Police security: Jammers ineffective against remote-controlled bombs
PESHAWAR:
Signal jammers installed in police vehicles are not working
as expected, since the police have come under several remote-controlled
bomb attacks recently.
People familiar with the matter told that the devices had been installed in all vehicles used by law
enforcement agencies to prevent remote-controlled blasts by jamming
frequencies used by attackers.However, police came under attack by such a device in the suburban village of Sheikhan earlier in July, leaving the usefulness of the devices questionable.
A police official requesting anonymity said that signal jammers that were provided to ministers and MPAs were useful, but the units provided to the police mobiles were not. “Why were these tiny machines installed in our vehicles without being properly tested in the first place?” he asked.
An expert at the telecommunications department of the police, who requested not to be named, said there were two kinds of jammers that worked on different frequencies.
The first are called radio frequency (RF) jammers, used to interrupt the frequencies mainly in remote-controlled bombs, TV sets, cars and other devices using these wavelengths. The second type of device is called GSM jammers which block mobile phone signals.
“Unfortunately, installing just one type of the jammers is not enough,” he said. “In a majority of cases, attackers use the RF frequency which is blocked, but sometimes where mobile phone signals are used, the devices are completely ineffective.”
Police vehicles mostly have RF jammers installed in their vehicles. The GSM jammers are available in the market for about Rs35,000.
“A lot of police officers have bought the GSM devices themselves and installed them as the government does not provide them,” he added.
He also said that jammers were easily available in Karachi for a few thousand rupees. “Several mosques are even equipped with it,” he said. Ultra-portable devices are also available that can be carried in pockets that jam all mobile phones within a radius of a few metres.
No high-ranking police official was available for comment on the matter.
DSP Khurshid, whose vehicle was attacked in the Sheikhan village, said that there was a jammer installed in his vehicle. “But they only work when the engine is running, and I had switched off my engine,” he said.
Late monsoon: Downpours wreak havoc in the north
PESHAWAR:
The monsoon finally made its presence felt on Wednesday in the northern parts of the country.
At least nine people were killed and 11 others injured due to a rise
in river water levels in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) triggered by heavy
rainfall. Aside from the inundation of a number of areas, including
Nowshera, the rains also caused heavy landslides that have stranded a
number of tourists for days.Rains also lashed Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and affected communication networks. In Punjab, rising water-levels have set off alarms for authorities.
An official of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) told that K-P had received 140mm rain in the past 24 hours, including 24mm in Kakul, 29mm in Chirat, 17mm in Risalpur, 21mm in Saidu Sharif and 9.5mm in Malam Jabba.
According to a Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) flood report sent to the chief minister, rivers in Balakot, Garhi Habibullah, Dadar, Jabori, Azakhel, and Pir Pyaie areas, flooded due to heavy rainfall. The report said six residents were killed in Mansehra while 11 others were injured.
PDMA spokesperson Adnan Khan told that PDMA Director General Shahzad Khan Bangash had called upon all key officials of the Provincial Emergency Operation Center (PEOC) to immediately visit the flood-hit areas.
“We are meant to respond in an emergency situation. The situation is normal now, but, in case, if the situation gets worse, we are ready to respond to it,” Khan said, adding that funds had been disbursed to all District Coordinator Officers, while schools had been identified to house displaced flood victims. Torrential showers flooded Kunhar River in Mansehra district, where one person was killed. Two people were also killed in the Garhi Habibullah area due to flashfloods, while two deaths were reported in the Angrai union council of Balakot. Meanwhile, a pickup van was submerged and another death was also reported in the Biseyan union council of Balakot due to flashfloods.
Landslides
The heavy rains triggered more hazards. Landslides were reported in Mansehra and traffic was suspended due to roadblocks from Dadar to Jabori and Garhi Habibullah to Balakot.
Heavy downpours lashed upper Hazara on Sunday which resulted in landslides at three different locations near Balakot, suspending traffic on Kaghan road. Several tourists were stranded on both sides of the road, police officials said.
Balakot police told the media that landslides in the area had completely cut off the area from Mansehra, Kaghan and Kashmir. A tourist from Lahore, Naeemullah Khan, told the media that he had been stranded on the Kaghan side with dozens of tourists who were due to celebrate Eid with their families in other parts of the country.
Nowshera
Heavy rainfall in Nowshera led to flashfloods which inundated around 300 houses, washed away around 80 cows in the Pirpiyaye area of Nowshera and killed three people, whose bodies were later recovered.
District Coordinator Officer Nowshera Ayaz Mandokhel told that cooked food along with non-food items had been provided to all flood victims in Ali Baig, Amangarh, Pirpiyaye and Azakhel Payan villages, adding that health coverage would be provided to the victims on Thursday.
Meanwhile, flashfloods damaged roads in a remote area of on Buner district, Malakand division.
Flashflood warning
According to the Flood Warning Cell Peshawar, moderate to heavy rainfall was expected over Kohat, Bannu, Peshawar, Mardan and Hazara divisions during the next 48 hours. The warning cell added that the torrential showers could lead to flashfloods of medium to high intensity in the Kabul, Kurram, Gambela and Swat rivers.
Punjab
In Punjab, floods are expected in the catchment areas of Rivers Ravi and Chenab, according to the Flood Forecasting Division. Medium to high intensity floods are also expected in Chenab and Jhelum rivers during the next 48 hours. Murree received 60 mm rain‚ Golra 48‚ Kotli 36‚ Jhelum 36‚ Abbotabad‚ 24‚ and Rawalpindi 17 on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. In the outskirts of Rawalpindi, three children were killed on Wednesday when the roof of their house collapsed on them as downpours continued for the third day.
AJK
In Azad Jammu Kashmir, various parts of Mirpur district were in the grip of heavy intermittent rainfall. The rainfall adversely affected electricity supply, roads and telecommunications in the areas, comprising of Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimbher districts. The newly-constructed New Mirpur city was amongst the worst-affected areas where several houses and link roads were inundated.
Sindh
On the other hand, lack of rainfall in Sindh has created a drought-like situation in Thar Desert, forcing people to migrate to barrage areas. Three union councils of Badin district including Pangrio are situated close to the desert area of Thar, where a lack of rainfall and no water in irrigation canals has severely affected agriculture in the region.
Absconders: Police get a week to start campaign
The directions were issued by District Police Officer Suhail Tajik on taking charge. He directed the station house officers and the sub-divisional police officers to prepare lists of top ten POs in their areas and send them to his office.
Missing For Two Weeks: Police rescue kidnapped doctor
MITHI: A young doctor, who was kidnapped almost 15 days ago, was rescued by the police on Thursday. After receiving a tip-off, police arrived at Akbar Bagh near Naukot but the kidnappers managed to escape, leaving Dr Bhairo Mal behind. The police escorted Mal to his home at Deplo.
Militants kill three police in Hangu
Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the killings, which took place in Hangu district Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which lies along the Afghan border.
Police blamed Taliban militants for the attack, saying they fired on a patrol party and fled.
