Over 80 people were killed and scores more injured in recent sectarian clashes in northwestern Pakistan. Experts say historic rivalries, extremist Islamist groups, and political marginalization are to blame.

The clashes overnight between Sunni and Shiite tribes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province came a day after gunmen ambushed a convoy of vehicles in the area.

Pakistani authorities say they have negotiated a seven-day ceasefire after more than 80 people were killed in renewed sectarian violence in the north-west of the country. Another 156 are said to have been wounded in three days of fighting in the tribal district of Kurram, near the Afghan border.

Around 300 families fled sectarian violence on Saturday in northwest Pakistan as fresh sectarian clashes killed another 32 people.

Government officials met with tribal leaders in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday to try to mediate a ceasefire between rival sectarian groups after days of clashes that have killed at least 68 people and injured dozens.

Following a deadly attack in Kurram district where 42 Shiite Muslims were killed, Shiite and Sunni tribes in Pakistan's northwest have agreed to a temporary cease-fire. The agreement comes after government-led negotiations and includes terms for exchanging prisoners,

Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have engaged in rivalry for decades over a land dispute in Kurram district near the Afghanistan border.

The clashes began on Thursday when gunmen attacked convoys of civilian vehicles, killing at least 40 people, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, triggering retaliatory attacks against Sunni residents, leading to intense battles between armed groups from both sides.

Pakistan government officials met tribal leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram after sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslim groups killed at least 68 people so far and injured more than a dozen,