At least 47 tribesmen were killed and 25 injured in a gun battle between two rival tribes over a land dispute in Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency, media reported on Sunday.
According to sources, the dispute related to a mountain, which has been a bone of contention between Mada Khel and Pepali Kabul Khel tribes for the past three years. Several jirgas held to settle the issue have failed to resolve the issue, Dawn reported.
The latest fighting, which broke out on Friday, continued till late Saturday with the tribesmen using heavy and light weapons against each other in Datta Khel tehsil of the agency.
The situation has become more serious as most of the tribal leaders who could negotiate a truce have already migrated elsewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan because of the volatile security situation in North Waziristan.
The area affected by the fighting is located near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Some families from the area had recently migrated to Afghanistan due to the long-running dispute between the two tribes.
Sources said the tribesmen were making arrangements to take their injured to Afghanistan, as the local political administration was not allowing them to take the casualties to Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