“Taliban militants are active in this area and they are responsible for the attack,” Hangu police chief Mian Mohammad Saeed told AFP by telephone, adding that three officers were killed.
Gul Jamal, another senior police official, confirmed the incident and blamed “terrorists” for the attack.
“We have cordoned off the area and have launched a search operation,” Jamal said.
Pakistan says 35,000 of its people, including more than 3,000 soldiers, have been killed as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks and the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan.
Road safety: Traffic police to regulate private driving schools
The decision was taken after complaints were received that such schools were not producing quality drivers despite overcharging students. Initial estimates reveal there are at least 18 driving schools in the private sector charging between Rs5,000 and Rs8,000 per student. They offer 15-day and one month driving courses.
Traffic Police Inspector Asghar Marwat said that they intended to regulate driving schools that were operating without supervision. He said that the learners’ ‘L’ sticker should be placed on all vehicles used by these schools. An emergency brake must also be installed in all cars used for driving lessons.
“We will allot specific routes to these schools… schools cannot be within three kilometres of each other as well,” he explained. A one-month minimum course will be enforced and fees will not be more than Rs3,000 per course. The official fee for a one-month driving course at driving schools run by the Traffic Police is just Rs2,500. “Our inspectors will visit these schools routinely,” he added.
The owners of the private driving schools have been invited to a meeting where they will be informed about the decision made by the Traffic Police. A draft of the regulation has been sent to the Traffic DIG for approval and will be implemented once approved.
Moderate 5.4 quake hits northern areas
The quake’s epicentre, at a depth of 35 kilometres, was recorded some 119 kilometres from Mingora in the northern Swat District and 130 kilometres from Gilgit.
The quake struck near the border between Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and Indian Kashmir around 1:30 am local time.
Pakistan was hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8, 2005 that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless.
Militant attack: Bomb attached to donkey explodes in Orakzai Agency
HANGU:
A bomb strapped to a donkey sent by militants detonated in Ferozkhel Mela, on Saturday.
Lower Orakzai Assistant Political Agent Fazal Qadir said that the
donkey bearing the explosive was sent to explode in the main bazaar of
Ferozkhel. “The bomb exploded around 500 meters away from the market
near a deserted field,” he added.After the explosion, security personnel and paramilitary troops began a search operation. Eight suspects were arrested. In another incident, militants destroyed the house of Maulana Aziz, a cleric, by planting explosives in the boundary wall of the house in Shahokhel, Hangu.
An official said that Maulana Aziz was from Orakzai Agency, where an operation had been launched against militants. No human loss was reported in the blast. No one had yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Party politics: PTI prepares for intra-party elections
PESHAWAR:
With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s
eyes set on Waziristan as a destination for his peace caravan, the
party’s leaders and workers are active in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to
garner as much support as they can.
According to a party member, close aides of Imran Khan have now
shifted their focus to provincial politics on the directives of the
party’s central leaders. The announcement of Shoukat Yousafzai as a
candidate to contest intra-party provincial elections is the
continuation of selecting trusted members for important party portfolios
- a process through which central leaders look to strengthen the
party’s position in the province.Yousafzai had earlier resigned from Imran Khan’s political advisory group. He instead lobbied important party leaders to select certain candidates for different provincial party portfolios.
When asked about the ongoing not-so-secret consultation among provincial leaders which threatens to splinter PTI into several groups, the party’s provincial spokesperson Shah Farman called the lobbying for intra-party elections a ‘popularity contest among friends’. He added that no one in the party, at this crucial stage, could afford to part ways.
So far, there are four possible competitors that may contest PTI’s intra-party elections.
According to sources within the party, potential contenders for PTI’s provincial presidency are former K-P president Asad Qaiser and Pervaiz Khattak, who left Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao to join the party.
The exposed intra-party disputes have adversely affected
PTI’s progress in K-P. It has kept any major political figure in the
province from joining the party. Nationalist leader and former Awami
National Party stalwart Hashim Babar was the last major political figure
to join PTI. He joined the party this April.
At least 25 killed in Orakzai clash: Officials
The skirmish, which took place in the Ghaljo area of the northwestern Orakzai tribal region, began when militants ambushed a military patrol.
Officials said 18 soldiers were wounded in the ambush.
The death toll could not be independently verified, and militants often dispute official figures.
The military has been conducting operations against militants in Orakzai for months.
Several militant groups are active in the northwestern semi-autonomous tribal regions, near the border with Afghanistan, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for many of the bombings across the country in recent years.
Power struggle: Landowner locks down school demanding induction of son as watchman
MANSEHRA:
Dozens of students have been taking classes outside their
schools, while hundreds of others are staying home, since the building
was locked by its landowner on Wednesday.
The owner, Nobatullah Shah, claimed to have donated the land for
Government High School Khabal Bala, Chattarplain, on a verbal condition
that his son would be appointed as watchman in the institute. He reacted
and locked the school when this promise was not fulfilled, sources in
the education department.They added that one of his sons threatened to blow up the school if the administration tried to unlock the building.The officials said that the school was constructed on the land about two decades back; however, it was destroyed during the 2005 earthquake. The building and later reconstructed by Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority and handed over to the education department in 2011.
The officials said that the education department had appointed two of his two sons, Wajid Shah and Zarghun Shah as watchmen in the school. The landowner again applied for the appointment of his third son as watchman recently. However, officials said that the appointment could not be made due to certain procedural delays, which infuriated Shah.
On June 28, his sons locked the school building forcing the teachers and over 300 students to either return or take classes outside the closed building. “Unless my brother is hired as a watchman in the school, the doors would remain closed,” Wajid told students and teachers outside the building. He added that his family merited appointment since they had donated the land. He also reportedly threatened to demolish the school building if the education department ever tried to forcibly unlock it.
When contacted, the school principal, Jahangir Shah, confirmed that two of Nobatullah’s sons have already been serving as watchmen in the school, but the landowner was still adamant on the appointment of his third son, which is “unjustifiable”. He further said that Nobatullah locked the school on June 28 and informed his seniors, Executive District Officer (EDO) Education and District Officer Education, two days later.
He said that the school remained closed for summer vacations from July 1 to July 31 but when the academic session resumed on August 1, he again contacted the landowner who turned down his request, saying that the school building will remain closed till the appointment of his son. The principal said that more than half of the students have stopped attending classes due to the prevailing situation while the rest are forced to attend classes on the side of a drain in front of the school building.
On the other hand, Nobatullah claimed that only one of his sons, Wajd, was appointed as a watchman while the administration had appointed some other person from another village against his second son. Contrary to the education department’s statement, he said he has only two sons.
Amarat Shah, another villager who also claimed to be the shareholder of the same land, condemned the closure of the school. He accused Nobatullah of getting his two sons appointed in connivance of the education department officials, although, being the partial owner of the land, he enjoys the same rights he him.
