LANDI KOTAL: Six members of a family were killed when a mortar fell on a house in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency on Wednesday, sources said. They said that a stray mortar fired from an undisclosed location hit the house of Ghani Gul in Sponrhai area of Kukikhel, killing six members of his family. Meanwhile, security forces said that curfew would be imposed in the entire Bara subdivision of Khyber Agency from Thursday morning. They made announcements through loudspeakers in most parts of Bara, advising local people to remain inside their houses till next order. The security forces didn’t cite any reason for imposition of the indefinite curfew in the entire Bara. Dawn, Daily Mashriq.
SWABI: The district administration and health officials after holding successful talks with the vaccinators have decided to resume the ongoing anti-polio campaign in the district. Deputy Commissioner Syed Mohammad Shad said that they succeeded in convincing the vaccinators to resume their duties from Thursday to complete the ongoing anti-polio drive. In this connection, two meetings were held at the office of deputy commissioner to discuss provision of security to the vaccinators and resumption of the polio campaign. The meetings were attended by District Health Officer Dr Zafeer, in-charge of Expanded Programme for Immunisation Dr Mohammad Riaz, Superintendent of Police Abdul Rashid and lady health supervisors. The campaign was put off in the district on Tuesday after an attack on the polio team in Kala village. Dawn.
LANDI KOTAL: Internally displaced persons from Kukikhel tribe on Wednesday protested in Jamrud against the local political administration and Fata Disaster Management Authority for not providing them with food and other necessary goods. Led by IDPs Committee chairman Ikramullah Jan Kukikhel, the protesters marched through the offices of the local political administration and converged on the district Bab-i-Khyber holding placards and banners and shouting slogans against the local administration and FDMA. Mr Kukikhel told protesters that more than 2,000 families of the tribe fled homes after the Taliban occupied their land in Tirah valley in May last year but FDMA had registered only 650 of them as IDPs since. Dawn.
TIMERGARA: Three more children, including two from the same family, on Wednesday died of measles in Kurshong and Utala villages of Maidan tehsil in Upper Dir district. The viral disease had claimed the life of a local girl, Raziat, 6, a day ago.Local officials said Amjad, 7, her sister, Roma, 5, and another girl were the three children killed by measles on Wednesday. They added that many more victims of the viral disease had been hospitalised in the region. The officials said most of the measles cases had been reported in Balu Khan, Kurshong and Utala areas. When contacted, district health officer Dr Shaukat said he had learnt about the four deaths but couldn’t say if they were caused by measles. He said he would send a team of experts to the region today (Thursday) to ascertain if the children died of measles. The DHO said he couldn’t dispatch the team to the region earlier because all officials of the health department were ‘too busy’ with the three-day anti-polio campaign that ended on Wednesday. Dawn.
MIRANSHAH: Three soldiers were injured when unidentified people attacked a military convoy with an improvised explosive device (IED) on Bannu-Miranshah road on Wednesday, military sources said. The IED planted on the main road went off when the military convoy was passing through the area. A military vehicle was damaged and three soldiers sustained injuries in the blast. The injured soldiers were later admitted at a military hospital in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Meanwhile, 10 mortar shells fired from across the border in Afghanistan landed in Loli Faqeeran village of Ghulam Khan area in North Waziristan, officials said. Also, the tribesmen expressed resentment over non-stop curfew in the tribal region that caused hardships to the residents. Local administration first clamped curfew on North Waziristan on Thursday and Sunday where all the shops and markets as well as educational institutions remained closed. The News.
PESHAWAR: The Fata Secretariat will distribute Rs500 million re-appropriated funds to the tribal people who maintained peace and ensured normality in their areas. A press release said the funds were lying with the Fata Secretariat and awaiting approval from the Finance Division. “Once the assent is given, a representative committee will distribute the money among the areas where Village Defence Councils played a pivotal role in not only repulsing the ploys of the miscreants but also maintaining peace and ensuring a semblance of normality in their respective areas,” said the communication. During the height of the militancy in the Fata during 2009, the Fata Secretariat under the auspices of the federal government and in collaboration with the security forces conceived a comprehensive strategy of raising Qaumi Lashkars, peace committees and correspondingly strengthening the political administrations to effectively counter the adverse ramifications of the militancy. The strategy aimed at restoration the civil dispensation. The News.
KOHAT: Two persons were shot dead in the district on Wednesday, police sources said. The sources said that Riaz Ali entered the house of his brother, Mumtaz Ali, and allegedly opened fire on him, killing him on the spot. The motive behind the murder was stated to be a property dispute.Meanwhile, the accused Nazu and Gulab allegedly gunned down Sher Ali Khan in Janglekhel over a family dispute. The News.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The police arrested a militant in the limits of City Police Station and recovered explosives from his possession, sources said on Wednesday. The sources said the police raided a house in Kumharnwala in the limits of City Police Station and arrested Asif Naveed and recovered a suicide jacket, 15 kilograms of explosives and a pistol from the house. The News.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Barrister Masood Kausar while conceding to a proposal from Fata Youth Assembly, a non-political, non-partisan and non-profitable organisation, has directed the concerned authorities to formulate Fata Youth Policy. He further desired that a complete draft, encompassing views of the respective youth, should be presented to him within the shortest possible time. He was talking to the office bearers and leading members of the Fata Youth Assembly who called on him under the leadership of its Chairperson, Ms Mehrin Afridi at Governor’s House on Wednesday. The governor highly appreciated the proposal and said, “this is a genuine request and I will ensure that the proposed document must reflect aspirations of Fata youth to the utmost level”. The Nation.
NAWAF KHAN, CHAUDHARY SHARAFAT ALI
