At least 30 children die from drug shortages in Pakistan after sectarian violence

Police officers stand guard during a protest by Shia Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram in November. Photograph: Saood Rehman/EPA

At least 30 children have died due to drug shortages in part of north-west Pakistan after the regional government closed key roads in and out of the district in an attempt to quell an outbreak of deadly sectarian violence.

The district of Kurram, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, has been a hotbed of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims for decades, and since July disputes over farmland have escalated.