Meanwhile, EDO Education Mansehra Umar Khan Kundi was not available for comments while another official of the education department expressed ignorance over the matter. He said that nobody could lock the school building and deprive students of their right to education. He said those who locked the school will be taken to task under the government-employees rules.
Over a hundred de-radicalised militants to be freed
PESHAWAR:
Authorities are preparing to release 132 white category
militants (suspects with no charges filed against them) in the near
future.
The Peshawar High Court had directed security agencies to release
these suspected militants against heavy surety bonds which ensure they
do not become involved in such activities again. They are said to have
successfully undergone de-radicalisation treatments for three months at
different internment centres in the province.Officials at the home and tribal affairs department 194 suspected militants had been taken to an internment centre in Lakki and another 321 people, arrested from different areas, were currently being de-radicalised at an internment centre in Malakand. They said that around 1,035 people had earlier been taken to the internment centres upon court instructions.
Officials said that a new internment centre had been established in the Drosh area of Chitral. With the induction of the Drosh internment centre, the number of centres established in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has reached seven. The government has also issued a sum of Rs100 million for the provision of better living facilities to people detained at these centres.
Security agencies have been hosting many suspected militants at different internment centres. However, official sources at the home and tribal affairs department revealed that the internment centres were currently running atfull capacity. They added it would be difficult to host most people.
The centres have been established in Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Timergara, Pythom, Malakand and Fizagat apart from the new one in Drosh.
Meanwhile, PHC has asked security agencies to produce those who had been held for crimes before the court.
With an increasing number of petitions being filed against enforced disappearances, the court has been trying to hear the majority of the cases on the same day. The next hearing of such cases will take place on August 16.
Energy pow-wow: Decentralisation of power sector demanded
PESHAWAR:
The Awami National Party (ANP) along with other participating
political parties in the Energy Conference held at Chief Minister House
on Thursday appealed to the centre to hand over authority of
electricity generation and distribution to the provinces.
The conference was meant to solicit recommendations for resolving the power crisis in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).The K-P provincial government led by ANP had convened an All Parties Conference (APC) on the power issue, but on the refusal of opposition parties including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam-Fazlurrehman, Jamaat-e-Islami and PPP-Sherpao to attend the APC, the moot was renamed Energy Conference.
K-P Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti chaired the conference that was attended by PPP provincial chief, Senator Sardar Ali and K-P Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Afan Aziz.
Senator Afrasiab Khattak, ANP provincial president briefing the media after the conference said, “we had invited all the political parties and the concerned stake holders to attend APC to cogitate on how to address the power crisis but unfortunately it was given a political tinge and they (opposition political parties) did not come.”
Khattak said that the aim of the energy conference was to find out the factors behind the power crisis and their solution.
He said the conference noted that K-P could produce cheap power costing Rs2 per unit, but the same was being sold on high rates to the province.
“The whole problem is the centralisation of the power generation and distribution and we demand that it should be made a provincial subject,” Khattak said.
He rejected the idea of Punjab government that seeks power outages on equitable basis.
Power load management should be according to the electricity consumption in various provinces of the federation, he said.
According to Khattak, participants of the energy conference recommended that recovery process of Peshawar Electric Supply Company should be more effective along with controlling line losses.
The K-P chief minister has directed, after a briefing by experts on power production, that various options of power production including small projects on canals should be given due consideration, Khattak added.
He said that the CM also directed that a proper study be carried out on how the province can harness the gas sector for production of power in Karak district.
“We will continue the consultation process and will hold more such meetings on the issue of power,” the ANP stalwart maintained and claimed today’s conference would prove a fruitful one.
ANP will soon present the recommendations of the energy conference to the prime minister, Khattak said.
In his brief statement on the occasion Senator Sardar Ali said that he agreed with the demand for handing over generation and distribution of power to the provinces.
Cross-border attack: Nine militants killed as forces repulse incursion
UPPER DIR:
Nine militants were killed and several others were injured as
security forces repulsed a cross-border assault on a check post in the
Bin Shahi area of Barawal Valley on Thursday.
Two security personnel were also killed when they stepped on land mines during the battle, an official said.The official said that dozens of militants from Afghanistan sneaked into Pakistani territory around 2:00 pm and attacked the check-post, in which two personnel identified as Jamil and Mumtaz were killed when they stepped on a mine while fighting the attackers. One security official, identified as Mudassir, was injured.
The official added that the exchange of fire continued till 6:00 pm in which nine militants were killed and 13 injured. “The attackers took the bodies of their fallen comrades and injured with them back to Afghanistan,” the official added.
A spokesperson for the Malakand chapter of the Taliban, while claiming responsibility for the raid, said that they have inflicted heavy casualties on the security force.
On Tuesday, security forces had repulsed a similar attack by the militants on a security check post in the area, killing two militants. In June, 17 security personnel were killed when dozens of militants from Afghanistan stormed security check posts in the Sunai Darra and Gulunu Sar areas of Barawal.
Missing boy: SHC summons SHO
Station House Officer of the Mominabad police station in Orangi was put on notice to appear before a division bench of the Sindh High Court on August 28 in a petition filed by father and mother of a missing young man. Muhammad Salam and Bashiran Bibi filed the petition maintaining that their son, Muhammad Faisal, left for Saddar where he worked in January 2012 and went missing. The bench after hearing the counsel for petitioners ordering for appearance of SHO and sought comments from respondents who included Sindh government, IGP Sindh and others.
Missing persons: SC seeks report on Adiyala prisoners
Heading a three-member bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard detailed proceedings of the missing persons’ case. During the proceedings counsel for the petitioner, Tariq Asad, said that it had now been proven that the missing persons had been in the custody of agencies for the past 20 months.
He said that the condition of 7 prisoners was extremely critical and asked the court to take immediate action. Justice Jawad S Khawaja remarked that court proceedings would be decided according to the Constitution and the judges will refrain from indulging in arguments based on emotional outbursts or sympathy.
The Chief Justice ordered Raja Irshad, who is counsel for agencies, to collect evidences against the prisoners. Later, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the case till Thursday.
Lawlessness: Crime surges in Ramazan
PESHAWAR:
Despite the special emphasis traditionally placed on patience
and restraint during Ramazan, the month usually witnesses an increase
in crimes, such as murders and thefts, every year.
For instance, four people were killed in Sherkara Matani this month
after being caught in a crossfire between two rival gangs. A similar
case was reported in Paharipura as well, which left two dead.A tremendous increase in the number of robbery and kidnapping cases has also been recorded this month. Meanwhile, there has been no apparent decline in militant activity on the outskirts of the city.
As far as burglaries conducted in broad daylight are concerned, 70 tolas of gold were reportedly stolen from a house in Kotla Mohsin Khan, while Rs50,000 in cash and a laptop were stolen from a house which had been left empty in Askari Colony.
In another incident, six armed men entered a house in Nishtharabad and robbed 25 tolas of gold jewellery and Rs20,000 in cash along with other valuables after they locked the residents in a room. Another incident was reported in Shahbaz Town, Yakatot, where six armed robbers, pretending to be policemen, entered a house and took residents hostage at gunpoint. They made away with Rs1.5 million in cash along with jewellery worth several hundreds of thousands of rupees.
