PESHAWAR: The withdrawal of the US-led Nato forces has begun as 25 containers loaded with military equipment of the Nato forces have reached Pakistan from Afghanistan over the past few days. “Twelve containers of the foreign forces entered Pakistan on February 6, eleven on February 7 and two on February 8 on the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham,” a customs official at Torkham told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). The official said none of the containers of the foreign forces had entered into Pakistan from Afghanistan on February 9 and 10. He said it was not known whether more containers of foreign forces would enter Pakistan or not. The international forces are expected to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.British officials said they would send back their military equipment to their country via Uzbekistan. It should be mentioned that in January, US President Barack Obama announced that he is accelerating the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, with the 66,000 American troops moving this spring into a largely training and advisory role and Afghan troops taking the lead throughout the country in fighting the Taliban-led insurgency. The News, Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s new governor, Eng Shaukatullah, said on Sunday that talks with Taliban would start in coming months and days and he would make them a success. These assuring words followed the oath-taking ceremony to install the new governor from Bajaur district, replacing Barrister Masood Kausar. The change in the Governor’s House comes at a time when calls for engaging Taliban militants in peace negotiations have grown, with key opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-N urging the Pakistan People’s Party government in Centre to accept the talks offer which the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan made through its spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan. Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan administered the oath to the new governor at a ceremony at the Governor’s House, which was attended by military, civilian officials and others. Daily Times, The Frontier Post, Dawn.
PESHAWAR: At least three policemen sustained injuries in a powerful bomb blast that targeted a police patrol near Nishtarabad Bridge on Sunday. According to police, the bomb went off when the mobile van of Hashtnagri Police Station was near the bridge as part of routine patrolling in the area. The explosion injured Sub-Inspector Imran and two constables. The injured cops were rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital where the condition of two of them was stated to be critical. The police vehicle was destroyed completely as it caught fire. Police have opened an investigation and cordoned off the area. Daily Times, The Frontier Post, Dawn.
LANDI KOTAL: A 32-member jirga of Kukikhel elders pledged on Sunday that they would not compromise on their legitimate right to the ownership of their land `occupied` by Peshawar Development Authority for developing the Regi Lalma Housing Scheme. The jirga held in Jamrud unanimously resolved to agree to whatever verdict the Peshawar High Court gave to their plea which was filed a year ago after the PDA refused to acknowledge their right of ownership over 17,000 kanals of land. The jirga pledged on oath that they would neither hold secret talks with any government functionary nor succumb to any official pressure to resolve the issue. Some of the members of the Kukikhel jirga alleged that the Khyber Agency political administration was pressurising the jirga members to give the administration their consent without any precondition and the administration had also offered a huge amount to the jirga as compensation for the land occupied by the PDA. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Security forces on Sunday arrested four militants in separate raids and seized uniforms of Pakistan and Afghan armies along with a huge cache of arms and explosives from them on Sunday. The law enforcement agencies conducted a raid on Samar Bagh area of Lower Dir and seized army uniforms. They also seized seven hand grenades, six detonators, three kgs of explosives, nine mines, 7 mm guns, one Kalashnikov. The Nation, Daily Times.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has formally launched the laptop scheme by distributing laptops among top position holder students of 30 different departments of University of Peshawar under the “Naway Sahar Laptop Scheme” first of this kind in the province, at a function held here at the Convocation Hall of the University on Sunday. The Chief Minister launched the scheme, by distributing 35 laptops among the top position holder students of BS four-year degree programme of some 30 departments, three constituent colleges and two affiliated degree colleges of university of Peshawar. Addressing the ceremony, the Chief Minister said that education has remained the top priority of his government during the last five years. A testimony to this is the establishment of eight new Universities in the tenure of his government, he added. The Nation, Dawn.
PESHAWAR: An explosion in Badaber at the outskirts of the provincial capital damaged a shrine, on Sunday, a private television reported. Police said that the explosion occurred at the shrine of Akhwan Salaq Baba. The explosives were planted beside the shrine’s wall, and it was damaged in the blast, police said. A heavy contingent of police arrived at the shrine and started a search operation to apprehend the culprits. Daily Times, The News.
LAHORE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has urged all political parties to take joint stand on holding talks with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, which made a conditional offer for dialogue last week. `All political parties should make joint decision on holding talks with Taliban and its modalities,` the minister told journalists at the Lahore airport on Sunday before leaving for Karachi. He claimed that it was the federal government`s policy which had forced the Taliban to come to the negotiating table. In reply to a question, the minister said he had never blamed any political party for its involvement in terrorist activists and only named Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (now Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat), Laskhar-i-Jhangvi, Sipah-iMuhammad and Jaish-iMuhammad in this regard. Mr Malik claimed that elements behind acts of terror in Karachi would soon be exposed. Dawn.
GHALANAI: The residents of Mohmand tribal region have said that they will allow female members of their families to cast votes in the upcoming general elections if separate polling stations are set up for them. The tribesmen would allow their women to cast votes if government ensured their security and established separate polling stations for them, Said Rehman, a resident of the region, told Dawn. However, in the prevailing situation it was not safe for the women to visit polling stations, he added. There are 555,000 registered women voters and 555,000 men voters in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). However, tribal women face many difficulties in casting their votes and taking part in political activities. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has directed all political parties to ensure participation of women in the election process. A tribal woman in Haleemzai tehsil said that she would like to cast her vote if separate polling stations were set up for women at local level. `There is no re-striction on women in our society but no woman voted in the last general elections of 2008,` she said. Dawn.
HANGU: Two persons were killed in separate firing incidents on Sunday, the police said.They said that one Ghazni Gul allegedly shot dead Nawab Khan over an old dispute on the Hangu bypass road. The police arrested the killer on the spot.Also, unknown gunmen killed Khanzada in the limits of Cantonment Police Station. The News.
PESHAWAR: The people across the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) and various political parties have hailed the appointment of Engr Shaukatullah as the new governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The jubilant tribesmen distributed sweets and took out processions to welcome the federal government`s decision to appoint Engr Shaukatullah, who belongs to the Nawagai area of Bajaur Agency, as the governor. Mr Shaukatullah is the second provincial governor hailing from Fata after Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai. GHALANAI: The Mohmand tribesmen expressed the hope that the new governorwould help bring change in the outdated tribal system and would restore peace in the tribal areas. Talking to Dawn on Sunday, Malik Nisar Ahmad Haleemzai, a prominent elder, said having political background and a reputed tribal Khan, Engr Shaukatullah would bring positive changes in the existing system. PARACHINAR: The tribesmen of Parachinar, Kurram Agency, distributed sweets and held a march to welcome the appointment of Shaukatullah as the new governor. The tribal elders said being a resident of Bajaur Engr Shaukatullah was well aware of the issues facing the tribal area. Dawn.
WASHINGTON: Some Taliban prisoners released by Pakistan as a ‘good-faith’ effort to promote peace in Afghanistan have rejoined their colleagues fighting US-led NATO and Afghan troops, a leading American newspaper reported Sunday. In a dispatch from Kabul, The Washington Post said the Pakistani move is “now prompting questions about whether the gesture has yielded anything but potential new dangers” for Western troops and the coalition-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The newspaper underscored Pakistan’s ‘vital role’ in nudging the Taliban to the table as the United States winds down its involvement in the 11-year war in Afghanistan. “But Pakistan’s handling of the prisoner release once again subverted the trust of the Afghans, who were supposed to receive the captives and keep tabs on them to lower the risk of any returning to terrorist havens in Pakistan,” the Post said. The Nation, Dawn.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHARY
