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After a mostly peaceful Ramazan, sectarian violence erupted in Hangu on Eid day, September 20, 2009. After 24 hours of the breakout of violence, 4 people have been reportedly killed and 4 other injured in the exchange of firing while a military curfew has been enforced in the town.
The stage for the violence was set with the murder of Hangu’s district administrator Haji Khan Afzal who lost his life in a bomb blast that destroyed a local mosque in Uch Bazar area at night, on September 18, 2009. Nearly 24 hours after the incident, a bomb blast rocked the congested market street of Pat Bazar, destroying 5 shops belonging to members of the Sunni sect. Next morning, on Eid day, Shia and Sunni shopkeepers and their friends ran into a bitter dispute as the Sunni sect was reportedly demanding a ban on the passage of Shia people across the market. Bitter words of exchange grew into exchange of firing that spread through the town and was close to developing into full-fledge civil war. The district administration however intervened and called the military which enforced a curfew in the town.
According to news sources, a number of wounded people lay in the streets for a long time and no one could take them to the hospital due to the curfew. The curfew was relieved this morning for a few hours and things are expected to get normal soon.
