Pakistani troops sent to stop battle over water

PARACHINAR, Pakistan, June 20 (Reuters) Pakistani authorities sent troops to a remote region on the Afghan border today to end clashes over scarce water after five people were killed.

Pakistan faces a serious water shortage this year after light rain and snow over the winter. Water rights are a divisive issue in many parts of the country, but the clashes in the Kurrum region are the most serious this year over the resource.

Violence erupted yesterday when people of one clan tried to divert water from an irrigation canal to their fields and men from another clan resisted.

The rivals battled with rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and five people were killed and 27 wounded, said the region's administrator, Mohammad Salim Khan.

''Fighting is continuing and paramilitary troops have been sent to control the situation,'' Khan told Reuters today.

The ethnic Pashtun communities that lie on both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border are awash with weapons. Tribal leaders had also been sent to negotiate a ceasefire, Khan said.

Pakistan has about one fifth less water this year than normal, said an official at the Indus River System Authority, and several crops including rice have been hit hard.

But shortages are only expected to get worse as populations and demand grows. Analysts say water disputes will become more common, not only within communities but between countries.

REUTERS CH DS1335