These are some of the few cases that have actually been recorded this month. Many more go unreported since police officials do no always register an FIR.
When contacted, Cantt SP Shabeeh Hussain the police have doubled its patrolling duties during Ramazan. He added that police deployments have also been increased tenfold compared to other months.
Hussain said this month also sees an increase in petty disputes and road accidents about a couple of hours before iftar time.
Meanwhile, an increase in car and motorcycle theft has also been registered. At the same time, reports suggest gambling has more than doubled as well with local police official collecting protection money from the organisers of these rings, rather than shutting them down.
“A DSP has launched a campaign saying people can approach him any time on his personal cell phone with information about gamblers and drug dealers” said a local from Yakatot.
All parties conference: ANP prepares ‘Energy Conference’
PESHAWAR:
Having failed to muster the main opposition parties for its
all parties conference (APC), the ruling Awami National Party (ANP) is
now set to arrange an ‘Energy Conference’ today (Thursday) at the Chief
Minister House.
The opposition parties’ refusal to attend the APC ruled out any
possibility of forging a united stand regarding the power crisis in
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan
Peoples Party Sherpao (PPPS), Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf held ANP equally responsible
for the crisis along with the federal government”.It forced the ANP to give the conference a new moniker as well since only the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) had agreed to attend – hardly a substantial presence by themselves.
Meanwhile, ANP had discussed the APC with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) provincial president Senator Sardar Ali Khan, who lent the idea some support as well.
On Wednesday K-P Minister for Information and Public Relations Mian Iftikhar Hussain made a last appeal to all the political parties, urging them to attend the now-termed Energy Conference and devise a strategy to resolve the power crisis. He was speaking at a presentation on cheap power generation sources, part of ANP’s rehearsal for today’s conference.
“It is not a particular party’s or person’s problem, it’s a national issue… therefore everyone should play their roles in this respect,” Mian Iftikhar said .
In his presentation, Dr Wasim Paracha, President of Oil Exploration Incorporation (OEI), Calgary, Canada, said K-P had abundant natural resources, including oil, gas and coal.
“Thousands of megawatts (MW) can be generated if these resources are properly utilised,” he said adding that flaring gas from Karak district’s Nashpa gas field could be used to generate 200MW within six months at a cost of Rs500 million. Similarly, more than 1,000MW could be produced from flaring gas from all gas fields in Kohat Division, he explained.
Paracha further informed that running water in canals and rivers, air, solar heat and solid waste could be used to produce cheap electricity as well.
Meanwhile, opposition parties confirmed being approached by the ANP once again for the conference and reiterated their refusal to participate.
PML-N provincial general secretary Rahmat Salam Khattak ANP approached his party, but they stand by their refusal to attend the conference.
PPPS provincial president Sikandar Sherpao informed of similar last minute moves but maintained the party would abide by its unanimous decision with the PML-N and JUI-F at the assembly secretariat.
JUI-F Information Secretary Jalil Jan echoed Sherpao’s statement as well, saying his party too would not attend the conference despite the new ANP invitation.
JI spokesperson Israrullah Advocate also confirmed receiving the ANP’s re-invitation. “We are not going to attend any conference convened by ANP,”he said.
PPP senior provincial minister Rahimdad Khan said ANP should have taken the party on board from the start regarding the APC.
“With the general elections inching closer, they (ANP) should not have expected the opposition parties to participate in the APC,” he said. Rahimdad informed, however, that his party will be attending the Energy Conference.
Immunisation drive: K-P witnesses sudden uptick in measles cases
PESHAWAR:
The number of measles cases in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) is
rapidly increasing and posing a threat to its population. However, since
a majority of the population has been vaccinated against the fatal
disease, questions are being asked as to why there has been a sudden
emergence of such a large number of cases.
A total of 4,048 cases have been reported in the first five months of
this year across the province, with 1,276 cases in Peshawar, 642 in DI
Khan, 579 in Malakand, 352 in Swat and 180 in Bannu, according to data
collected by the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) in K-P.Appallingly, a majority of patients who tested positive for measles had been vaccinated against the virus for one to five years, leading many to suspect that the routine vaccinations were either ineffective or expired.
Out of 4,084 cases in the province, 3,029 children were administered vaccinations while the remaining 1,019 were either outside vaccination coverage or their parents were not aware of the importance to provide them timely vaccinations.
Dir Upper, Dir Lower and Lakki Marwat are the three districts where not a single child was vaccinated while a small number of vaccinations were reported in Bannu, Kohistan and Shangla districts. Officials believe that since the government provided vaccination free of charge, the coverage area in K-P managed to vaccinate most children. The officials claim that the recent emergence of cases was due to a poor diet, lack of awareness, poverty, low immunity levels and non-availability of clean drinking water.
The provincial health department only runs a mass campaign to vaccinate children against measles whenever there is a spike in the number of cases in the province, the official added.
While Pakistan’s struggle to eradicate polio is well known since authorities launched a major awareness campaign through print and electronic media, billboards, brochures, and sermons in mosques, measles which is also a preventable illness has been given no such coverage in the government’s expanded programme on immunisation.
“No child from a rich family has been found positive for measles or polio and other diseases and it only hits poor families, which shows that they are deprived of basic necessities of life including proper food, drinking water, knowledge of cleanliness, and awareness of diseases,” an official of the health department said, requesting anonymity.
The official went on to add that vaccination alone could not prevent measles since a poor diet, unclean drinking water and low immunity levels cancel out the effect of vaccinations even if they are administered several times.
“Most drinking water pipelines are laid alongside the sewerage system and thus potable drinking water is contaminated which causes many fatal diseases,” the official said, adding that the government needed to facilitate less-privileged people to improve living standards.
Deputy Director EPI, K-P Dr Jan Baz Afrid told that the programme would sanction an awareness campaign in their strategy against measles, adding that most cases were due to negligence of parents.
“We have provided injections of all diseases to all major hospitals of the province where the residents can get them without charge, but cases are still reported from many districts which shows that parents are not aware of such a facility,” Dr Afridi said.
Timber logging: Forest owners demand lifting of decades-old ban
PESHAWAR:
To control timber theft, private forest owners in Hazara and
Malakand division have demanded the provincial government to lift the
20-year-old ban on private forest logging.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Guzara Forest Owners
Association (GFOA) President Advocate Jahanzeb Khan said that the forest
sector is “ailing” due to the ban imposed on private forest logging
after floods reigned havoc in the area in 1992. He said though the ban
was imposed to improve the forestry sector, it has instead encouraged
the “timber mafia” to exploit small forest owners.Khan accused the government of maintaining double-standards, explaining that every year permits were issued for government-controlled forest logging but private forest owners are barred from availing the facility. He said that if the ban is lifted, the provincial government will receive millions of rupees in revenue generated from legal private logging and it will also put an end to timber smuggling. Khan explained that by allowing permits, the forest owners will get more income on every tree they sell legally in the open market, adding that it will also reduce deforestation in the area.
