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(Source: EPA)

A Pakistani government team has brokered a seven-day ceasefire between rival sectarian groups, ending days of clashes that have killed at least 68 people and injured dozens in the country’s northwest, one of the mediators said.

The violence began Thursday when gunmen attacked convoys of civilian vehicles, killing at least 40 people, mostly Shiite Muslims. That led to retaliatory attacks against Sunni Muslim residents and there have been battles between armed groups from both sides.

Armed Shiite and Sunni Muslims have been embroiled in tribal and sectarian rivalry for decades over a land dispute in Kurram district, near the border with Afghanistan.

“Both sides have agreed to a one-week ceasefire, which is expected to be extended,” Muhammad Ali Saif, a member of the mediation team, told Reuters by phone on Sunday, adding that major clashes had already stopped.

Saif, who is also information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Kurram is located, said both sides had also agreed to exchange prisoners, including women, and the bodies of those killed in the clashes.

The prisoners and bodies will be exchanged with the help of Pakistani paramilitary forces.

The team flew to Parachinar, Kurram’s main town, on Saturday and met with Shia and Sunni tribal leaders, with the entire district under a virtual curfew and armed groups roaming the streets in many villages.

Saif said news of the ceasefire should also put an end to minor clashes reported in remote areas of the district.

Another member of the mediation team, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, said Shia leaders demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the attacks on passenger vehicles, as well as compensation for the victims and safety guarantees for travelers.

The government has yet to identify or publicly name who the attackers were and no one has claimed responsibility.

Two government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the death toll from retaliatory violence since Thursday’s bus attacks had risen to at least 28, bringing the total death toll to 68.

Armed groups stormed into settlements inhabited by members of rival sects. Many homes have been evacuated, while markets and schools remain closed and several gas stations have been set on fire, officials said.

They said they feared the death toll could rise because communications in the area are poor, making information difficult to obtain.