 Seven people were gunned down in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan on Wednesday when two clans decided to settle scores in the middle of a crowded bazaar, officials said.
"Apostate!"
"Land thief!"
"That does it, go fer yer guns!" |
Police said four pedestrians were caught in the crossfire and three of the tribesmen also died when a land dispute turned violent in Mir Ali district near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
| "We'll settle this Bengali style!" |
The two tribes quarreled late Tuesday over the plot of farmland in Aapy village and "after exchanging hot words they agreed to show their power in Mir Ali's main bazaar on Wednesday," local official Mohammad Jamil told AFP.
"Yer fodder's moustache!"
"Yer mudder wears combat boots!" |
The groups met at the appointed time and opened fire on each other. "The exchange of fire continued for quite some time. The rival groups lost three men
| That'd be Ike, Jimmy, and Doc... |
while four pedestrians caught in the crossfire also died," he said. At least five other people were rushed to hospital with serious bullet wounds, Jamil added. Tribal police intervened to arrange a ceasefire, he said. The area is run on tribal laws and is semi-autonomous from central government control. "We have registered a case and the accused will be arrested soon," he said. Rival tribesmen in the deeply conservative region, which is dominated by heavily armed ethnic Pashtuns, often settle disputes at gunpoint.
| How do you say, 'slack-jawed mopes' in Pashtun? |
|