Khan’s stance was endorsed by former provincial minister Yousuf Khan Tarand.
“The aim behind imposing a ban on forest logging has not been achieved in the last 20 years as government officials have failed to control illegal cutting of forests,” said Tarand. He said that private forest owners are being exploited at the hands of the timber mafia, who purchase expensive wood from them on throwaway rates.
The GFOA president said that private forest owners do not have other resources to manage their livelihood and are compelled to allow timber smugglers to cut their forests. He maintained that haphazard cutting of forests is not only inflicting heavy losses to owners of private forests but is also contributing to environmental degradation.
He said the association representatives sent their demands to the provincial minister for environment and forest and also hoped that Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti will fulfil his promise of allowing licences for private forest logging. The chief minister made the announcement earlier in a public gathering in Alllai subdivision of Batagram District.
Unbridled tree felling robs Nelum valley of its beauty
SWAT:
Once known for its thick forests, clear waterfalls and
wildlife, Elum valley is fast losing its grandeur to unchecked tree
felling by both timber smugglers and locals.
Located in the south of Swat district, the valley links Swat with
Buner and consists of 19 villages with a population of over 6,000.A majority of the locals rely solely on illegally cutting and selling trees in southern parts of the district. Though a number of people said they are aware that the practice is banned and is depleting the valley’s forest resource, they claimed that due to lack of jobs and investment in the valley they have no other means to earn a living.
“We have no other source of income but to cut woods and supply it to big cities,” said a wood cutter, Izhaar Allam. He said the work is difficult as there are no link roads and they have to cover a distance of over 8 kilometres on foot to cut and transport the trees. “If we had the option, we would prefer working in the city any day,” he added.
Some of the locals interviewed, who expressed concern over valley loosing its beauty due to unchecked tree felling, said they don’t have the support to curb the practice.
“Back in 1969, there was a thick forest here but some influential people have been involved in chopping down the trees. If we try to stop them, we face death threats,” said Shaib Jamal, an elder of the valley. He said the locals also cut trees, but claim that is only for cooking and heating purposes. He alleged that the tree smugglers work in connivance with officials of the forest department, who seek grafts for allowing them to illegally cut and transport the trees.
“If the government provides us with basic facilities and work opportunities we will not cut a single tree,” said Adalat Khan, a resident of Nari village in the valley. “But we are completely dependent upon these woods to earn a living,” he reasoned.
To protect the forest from further damage, locals have demand the government to provide them with basic facilities. They insisted that they prefer having access to cities where they could do legitimate work to earn a living.
When approached for comments on the issue, an official of the forest department of Buner district denied the allegations that the department employees facilitate tree smugglers. He insisted that there is strict vigilance over illegal cutting of forests in the valley and the guards are performing their duties efficiently.
Bugti murder case: PHC grants Sherpao 24-day transit bail
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has given a 24-day transit bail
to the former interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Monday.
Sherpao, a Member of National Assembly (MNA) and chairman of the
Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao (PPP-S), requested a transit bail after a
Sibi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Nawaz Khan Barakzai had issued an
arrest warrant againt him. Warrants were issued for all those accused
in Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti’s murder during the case hearing on July 18.
Last week, the former interior minister had filed the application at PHC
seeking a transit bail to travel to Sibi.Sherpao, along with a number of party activists, was present before a single bench comprising of Justice Shahjahan Akhunzada, who accepted the transit bail request till August 30. A sum of Rs100,000 with two reliable sureties were asked for by the court, enabling Sherpao to travel to Sibi and appear before the court for the case hearing on August 15.
The arrest warrants for suspects include former president Pervez Musharraf, former premier Shaukat Aziz, former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, former Balochistan governor Awais Ahmed Ghani, former chief secretary Shoaib Nausherwani and former Dera Bugti DCO Abdul Samad Lasi.
Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, after receiving a transit bail, told the media that the Bugti murder issue was being heard at the court and was under judicial deliberation however maintained that the time Bugti was killed; a military operation was underway in Balchistan. He also said an investigation into the case was underway, adding that he was cooperating with the investigators.
Behind bars: PHC rejects petition for drug peddler
Peshawar Cantt: Army commandos foil hostage-taking bid by terrorists
PESHAWAR:
Two security personnel and three terrorists were reportedly
killed at an intelligence facility in the cantonment area after
prisoners incarcerated at the facility managed to overpower an official
and snatch his rifle Monday night.
Nine high-profile militants are being interrogated at the
intelligence facility located in the cantonment area, sources in the
police and military.“The terrorists were being shifted from one block to another and they got hold of an automatic rifle during this process,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The militants made two sentries hostage and attempted to take control of the building and escape, the official said.
“Two security officials were killed in the ensuing combat,” the official said, adding that a large number of security personnel surrounded the Peshawar cantonment following the incident, and diverted traffic from the roads leading to the area of operation.
“Army commandoes were called in and a several hours’ long operation was launched during which the building was cleared successfully,” the official added.
Another security official said there were several prisoners inside the facility but only four were involved in the incident.
“Three of them were Afghan refugees and one local suspect; during the operation three of the militants were killed while one of them is seriously injured,” the official said.
“Initially, those killed were identified as Wali, Haroon and Khaliq, but further information is awaited,” he added.
Army troops surrounded the entire area for more than seven hours and their cordon ended at 4 in the morning. The blockade whipped up widespread panic in the area.
Citizen’s take: K-P govt festering ire of the people
Residents of K-P’s capital town of Peshawar rebuked the provincial government for failing to control unemployment and inflation, and to ensure continuous supply of electricity across the province during its four-and-a-half-year tenure.
“The people, especially the poor, are fed up of the ANP and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government; prices of food items have doubled during the month of Ramazan and there is no one to keep a check on it,” said Ajmal Khan, a shopkeeper, in Sadar Bazaar. He said that representatives of ANP had promised to provide free electricity to the people if elected, but instead the people are daily facing 18 to 20 hours of power outages. “The government has broken all records of corruption,” he exclaimed.
Adding on to accusations of corruption in the ranks of the ANP government, Nawaz Ali, an English language teacher at a private college, said, “Every post in the government has its price; there is no merit anywhere in the province.” The 30-year-old resident of Shaheen Town claimed that after completing his masters in 2008, whenever he applied for a job in a government organisation, he was asked for bribes to be considered for the post.
He criticized the government for failing to resolve the problems of the people, most notable being unemployment, price hike and loadshedding. He added the people want to bring change, but the government is an impediment to their cause.
“The ANP always claimed to be the champion of the rights of the Pakhtun, but it has failed to prove it during its tenure,” said Rasool Shah, a student of Peshawar University.
“Yes we know that the ANP gave a name to this province, but what will that name do for a poor man who has to pay Rs50 just to get a small piece of ice.”
