Old feuds spiral into 14 killings between clans

DEADLY VIOLENCE ROCKS JACOBABAD, SHIKARPUR IN SINDH

Senior Features Editor

Aviolent clash between two warring clans claimed eight lives in the city of Jacobabad in Sindh yesterday even as members of two other rival tribes buried their dead in the Shikarpur district of the province following a seven-hour gun battle on Thursday that killed half a dozen.

According to initial reports, six members of a family including two children were massacred when armed men from the Jalbani clan attacked the Panhi-Bhatti village in Dodarpur area yesterday over an old land dispute. Shortly after the incident, the Katohar clan carried out a retaliatory attack on Qambhar Shahdad Kot district killing two members of the Jalbani tribe.

Local media citing senior superintendent of police Shamail Riaz Malik said the situation has been brought under control and a hunt is on to arrest the suspects.

Long-standing rivalry

Police said the killings emanate from a long standing rivalry between the Jalbani and Katohar clans. In recent months their fued has boiled over into a grisly cycle of violence that has resulted in casualties on both sides.

In February, at least two persons were killed in an armed clash between the two groups in Pishin district.

In Shikarpur district, tension ran high as two warring groups of the Jatoi clan buried their dead on Friday following a deadly clash the previous day over the suspected honour killing of a couple last month.

Four members of the Kamalani Jatoi community and two of the rival Saadkhanani clan were killed while dozens were injured in a gun battle lasting seven hours.

In a country where the justice system is notoriously slow, tribes often take justice in their own hands, presiding over jirgas — a parallel system of justice that operates based on vendetta killings

Over a 100 people have been killed and scores others injured in tribal feuds, according to police study released last year about tribal feuds in Larkana and Sukkur regions.