, paralleling two wars in Afghanistan and the rise of terrorist groups in the region.

At least 16 people were killed in clashes on Oct. 12, including an ambush on a convoy that was under paramilitary protection. Since then, warring tribes have blocked roads, causing shortages of food and medicine, residents said. In September, fighting between members of the two communities left 46 people dead; a weeklong battle in July claimed nearly 50 lives.

“It is like a war between two countries, not a dispute between tribes,” said Hussain Ali, 26, a university student from Parachinar, Kurram’s main city. “Innocent people are suffering, and the government doesn’t care.”

The violence has demonstrated the limited reach of Pakistan’s government along the frontier, an area that looks serene but is combustible under the surface. Some Shiite villages are very near Sunni ones, which keeps the tensions high.

Pakistan is mostly Sunni, but Shiites make up about 45 percent of Kurram’s 800,000 people, and they dominate Parachinar.