KOHAT The death toll in the ongoing battle between two rival groups in Hangu city crossed 26 and was still rising on the second consecutive night of fighting on Saturday.

Officials and locals feared the death toll would sharply rise now since the Taliban had also joined the battle and were attacking areas in Hangu bazaar with heavy weapons, despite a curfew and shoot to kill orders.

Six dead bodies of protesters killed on Friday night were brought to Kohat on Saturday evening and buried in Ustarzai Town. One of them could not be identified, since he was a traveler and non local. People buried him along with the other dead.

As expected, a lashkar from Orakzai Agency attacked Ganjiano Kalay and intense fighting continued there with both sides using heavy weapons late Saturday night, officials and eye witnesses said.

Several dead bodies were still lying in the pass Kalay graveyard since nobody could go there due to heavy firing.

Security forces were still waiting for orders from higher authorities to intervene and stop the battle by force. The commissioner Kohat division, Omar Afridi and DIG, Kohat region, Qudratullah Marwat shuttled between Kohat and Hangu in helicopters, avoiding journey by road, fearing attacks by furious protesters.

Jet fighters made low flights over Hangu to scare the fighters and force them to vacate their positions, but all efforts were futile. The jets made their last flight around 1040 PM. Gunship helicopters also took several rounds of Hangu but returned back to Kohat base without attacking any side.

Earlier, witnesses and officials said dozens of houses had been damaged and more than 20 people were killed in clashes near the flour mills on Friday night and then during further fighting in the city.

The most affected parts of the city were Pass Kalay, Ganjiano Kalay and Sangerh Mohallah. Deputy chairman Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamat, Hangu, Mufti Rustam was also among the dead. Both groups were claiming victory over each other and had established control rooms for monitoring and gathering of reports from the battle grounds.

They were using heavy weapons like mortars and anti-aircraft guns freely since Friday evening. The battle had been planned months ago, sources said.

Reports reaching here said entire lashkars were being raised to attack populated areas of rival sects on Saturday night as their supporters started reaching the area from Orakzai Agency, Sadda, Kurram Agency and other regions.

According to unconfirmed reports, as soon as the protesters entered Hangu from the Kohat side, they were attacked by the rival sect and then the army opened fire at them to stop them from entering the area under curfew.

The Taliban and their rivals allegedly surrounded dozens of people and killed them. Dead bodies were still lying in different areas as security forces and elders could not reach the spot.

A complete administrative failure was witnessed during the two-day fighting as there was no plan to stop the full-fledged war.

Intelligence and social circles believed that senior officials like DIG and commissioner Kohat division commanded no authority whatsoever.

The authorities knew from a month before that rival sects were preparing for war because last year the government had not allowed the Moharram procession to pass through Hangu bazaar. Despite that, they took no strict measures against the miscreants.

People were angry that the administration, including the police and security forces, had taken shelter and were not coming out to talk to the locals or even fire teargas shells at the miscreants.

Officials said people had vacated Hangu city before the start of Moharram and families male members had stayed back to guard their homes in the wake of any disturbance.

People had accumulated huge quantities of weapons by collecting charity from the wealthy of their sects and were now using them against each other. A significant quantity of arms was brought from Afghanistan and Orakzai Agency for the imminent battle.

A grand jirga convened by the commissioner Kohat division, Umar Khan Afridi was held to find a solution to the problem and stop the fighting. It, however, failed to achieve anything and the battle gained more intensity with the passage of time. The residents of Hangu blamed the Kohat administration for not acting in time.

A crowd had again gathered at the Kohat-Hangu border and was planning to march towards Hangu to participate in the war. Local police had locked themselves inside the Ustarzai police stations.