ISLAMABAD: Pakistan asked Afghanistan on Thursday to hand over senior Pakistani Taliban ‘commander’ Maulvi Faqir Mohammad. “We hope that he would be handed over to Pakistan as soon as possible because he has the blood of many innocent Pakistanis on his hands,” Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan said at the weekly media briefing. The capture of Maulvi Faqir, former deputy `commander’ of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan from Bajaur, by Afghan security forces was announced a couple of days ago. He was said to have been arrested when he entered Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province along with four accomplices identified as Shahid Umar, Maulana Hakeemullah Bajauri, Maulana Turabi and Fateh. Maulvi Faqir led the Taliban in Bajaur for a long time and reportedly has links with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: One person was killed and 16 others sustained injuries when an improvised explosive device went off at a busy market here on Thursday. According to sources, the device was packed in a plastic can and put in a bag that was detonated through a remote control. They said that the powerful blast rocked the market of cellular phone sets in the busy commercial area near Hashtnagri. The blast damaged several shops in the vicinity. Seventeen persons were injured in the blast. They were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital where one of them identified as Qari Hidayatullah succumbed to his injuries after he was operated upon in the evening. Doctors said that he remained unconscious for several hours. The officials of bomb disposal squad said that about three kilograms of explosives were used in the blast. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post, The Nation.
PESHAWAR: The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday arrested a senior police officer and a contractor for embezzling funds during procurement of weapons, equipment and vehicles in 2009-10. A news release issued by NAB said budget officer of police Javed Khan and contractor Arshad Majeed were arrested for causing huge loss valuing billions of rupees to the national exchequer. It said more arrests would be made in the days to come. The release said on receipt of complaints, NAB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa authorised an inquiry against the senior provincial police officers and others for alleged embezzlement in procurement of weapons, equipment and vehicles in 2009-10 by violating government rules and thus, causing a huge loss to the national kitty. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Honorary Consul General of Japan Nawabzada Fazal Karim Afridi said on Thursday that the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) Programme was a major step towards the development of Federally Administered Tribal Areas in general and Khyber Agency in particular. Speaking at a community consultation with CBOs and tribal elders from Jamrud, Landi Kotal and Mullagori regions of Khyber Agency, Mr Afridi said that the Japanese government – which has funded the $12.8 million programme being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme – wanted to extend cooperation for the development of Fata. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman Thursday said a mechanism for talks with the Taliban would be worked out at the JUI-F-convened All Parties Conference (APC) scheduled to be held in Islamabad on February 28 after taking the leaders of all the mainstream parties into confidence. “Details of the declaration adopted in the tribal jirga would be presented before the political leadership, in light of which a strategy for the talks would be evolved,” he said while addressing a news conference after the tribal jirga at the provincial secretariat of the party here. Former chief minister and opposition leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Akram Khan Durrani and chairman of the tribal jirga Malik Qadir Khan were also present on the occasion. The News, The Nation.
BARA: The security forces arrested over 200 suspected persons during a search operation in various areas of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency on Thursday, official sources said.The sources said that the security forces carried out search operation in Gudmalang, Droadda and Baazgarah areas and arrested more than 200 suspected persons and shifted them to nearby Fort Salop FC base for investigation. Meanwhile, one person was killed when hit by a mortar shell in Takhtaki area of Tirah valley in Khyber Agency, tribal sources said. The News.
BANNU: The police defused explosive devices, which were placed near the girls’ school in the limits of Mandan Police Station on Thursday, official sources said. The sources said that acting on a tip-off, the police along with bomb disposal unit (BDU) officials reached Bangashkhel village where unidentified miscreants had placed a bag containing four explosive devices and nine hand grenades in a local graveyard near the Government Girls High School. The News, The Frontier Post, The Nation.
ISLAMABAD: Khayber-Pukhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah Khan is facing wrath of the leadership as defection has started in the ranks of the members of Parliament, belonging to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) who are switching sides to the parties of the opposition. The Engineer is the first governor with civilian background coming from Fata and the ruling party was expecting that he would be widening its base in his area. The ruling party has utterly disappointed with the exit of Haji Munir Khan Orakzai, who was the leader of the Tribal Group of the FATA parliamentarians, currently part of the federal government. The governor was also associates with the group. The News.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHARY
