Aid reaches remote Pakistan valley hit by sectarian clashes

Aid flights landed in a remote Pakistan valley on Tuesday where thousands of people are stranded because of sectarian clashes that have killed more than 200 people since July.

Residents have reported food and medicine shortages in parts of Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, as the government struggles to end a reignited feud between Sunnis and Shias stemming from decades-old tensions over farmland.

Sher Gul, the head of private welfare organisation Edhi, said they would make several flights a day from the city of Peshawar to the valley for the rest of the week, depending on weather.

"We plan to bring around three wounded back on each flight... and deliver medicines for the injured," he told AFP.

Various truces have been announced since the latest round of fighting began, as elders from the two sides negotiate a lasting agreement.

In the meantime, the government has shut down key roads in and out of the district in an attempt to quell the violence, after a security convoy escorting residents was attacked in November, leaving more than 40 dead.