An armed clash between two local communities due to a land dispute left at least one man dead and 25 others, including women and children, critically injured near the Jati town of Sujawal district the other day.
The armed clash between the Rajo and Bhatti communities, using guns and hatchets, was a rare and frightening sight for residents of Jati.
Locals said the two groups had a dispute over the ownership of some land located in Deh Khantiyo of Jati Taluka in Sujawal district.
Soon after the clash broke out, a heavy contingent of police arrived and cordoned off the area.
Jati Police Station SHO said that the incident had caused fear and panic amongst residents of the locality, adding that they have deployed a heavy contingent of police in the area to prevent the clash from flaring up again. He said they have registered an initial report of the incident and will investigate the clash further.
After police arrived and helped disperse the two groups, ambulances and locals shifted the dead injured to the Taluka Hospital in Jati, where the district health officer declared an emergency.
The stream of casualties was far beyond the installed capacity of the hospital, which quickly found itself overrun with patients, making it tough for the staff to deal with the situation.
Jati SHO said that out of 27 victims, a man identified as Aslam Rajo succumbed to his injuries as he was being shifted to the hospital. He added that the injured include four women and two children.
Doctors at the Taluka Hospital said that the condition of nine of the injured was critical, which is why they have been referred to Karachi for better treatment than what they are equipped to provide.
Tribal clashes are not new in Sindh, but the frequency and intensity of clashes have increased over the past two decades.