At least nine people were killed and two injured when rival groups exchanged fire at a funeral in Upper Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The deadly clash was a result of a land dispute between the two groups at Bara Banda, a village located in the Cheera Galai area.

It is reported that the two parties resorted to indiscriminate firing as soon as they saw each other after arriving at the scene to attend the funeral.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of police was sent to the crime scene soon after receiving information about the deadly clash.

The bodies and injured were shifted to a local hospital on self-help basis but it is feared that the death toll may increase as it is far-flung area and the first responders are not available there to tackle any situation.

Such clashes are common in the country over land and tribal disputes as people depend upon force or local mechanism (jirga/panchayat) to solve the issues. But this flawed informal dispute-resolution mechanism is mostly dominated by the powerful parties or groups, making it near impossible to solve the disputes amicably.

In a recent episode, several people were killed when two rival tribes clashed over the possession of community land (shamilat) in Kurram district of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Area.

Last week, 10 people, including five women and three girls, were killed in the Chontra area of Rawalpindi as a man, who was on bail from a local court in a murder case, along his accomplices opened fire at the homes of his rivals.

The brutal killings were a result of an old enmity as the main accused, Rab Nawaz, took revenge of his wife’s murder.