Parachinar, the capital of District Kurram in Kohat Division of K-P, has long stood as a grim symbol of the country's unresolved sectarian conflict. Over the years, this once peaceful region has been transformed into a flashpoint of violence between various residual communities.

Parachinar's sectarian crisis is not merely ideological. It is also deeply rooted in local disputes particularly over land and worsened by regional geopolitics. During the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, Parachinar's strategic location near the Afghan border made it a key corridor for fighters and weapons. Arms supplied to Afghan mujahideen by foreign powers eventually flooded local markets. Both Sunni and Shia groups in Kurram accessed these weapons, heavily militarising the region and enabling small conflicts to erupt into deadly confrontations.

The spread of weapons was accompanied by inflammatory religious rhetoric. Certain clerics openly incited hatred, labelling opposing sects as heretical. As a result, mistrust and hatred........

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