Pakistani water war ends after 14 killed

PARACHINAR, Pakistan, June 20 (Reuters) Bloody clashes between rival Pakistani villagers over scarce water supplies ended today when troops were sent to restore order in the region on the Afghan border after 14 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 were 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, said the region's administrator, Mohammad Salim Khan.

The government said 14 people had been killed and 35 wounded. A military official who declined to be identified said 22 people had been killed.

''There's a lull now and the tribesmen have started withdrawing from their positions on the mountains,'' Khan told Reuters.

The ethnic Pashtun communities that lie on both sides of the Pakistani-Afghan border have been traditionally well-armed.

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 grow. Analysts say water disputes will become more common, not only within communities but between countries.

Pakistan is already in dispute with India over rivers that begin in Indian mountains and flow into Pakistan, and is nervous about possible Afghan plans to dam rivers that flow into Pakistan.

REUTERS KD RN1746