KALAYA: Nine militants were killed and two security personnel injured in a gunbattle in Orakzai tribal region on Wednesday. Sources said a group of militants launched a two-pronged attack on a security post in Kago Qamar village of Dabori area in the morning. As a result two security men — Zaheer and Abbas — were injured. The injured personnel were airlifted to a hospital in Tal. In the meantime, reinforcements of the security forces arrived and the fighting continued for two hours. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post.
PESHAWAR: Workers and supporters of Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party will not hoist their parties’ flags on their offices and houses in Wana of South Waziristan Agency and its surrounding villages due to militant threats. However, activists of other political parties, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami, are exceptions, it is learnt. Sources said local Taliban Shura led by commander Salahuddin Ayubi had feared threat to ANP and PPP supporters from proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and asked local leaders of the two parties not to hoist flags on their offices, shops and houses. Dawn.
MARDAN: A gunman shot dead a policeman and injured another in an attack on a police team protecting women polio workers in Mardan’s Mosam Koroono area on Wednesday. The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks on people working on the UN-backed vaccination campaign. In December, gunmen killed nine women health workers carrying out polio vaccinations in Karachi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In February, a police constable was shot dead in Ghala Dhere Union Council. Dawn, The Express Tribune, The Frontier Post, The Nation.
BARA: Former senator from Khyber Agency Nasir Khan has rejected allegations of being involved in drugs smuggling and having family connections with terrorists, saying his rivals would face defeat in election for NA-46. Addressing Khyber Union workers’ convention at its office in Peshawar on Wednesday, he said he could not be blackmailed into withdrawing from contesting the coming election by levelling false charges against him. Former federal minister for environment and candidate for NA-46 Hameedullah Jan had filed an application with returning officer (RO), seeking the disqualification of the two brothers and alleged they were involved in drug smuggling and supporting Khyber Agency-based militants. The News.
CHARSADDA: Police recovered two bodies from Agra road in Shabqadar on Wednesday. According to Prang police they got information that two bodies were lying on Agra road so a police party was sent there. The police recovered the bodies and brought them to DHQ hospital for postmortem and later handed them over to relatives. The police identified the bodies from the identity cards found in their pockets. One of the deceased was identified as Sadaqat Shah of Matta Mughulkhel, Shabqadar and Adam Saz of Bara Mohala Shahbazkhel. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: As the Pakistan army battles the combined forces of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) and the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in the Tirah valley, the people who call this battleground home have little choice but to flee for their lives. One such refugee is 70-year-old Yar Muhammad Khan, who reached Peshawar along with 40 family members after facing immense hardships on the way, with some of his family members falling sick because of the severe cold. “Our houses had been torched by militants of Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam and the TTP. We were forced to migrate to safer places in Kohat and Peshawar to save our lives, leaving our belongings behind in haste,” he lamented. The Express Tribune.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) caretaker government has chalked out a security plan for all polling stations on Election Day. Briefing journalists at the Peshawar Press Club’s ‘Guest Hour’ programme on Tuesday, provincial caretaker Information Minister Mussarat Qadeem said more than 6,000 security officials will be deployed at polling stations across the province and the army would be called in for assistance, if required. “All stations will be provided fool-proof security,” he said. The Express Tribune.
LONDON: The start of an Afghan-led peace deal with the Taliban is needed to secure the future of Afghanistan after British troops leave, a group of British MPs has said. The Defence Select Committee warned that failure to do so could lead to civil war in Afghanistan. The UK had a responsibility to use its influence to “make Afghanistan work” after 2014, the MPs added. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK would help Afghans to reach “a sustainable political settlement”. The Frontier Post, The Nation.
PESHAWAR – The women activists of a non-governmental organisation have demanded of the caretaker government to take further steps to ensure maximum participation of women voters in the upcoming general elections in the country. They viewed that women could play their role in brining a positive change through the democratic process in the country by ensuring the use of their constitutional right to vote. Owing to ineffective steps, the women activists alleged that women participation in electoral process was remained scanty in the past. They also demanded reserved seats for the tribal women in national and provincial assemblies to raise voice through elected representatives for the rights of tribal people. The women activists also urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to fully enforce their code of conduct relating to ensure maximum number of voters at polling stations. The Nation.
FRC REPORT
PARRACHINAR: Election campaigns in Kurram Agency have gain momentum and different political parties are holding their political rallies in the area, FRC learnt. In this connection the Awami National Party held their public rally on Dandar road of Parrachinnar the other day in which a great number of people participated. The speakers urged the people to support their party manifesto in the coming elections as their party succeeded considerably in establishing peace in Kurram Agency through concrete efforts in the past five years, and would continue to work for it in the future.
