PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police say 11 people have died after gunmen ambushed a van in a stretch of northwest Pakistan covered by a new peace deal.
The dead included eight civilians. Police then killed three suspected gunmen.
Police official Mir Chaman Khan says the attack happened Sunday in Hangu district along the main road from Kurram tribal region to Peshawar city. The road had recently reopened after four years of closure due to the strife among the tribes, who hail from the rival Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam.
The clash occurred in a Sunni-dominated area. The van was coming from Parachinar, a Shiite-dominated town in Kurram.
There have been concerns that Taliban militants may take advantage of the peace deal to find new hideouts along the Afghan border.
