One child was killed and four others injured in artillery shelling on a Miranshah village allegedly by security forces here Monday night. It was learnt that security forces deployed at the Amin Picket resorted to indiscriminate artillery shelling after unknown people attacked a post with a rocket. Local tribesmen said besides other houses, the houses of two local tribesmen, Mufti Wali Khan and Khwaja Mohammad Khan, were also targetted. A minor son of Khwaja Mohammad was killed while he himself was seriously injured. Family members of Khwaja Mohammad said his son was seriously injured but died of his injuries due to lack of any medical cover. They said they had approached the political administration and military authorities to allow them to shift the injured people to hospital, but they refused. The villagers said heavy firing and artillery shelling was going on in the area. The government on Monday lifted four days of curfew from North Waziristan. The News, The Frontier Post.
Six persons, including a traffic constable, sustained injuries when a bomb planted on a bicycle went off in Shewa Adda near here on Monday, official sources said. The sources said suspected militants had parked the cycle fitted with explosive material at the busy Shewa Adda Chowk and triggered an explosion with a remote-controlled device. As a result, six persons, including a traffic constable, sustained injuries. The locals shifted the injured to the Civil Hospital at Kalu Khan. The hospital sources said that condition of two injured was precarious. The News.
Authorities on Monday lifted curfew in the North Waziristan Agency after three days. The political agent Siraj Ahmed Khan announced lifting curfew that was imposed on Friday after attack on stadium check post and killing of an FC man. Curfew had caused problems to the people and a delegation of local elders and religious scholars led by Maulvi Gul Ramzan met authorities in Miramshah to call for lifting the curfew. The delegation assured that such incidents won’t happen in future as tribesmen would keep an eye on the trouble-makers and would try their level best to ensure peace in the agency. The decision to lift curfew was welcomed by the shopkeepers and people who thronged bazaars for shopping to celebrate Eidul Azha.
LANDI KOTAL: The security forces on Monday recovered huge quantity of ammunition from a house at the Torkhum border on Monday. Officials said that a raid was conducted on a house in Bacha Maina area of Torkhum after a tip-off from intelligence agencies. Upon search some 21,000 rounds of M-16 automatic rifle were recovered from specially designed cavities at the house. Forces also took the owner of the house, Shabistan, into custody and shifted him along with the seized ammunition to the army camp. Dawn.
Six persons were injured as two blasts rocked Swabi when Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti arrived in the district on an official visit on Monday. The first bomb, planted in a motorcycle near Sehsat Medical Centre on Swabi-Jahangira road, exploded as soon as the motorcade of chief minister passed through the area. The officials of bomb disposal squad said that three kilograms of explosives were used in the expulsion. No casualty was reported in the blast. The chief minister was on his way to inaugurate Swabi-Jahangira and Swabi-Topi roads.
The second blast occurred in Shewa Adda that injured six persons including a traffic constable. Sources said that an explosive device was planted in a bicycle parked in Shewa Adda Chowk that went off with a big bang, injuring six persons. The local people took part in rescue work and shifted the injured to a hospital in Kalu Khan. The injured were identified as Rashid Bahadar, Khursheed Ali, Shad Ali, Iqbal Hussain, Waris Khan and 11-year-old Sadiq Usman. Sources said that two of the injured were in critical condition. Dawn, The News, The Frontier Post.
A spokesman for TESCO has said that two missiles were fired at 66 KV grid station Orakzai agency by some unknown miscreants last night. In a statement issued here Peshawar he said that one of the missiles hit the yard of the grid station causing minor damages to the building. However, he said that power supply was not disrupted due to the sabotage incident. The Frontier Post.
After the deadly attack on activist Malala Yousufzai a few weeks ago, another schoolgirl from Swat, Hina Khan, who was a pioneer in raising voice against Taliban atrocities in the Malakand Valley, is now claiming to be on the Taliban’s hit list. What is more worrying for her and her family is that despite repeated requests for security no steps has been taken to protect them after they fled from Swat and moved to Islamabad. According to Dawn.com, the teenager, a student of class 11, had publicly denounced militants’ atrocities in 2009. “I had left Swat with my family because the militants had threatened girls’ education there but now I feel I would not be able to go to school in Islamabad after these renewed threats,” she told Dawn.com. Hina held a press conference at the National Press Club in 2008 after her friends in Swat had told her that the militants were becoming more intolerant towards girls seeking education and started bombing schools. “I raised my voice publicly for the sake of their future,” she said. Dawn, The News.
The tribal people displaced from Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency owing to attacks from across the Afghan border have started returning to their native villages as administration has declared the area free of militants. However, they complain that they are facing plethora of problems as UNHCR has not awarded them the status of internally displaced persons. According to official data, 4,225 tribal people of Salarzai vacated their houses and migrated to safer places when hundreds of militants attacked their villages from Kunar province of Afghanistan. The security forces and local tribal lashkar cleared the region of militants on Sept 17 and claimed to have killed 100 attackers including some of their key commanders. The militants also claimed inflicting heavy losses on security forces and tribal lashkar. Dawn.
Governor Masood Kausar has extended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010 to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) after the president’s approval. A notification in this respect was issued by the provincial home and tribal affairs department on Monday, making crimes against children punishable in Pata. Under Article 247 of the Constitution, the laws enacted by parliament and provincial assembly are not applicable to Pata unless the governor orders its extension to such areas with the prior approval of the president. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA) was approved by the provincial assembly on Sept 21, 2010. The governor assented to it on Oct 29, 2010. Now, after almost two years, the government has extended it to Pata, including Swat, Chitral, Buner, Shangla, Malakand, Upper and Lower Dir districts. Dawn, The News.
About 70 stone crushing units have been closed in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency for the last three years owing to the ongoing military operation and worse law and order situation, according to sources. They said that closure of stone crushing units cause huge financial losses to the owners. Almost all those units were set up along Besai Ghar, a mountain, in Shalobar-Qambar area of Bara at different times. Sources told Dawn that about 3,000 local labourers were attached to those units. They said that security forces in consultation with local political administration closed down all those units after the start of military operation in September 2009. Security officials at that time apprehended that explosive material, used for blasting huge stones at Besai Ghar, was also smuggled to different militant organisations. A ban on use of explosives for all types of stone excavation was also imposed besides closure of crushing units. Dawn.
FRC REPORT:
Parrachinnar: Security forces targeted the hideouts of militants using heavy weaponry in the Mamoo zai area of upper oarakzai agency on Monday, frc field reporter learnt. According to details security forces targeted three hide outs of militants in the upper orakzai agency thereby killing at least eight militants and injuring six others. Militants fled the area after the military attack by taking refuge in the nearby mountains of the agency.
Parrachinnar: A ceremony was organized on the opening eve of Chinnar Blood Bank in Parrachinar here on Tuesday, frc field reporter said. According to details a blood bank has been set in Parrachinar wih the name of Chinnar blood bank. The center is situated near to Agency Head Quarters hospital. The ribbon cutting session was done by the patients suffering from Thalasemia. Ceremony was attended by people from different races of life. While addressing the ceremony the guest speakers lauded the establishment of Blood Bank and held it very useful for the needs of poor patients.
Parrachinaar: Locals of the Parrachinaar Kurram Agency awaits the regular postal service by the Pakistan Post despite peace in the agency, frc field reporter. According to details, the local of parrachinnar are facing a number of problems due to the lack of postal service by Pakistan Post notwithstanding the peace in the area. Due to this problem the local of the area are receiving their posted mails after due dates and in some cases after two to three months delays. The local demanded of the government to revive the service of Post as soon as possible.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHRY
