As death toll rises to 43, thousands protest Pak sectarian attack

The death toll from two attacks in northwest Pakistan rose to 43, authorities said on Friday as they imposed a curfew and suspended mobile service in the remote mountainous district.

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Gunmen opened fire, on Thursday, on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with police escorts in Kurram, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border with a history of bloody sectarian violence.

For several months, clashes have again erupted between Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes in the area, which was formerly semi-autonomous. "The death toll from yesterday's attack on a convoy in Kurram has risen to 43," Javed Ullah Mehsud, a senior administration official, told AFP. "The victims include seven women and three children," Mehsud said.