While the energy crisis has made life miserable for the people, their sufferings are being aggravated by the continuous rise in prices of commodities, said Shah. “I assure you, the people will reject the ruling parties in the next election,” he added.
In the government’s defence, ANP spokesperson Malik Gulam Mustafa said it is against the spirit of the 18th constitutional amendment to carry out “unjustified” loadshedding in K-P. “The province generates 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, while its own consumption stands at around 2,500MW,” said Mustafa, “K-P provides a large part of its electricity to Punjab, which uses up 66 per cent of our country’s electricity.” He said his party has always asked the federation to grant it the autonomy to explore energy resources in K-P, but the issue remains in a limbo.
About the price hike, he said it is a global issue and hence not limited to Pakistan or K-P. However, he said the provincial government announced a package of Rs2.5 billion for the month of Ramazan to ensure that people are provided food items at subsidized rates.
Malik said that the energy crisis is not only an issued confronting ANP, but one that all political parties face. He urged the parties to unanimously find a solution to the energy crisis.
Employees’ woes: PESCO service structure hinders promotions
PESHAWAR:
Owing to the absence of proper mechanism for accreditation,
hundreds of clerical staff and junior office superintendants in Peshawar
Electric Supply Company (Pesco) are waiting to be promoted to higher
grades.
There are four levels of clerical staff working for Pesco – audit, account, revenue and establishment.The issue has its roots in 1995 when the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) promoted audit clerks to grade 11 account and revenue clerks, but ignored the establishment clerks.
There are junior office superintendents in Pesco, who get promoted to senior superintendant and then become superintendents. This hierarchy is not used for superintendents in Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), where junior superintendents are promoted to full superintendents, who may then be appointed assistant directors (AD).
The three categories of clerical staffers from audit, revenue and account are now directly promoted from grade 7 to grade 14 and subsequently termed audit assistants, revenue assistants and account assistants. The establishment clerks, on the other hand, are not accorded promotions in this way since they have to move through superintendent levels in order to be appointed assistants.
“We have the same job as the rest of the clerks”, said Pir Qahirullah, Pakistan Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (PHECLU) provincial convener, adding that the establishment clerical staff have remained in the same category without promotion for prolonged periods of time. “There are instances where a junior clerk has been working in the same position for 30 years”, he added.
These remain in the same position for years while others are promoted, though they are inducted through the same merits, he added.
Fazal Maghbood Akhtar, PHECLU deputy provincial convener, said that the clerks are not categorised through a separate induction process but based on the concerned officer’s discretion. He added that the preparation of service books, completion of travelling allowance bills, making pay lists, permission of new power connections and its due check, dispensary of material and its record and the house requisition for employees are some of the vital duties that establishment clerks carry out.
“These service structure problems create anxiety among
employees which in turn cast a negative impact on their performance,”
said Sagheer Ahmad, a junior office superintendant adding that a
superintendant is given grade 16 in other government departments but in
Pesco they get grade 15.
Mired in neglect: Pari Chehra’s final resting place lies in ruin
PESHAWAR:
The grave of Pari Chehra, once a legendary member of Afghan
royalty, has succumbed to the ravages of time, being mired in neglect
and land disputes.
A visit to the enclosure at Kohati Gate, where the grave is supposed to lie, revealed no signs as to its presence.The property can only be accessed from an entrance facing Koochi Bazaar. The crumbling wall of the compound has been blocked by street vendors and their merchandise; the only way to slip through is an opening in the wall of an adjacent cloth shop.
The enclosure is littered with garbage. Visitors will have to make their way through the thick overgrowth of foliage as well. No semblance of a grave is visible in the enclosure, despite close inspection.
Who was Pari Chehra?
“Pari Chehra was Persian King Nadir Shah Afshar’s favourite queen,” says Mohammad Ibrahim Zia, author of a book on the city’s history.
According to him, she accompanied Afshar when he led his forces in a campaign in India in 1739. Zia informs Pari Chehra fell ill during the journey through Peshawar.
“Pari Chehra died and was buried in a garden at the governor’s palace,” Zia said, adding that a beautiful tomb was also constructed for her.
The property dispute
“There used to be five graves inside this enclosure until a few years ago,” said an aged street vendor, who works in front of the enclosure. The vendor, who did not want to be named, said that a dispute had arisen over this property between two parties hailing from the city’s interior.
“One of the parties tried to sell this land to an Afridi tribal elder from Khyber Agency, who with his armed men took over this property,” he said. The graves were completely destroyed then.
The piece of land has high commercial value as it is situated at the junction of City Circular Road and Koochi Bazaar.
Provincial Minister for Archaeology and Sports Syed Aqil Shah, who announced the preservation of Pari Chehra’s tomb a few months ago, was unavailable for comments.
Environmental measures: 4,000 jobless following old rickshaw ban
The provincial government had announced that vehicles manufacture in 1985 or earlier will not be allowed on streets. The ban was imposed last month by the K-P Directorate of Transport in a bid to curb the growing number of old auto-rickshaws that posed a serious threat to the environment.
However, the drivers are now jobless and in dire need of alternate sources of income. They demand the ban be lifted or they be provided alternate jobs.
“The government has only granted permission to use the old rickshaws on the outskirts of Peshawar where there are not many passengers,” Khyber Drivers’ Union president Murad Khan.
“The provincial government also wants to reduce the ‘rush’ (heavy traffic) by banning our old rickshaws,” Khan said, “But the main reason for the ‘rush’ is the lack of any proper planning by the government for the development of city.” He said that if the government did not lift its ban or provide other suitable jobs, it would infuriate even more rickshaw drivers in the district.
Director of the K-P Directorate of Transport, Manzoor Ahmad, said that the ban on old auto-rickshaws would not only reduce the traffic density but would also help solve pollution problems.
“We have given some consideration to the drivers of old rickshaws by allowing them to be used on roads outside the city,” he added.
Regarding the issuance of permits, which were stopped by the provincial government, Ahmad said a notification would be issued for new permits soon. However, they would only be given to those drivers who have received registrations letters from the Directorate of Excise and Taxation, and would not increase the number of new rickshaws.
Currently there are around 30,000 rickshaws in Peshawar.
Gunmen kill NATO driver in Jamrud: Officials
It was the second fatal shooting in two weeks in the Jamrud area in Khyber district, where Taliban and local militia are active.
After the first shooting on July 24, Pakistan closed the Torkham border crossing, the quickest route from Pakistan’s port of Karachi to the Afghan capital, for nine days.
“Three gunmen in a jeep fired at a Nato truck, killing its driver,” local government official Bakhtiar Khan told AFP.
Nato traffic was suspended for a few hours after the incident.
Sameen Jan, a doctor at the local hospital, said the driver was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest.
Pakistan reopened the Torkham crossing on Saturday, having signed a deal with the United States last Tuesday allowing Nato convoys to travel into Afghanistan until the end of 2015.
Islamabad in July lifted a seven-month blockade on Nato goods passing overland through Pakistan, imposed after botched US air raids killed 24 Pakistani troops in November.
