A clash between two religious groups on Friday had left 11 people dead.
Police officers were not present in Bhakkar and residents were seen not observing the curfew.
Funeral arrangements have been made for the deceased and the funeral prayers will be held during the day.
The clash was between members of two banned organisations in Kotla Jam area of district Bhakkar in Punjab.
Nine of the people killed reportedly belonged to one group while two belonged to the other.
Members from both groups involved staged a protest and blocked the Dera Ismail Khan Road, blaming each other for having instigated the attack.
The groups had been engaged in a brawl for a while now and things had heated up a few days ago following the death of a member of one of the groups.
On Friday, rival members confronted each other before an intermittent exchange of fire ensued. The firing killed three people on the spot, while two more died as they were being shifted to the hospital. Another died while under treatment at the hospital.
As firing continued well into the evening, bullets claimed the lives of five more.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the situation, saying those who break the law will be dealt with severely.
COMMENTS (16)
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Shia and Sunni communities have been trying to co-exist peacefully in Bhakkar. And Shias from the neighboring D.I.Khan have immigrated here to escape the tensions there. D.I.Khan Shias are mostly troublemakers and tensions in this area have risen since they have settled in Bhakkar. It is a sectarian feud and not a local matter. People are targeted for being sunni or Shia.
Stop this sectarian rift on this page. This does not seem like a sectarian feud. It seems like a local matter but groups involved had different religious affiliations.
Is Bhakkar in Sindh or KP or Blochistan? It could never be in Punjab, as Punjab is symbol of peace and harmony under the able management of Mr Shabaz Sharief.
@ unbiased: the media is biased in their reporting. I don't understand why the media won't show their bodies! Why the media is silent when the wronged community is not Shia? I live in the area so i know for a fact that five Sunnis were kidnapped, tortured and their mutilated bodies thrown on streets. Most of the dead are also Sunnis. And Shias attacked the protest rally. Whatever truthful is saying is the truth.
in the Bhakkar incident, the Shia community is not the wronged one. Although the media likes to portray it the other way around.
@Truthful: n y wasnt their funerals conducted publicly ?? if ur claims are right y the SSP terrorist that got killed in retaliation was listed in 4th schedule ??? if the body parts were dismembered are their any proofs (u can see the proofs of dismembered bodies of shias of parachinar on internet) ?? in a similar incident in khairpur a SSP leader Ali Sher haideri was killed due to his involvement in land grabbing by the family that owned the land, and that too was claimed to have been done by shias but that wasnt true .. every one knows who waged jihad yesterday from mosques against shia in bhakkar !!!!! get a life
The rally was protesting against the target killings of Sunnis which have been occuring over a span of a year.The rally members were returning home after peaceful protest when they were attacked y armed men at Kotla Jam. They didn't attack anyone in Kotla Jam, on the other hand, they were fired at by the Shia settlers in Kotla Jam and 5 were kidnapped, shot in the eyes and their body parts were cut by them. Total of 17 people are dead out of which 11 are Sunnis and 4 are Shias so we can very well guess who instigated an well prepared and armed attack against whom. Lets face the facts! Of course, Government didn't intervene the way they should to stop killings of these people especially those who were battered and butchered after being kidnapped.
land of pure getting purer by the day..............
Your Saudi petrodollars at work.
i didnt expect this from xpress !!!! there was only one banned organization (SSP) whose rally attacked unarmed shia settlements ... and 2 of the banned org members were killed in defense ... the situation had been worsening since last 2-3 weeks but no agency intervened n u see the result !!!
@Dj: Thank you and same to you on D I Khan jail break.
@Dj: You are right Only MQM unequivocally condemns sectarianism and rejects the use of the word ‘minority’
Pml n Mubarak!
Unfortunate. I believe the two groups fought in a small town Bhakkar. Now, their fight is being termed as clash between religious sects. Both the sides are responsible as ppl from both sides died or got injured. Now as a result, half of confused minds amongst us will call followers of the other sects as 'Kafir' or 'terrorist'. I hope the ones who started all this, face the consequences of the mess they created.
That is all we Muslims can now do.......projecting one's self assumed purification. We use our God gifted intelligence to malign, belie, and kill another person's deeds and actions by resorting to gun play. Well done brother Muslims, our place in history's hall of fame......."Killing in Religion's Name is assured." Salams