Curfew Imposed On Troubled Pakistani District After Deadly Sectarian Clash

A curfew has been imposed in troubled areas in central Pakistan following sectarian violence that killed 11 people. District police chief Sarfaraz Falki said rallies and political meetings had also been temporarily banned in the Bakkar district of Punjab Province on August 24. Police officials said members of two rival religious political parties -- the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) party, a radical Sunni Muslim group, and Majlis-e Wahdat-e Muslimeen (MWM), a Shi'ite political group -- exchanged fire in Bakkar on August 23. Reports say the groups clashed after ASWJ accused MWM of gunning down one of its members. Pakistani security forces have been deployed to the town. Pakistan has seen a surge of sectarian violence in recent years.