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Pakistani officials declared a seven-day ceasefire between Shia and Sunni groups in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province this week, following three days of deadly sectarian violence near the Afghan border that left at least 82 people dead and 156 injured, Al Jazeera reported.

Last week, clashes erupted between the two groups when gunmen attacked convoys of Shia Muslims, killing more than 40 people, including women and children. Residents in the area later retaliated by targeting Sunni Muslims.

The sectarian violence follows decades-long disputes over land in the province’s Kurram district.

Officials brokered the ceasefire after negotiations with community leaders, with both sides agreeing to exchange prisoners and return bodies, the BBC added.

The region has seen repeated flare-ups of sectarian violence.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 79 people were killed in Kurram from July to October. Police continue to struggle to maintain control in the area, which merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas in 2018.

But as Pakistani authorities are trying to restore calm in restive areas, thousands of supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan marched toward the country’s capital Islamabad on Monday to protest against the government and demand his release, the Associated Press noted.

Demonstrators faced widespread roadblocks and clashed with police, with one officer killed and an unknown number of them injured. Authorities have arrested more than 4,000 demonstrators since Friday and suspended mobile and Internet services in parts of the country.

Khan has been imprisoned since August 2023 and faces more than 150 criminal charges, which he and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say are part of a political agenda orchestrated by the military and ruling coalition to keep him out of power.

Economists warn the protests could cost the country billions of rupees in damage, compounding Pakistan’s already fragile economic situation.

Analysts told the Guardian that Khan’s march is a final attempt to pressure the military into negotiations to avoid facing trial in military courts.

However, the government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, dismissed the protest as a “well-thought-out conspiracy” and accused Khan of using force to evade justice.