Fatal accident: Gas explosion kills three, injures three
KHAR:
Three people were killed and three others injured when a gas
cylinder exploded at an ice factory in Khar, Bajaur Agency on Saturday.
Abdul Haseeb, a senior political administration officer, said at
around 1pm, a cylinder exploded in Farooq Ice Factory creating a huge
fire that engulfed the entire building.He said he rushed to area to monitor the rescue work and informed the fire brigade. “We took the four injured people and two charred bodies, whose identities could not be confirmed, from the rubble to the Agency Headquarters Hospital (AHQ),” he said.
Paramilitary troops confirmed that it was not a terrorist attack. They added that a fire had erupted in the compressor room due to a leakage. They reported that the cooling plant outside the room remained safe.
Medical Superintendent at the AHQ, Dr Muhammad Riaz, said that the factory’s owner Farooq Khan identified the dead as Rehmat Ali and Saddam Hussain and the injured as Ghani Rahman, Faroosh, Muhammad Zada and Imran, residents of Khar.
Imran was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar where he succumbed to his burn injuries.
ISI-CIA meeting: Spymaster to discuss drones in US
ISLAMABAD: ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam will resume talks on intelligence cooperation and drone strikes during his visit to the US next week, an official said on Wednesday. He will hold talks with CIA director David Petraeus on counter-terror cooperation and intelligence sharing, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.
Resuming supply: NATO routes reopen after two-week suspension
JAMRUD:
Nato supply routes have reopened after a two-week suspension
due to an attack by militants in the Jamrud subdivision of Khyber
Agency.
Assistant Political Agent Jamrud Bakhtiar Mohmand said that Saturday
morning, 15 containers carrying supplies for Nato troops in Afghanistan
passed through the Takhta Baig check-post at Jamurd, advancing to the
Torkham Pak-Afghan border check-point. “A large number of paramilitary
troops also escorted the containers,” he said.An official of the National Logistics Cell (NLC) at Jamrud, wishing to remain anonymous said that all containers had been checked at the terminal. “Not a single one contained weapons. All of them had food and other basic supplies,” he said.
Haji Zar Badshah, a Landi Kotal political administration official, around 11am Saturday the government once again decided to reopen the supply routes. He said seven containers, escorted by paramilitary troops and loaded with goods for Nato forces, reached Landi Kotal Bazaar at 3pm. “They were then parked at the terminal in Torkham for customs clearance,” he said.
A customs official at the Torkham Terminal said they were working on this weekend, which they usually have off, to confirm whether these containers would be allowed to cross the border.
However, not everyone was pleased with the reopening of the routes. Driver Sherin Gul, he was irritated by the erratic opening and closing of the supply routes. He also said that he knew that the job he was doing was extremely dangerous but could not leave his job as his family was undergoing a difficult time. He was forced to carry the Nato goods as he had bought the container on instalments that he has to pay back. “I have to feed my family, that is why I have to put my life on the line,” Gul said.
On July 3, the government decided to reopen Nato supply routes after the US government a public statement about the killing of 24 Pakistani troops at Salala, saying it should not have occurred.
However, on July 24 the government once again stopped the transportation of supplies after unidentified militants opened fire at a container carrying Nato supplies, in which one driver was killed and another injured.
Security plan
A comprehensive security plan has also been chalked out for Nato supplies passing through the district of Peshawar.
A high-ranking police official, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that after a private meeting the decision had been finalised. “Initially we will give three hours for the trucks to pass in the morning. We estimate that around 50 trucks will pass through this time,” he said.
The official further said that as part of the plan, oil tankers would not be allowed to be parked outside, and that they would be parked in terminals provided by police. The current strategy is to ‘keep Nato trucks moving’ as militants had attacked stationary targets in all their assaults so far.
President of the Pak-Afghan Oil Tankers and Containers Owners Association, Ruksar Ali, said that there were 18,000 trucks and oil tankers that were dependent on Nato supplies for business. “There is no use of these vehicles locally in Pakistan,” he said, “We are entirely dependent on the transportation of Nato supplies to Afghanistan.”
(with Additional reporting by Riaz Ahmad in Peshawar).
PTI to take peace caravan to Waziristan by late September: Imran Khan
“We will take representatives of human rights organisations and the media with us. We will march for peace,” said Khan, adding that the party wants to show the government that ‘innocent people’ are being killed in the area.
According to Khan, the party is holding protests to force the government to come out of the US war. “This is not our war, this is not Pakistan’s war,” Khan said as the participants started chanting the famous slogan of “Amreeka ka jo yaar hai, ghaddar hai, ghaddar hai (Those who are friends with the US are traitors)”. Khan added that the government is fighting the war for dollars.
The party chief also called on President Asif Ali Zardari to “bring back his Rs1 billion from Switzerland”.
“If you try to destroy the Supreme Court to save your looted money, then the tsunami march will reach there as well,” Khan warned and went on to bash the newly elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. “Raja Rental, end this loadshedding. This is because of your theft and ineligibility that people are suffering.”
Khan also targeted the major political party of the province, the Awami National Party (ANP). “We had high hopes from you, but you also became a pawn of Zardari and started looting along.”
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will take a peace caravan to Waziristan, a place engulfed by militancy and security operations, by late September, announced party chief Imran Khan during a rally in Peshawar on Saturday.
“We will take representatives of human rights organisations and the media with us. We will march for peace,” said Khan, adding that the party wants to show the government that ‘innocent people’ are being killed in the area.
According to Khan, the party is holding protests to force the government to come out of the US war. “This is not our war, this is not Pakistan’s war,” Khan said as the participants started chanting the famous slogan of “Amreeka ka jo yaar hai, ghaddar hai, ghaddar hai (Those who are friends with the US are traitors)”. Khan added that the government is fighting the war for dollars.
The party chief also called on President Asif Ali Zardari to “bring back his Rs1 billion from Switzerland”.
“If you try to destroy the Supreme Court to save your looted money, then the tsunami march will reach there as well,” Khan warned and went on to bash the newly elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. “Raja Rental, end this loadshedding. This is because of your theft and ineligibility that people are suffering.”
Khan also targeted the major political party of the province, the Awami National Party (ANP). “We had high hopes from you, but you also became a pawn of Zardari and started looting along.”
Targeted killing: Peace committee member gunned down
TIMERGARA:
An active peace committee member and higher secondary school
principal was gunned down in Khartamay Khwar area of Maidan tehsil,
Lower Dir district on Wednesday.
Abdul Hameed, an official at the Lal Qila Maidan police station said
that Ghulam Akbar, was running a government school in Bagh Maidan. He
was on his way to school, when three unidentified assailants hiding in a
stream opened fire at him killing him instantly.The official said that locals and police rushed to the area soon after the incident and shifted the body for autopsy to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Lal Qila. Hameed added that they arrested 15 suspects after the incident.
Officials say the headmaster was an active member of the Maidan peace committee and presumed that he might have been killed by elements who wanted unrest in the region.
