At least six Afghan refugees – including five brothers – were killed and 10 injured after two groups exchanged fire over a monetary dispute in Khalabat Town of Haripur on Wednesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The incident took place at a jirga held for resolving differences over the payment of electricity bills in a local Afghan refugees camp which had been going on for the last several weeks.

It is said the contractor – also an Afghan national – was charging an additional amount from the people against the government tariff, which prompted a protest.

To resolve the issue, the jirga was organised on Wednesday at Behram Showroom in the Chandni Chowk area. However, the two parties and the mediators could not resolve the issue after which they exchanged harsh words followed by the deadly clash.

As a result, six people died on the spot with the two sides using automatic weapons such as Kalashnikov rifles at the public gathering.

Later, police reached the crime scene and arrested three people while seizing a bag full of weapons.

On the other hand, those with serious wounds had been shifted to Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad.

This informal way of mediation and resolving land, marriage and tribal disputes among families and groups is still practiced in our region. Many even hail it as an effective and swift mechanism of delivering justice. However, it a fact is that seldom is the case when a weaker party gets long-term and sustained justice.

Whatever decision is taken the elders, it mostly has conditions like those in marriage-related issues where girls are often exchanged to end old or future enmities. Sometimes, this practice is practiced to even resolve land and property disputes.

Hence, these disputes often get deadly when there is no trade-off or no compromise is possible.