‘Dumpster’ children: Hospital waste sells for Rs80 per kilogramme
PESHAWAR:
A few minutes away from the main hospitals of the city,
children are seen rummaging through trash, collecting used syringes,
sharp blades and blood bags.
These children are gathering medical waste from garbage dumps outside
hospitals to supply to shops in Khyber Bazaar, where the local traders
buy them for Rs80 per kilogramme. Sorting through the garbage, children
come into direct contact with germs and diseases from materials that
have been used on patients.There is no regulated disposal system in place for the waste produced by hospitals in Peshawar. Medical waste is more dangerous than normal garbage as tools (such as syringes) may have been used on patients with easily contractible diseases or to administer drugs and chemicals that are toxic to the environment.
Children rummaging in the trash are prone to diseases such as AIDS, Hewpatitis B and C with just a single prick of a sharp object.
“We are not sure what diseases we could be spreading, but this is our source to earn Rs500 to Rs600 a day,” Kaleem, a youth collecting syringes, empty syrup bottles and sharp blades from a garbage dump in front of the Lady Reading Hospital.
Kaleem said that many times they contracted infections on their exposed hands and feet, but were treated.
However, this was not always the case. “Our friend Mansoor, 17, was injured by a sharp object while going through the trash. He got a disease and was given some treatment, but he did not recover. He died two years ago.”
Kaleem said he likes the ‘freedom’ the job gives him. “In other jobs I have to follow instructions, but in this type of work there is no such thing.”
Another medical waste collector, Sultan Khan, was busy going through the garbage in front of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH). “Dozens of doctors pass the dump site on the way to the hospital but none of them have ever spoken to me about the dangers of harvesting hospital waste materials,” he said. Sultan said the waste was taken to Lahore where it was recycled and converted to plastic utensils.
Dr. Amir Khan, a Trainee Medical Officer at KTH, said that there was a high probability that children rummaging in the waste would get a illnesses as they come into contact with tools used on patients carrying diseases.
“A proper recycling or sanitary medical waste disposal system does not exist in Peshawar. Staff carelessly throw the waste in front of the hospital,” he said.
Girls school blown up in Swabi
Amjad Ali, an official of Swabi police, said that girls primary school no. 2 was blown up at around 7:45pm. “The boundary wall and three classrooms were destroyed due to the explosion,” he said.
Ali said that two bombs had been planted inside the building, adding that one had detonated while the other, which weighed 10 kilogrammes, was defused by the police. “The bombs were planted in tin canisters,” Ali added.
The official said that the blast had completely destroyed the building and only one out of the four classrooms remained. He added that no loss of life had been reported and the watchman was in his house at the time of the explosion.
Dr Anwar, who lives near the school,a huge explosion had shook the surrounding area.
Investigations are underway, but no FIR has been registered so far.
Runaway Afghan couple: Court given 40 days to decide elopers’ case
PESHAWAR:
While closing proceedings into the case of an Afghan runaway
couple, the Peshawar High Court directed a family court to decide the
case, with no adjournment, within 40 days.
Mariyam and Haiwad said they fled Kabul last month to wed in
Abbottabad after they learned that Mariyam’s parents wanted her to marry
her dead sister’s husband, Abdul Rehman. The couple said that if they
were sent back to Afghanistan, they would be murdered for eloping
against her family’s wishes.The PHC had taken notice of the issue after media reports said the couple’s life was in danger. However, on Tuesday Mariyam’s mother and brother appeared in court along with Abdul Rehman, claiming he was her real husband.
Razma said Mariyam’s real name was Maloda and she had consented to marrying Abdul Rehman after her sister died in 2006.
“After Marzia’s death, Maloda (Mariyam) herself showed willingness to marry Abdul Rehman,” she said, adding that a dispute had surfaced between them two months earlier, which could be the reason she ran away.
Razma told AFP that two years later after their marriage, Abdul Rehman had a stroke and has been left partially paralysed.”The court should hand over the girl to us, we will not kill her,” she said.
She also said that Sana and Husna – who Mariyam claimed were her sister’s and Abdul Rehman’s daughter – were her real daughters.
Furthermore, Mariyam’s brother Fawad denied threatening the couple.
“We don’t want more and more people to know about the issue and defame our family. We want to take our sister back home,” he said, adding they did not have any concerns about Haiwad and they would never harm him.
The court was also informed that the police did not have a proper place to lodge the couple, upon which PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan asked District Coordination Officer Javed Marwat to provide the couple with safe accommodation.
Marwat informed the court that he would contact the in-charge of the Women Crisis Centre (WCC) to accommodate Mariyam, and added that Haiwad could be offered safe accommodation close to the WCC.
The court also directed the city police chief to provide the couple and the WCC with maximum security.
Protests against outages held in Charsadda, Lakki Marwat
In Charsadda, activists of the Awami National Party (ANP) tore and lit fire to the portraits of political figures, particularly from the PPP, and warned the government of a civil disobedience movement across the district if the electricity problems weren’t solved in two days.
Addressing the protestors at the Farooq Azam Square in Charsadda, ANP PK-17 president Muhammad Ahmad Khan blamed the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) chief for the district’s power crisis. ANP activists claimed that the transformers issued for Charsadda were being kept at the Rajar Grid station since the Pesco chief did not approve their installation.
Meanwhile, Aba Khel and Dahlu Khel tribes gathered at Lakki city to protest against load-shedding. They raised slogans against the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and concerned district government officials. Notable leaders to address the rally included Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) district amir Maulana Abdul Rahim, former nazim Johar Muhammad Khan and Tanzeemul Haq Pakistan vice president Haji Zar Wali Khan.
The speakers also gave the authorities a two-day deadline to fix the problem, threatening to spread the protest to adjoining areas otherwise.
Protestors passing through various markets also damaged public and private property. The furious activists attacked a Pesco Sub-divisional Office, burning records and breaking furniture. A vehicle parked inside the office was also set on fire. They threw stones on a National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office and destroyed several transformers and gas and electricity meters in the city.
Three people were injured in the demonstrations. The police tried to control the situation by aerial firing and arrested 40 protesters. Earlier, the Aba Khel and Dahlo Khel tribesmen held a jirga and decided to boycott electric bills if the issue remained unresolved.
All parties conference: ANP approaches JI for Aug 9 meeting
PESHAWAR:
Awami National Party (ANP) leaders met Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)
leaders at JI’s provincial headquarters on Tuesday, approaching the
latter for an all parties conference.
On Monday, ANP announced intentions to hold the conference on August 9
to gather political forces and find a solution to growing power outages
across the province.ANP was represented by provincial president Senator Afrasyab Khattak while JI’s provincial amir Professor Mohammad Ibrahim Khan represented his party
Talking to reporters following the meeting, Khattak maintained the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) had failed to control the power crisis and should be abolished. He said that instead of Wapda distributing power, the authority should be handed over to the provinces. He said that they will send suggestions agreed at the conference to the federal government.
“We will also hold a provincial assembly meeting and give the suggestions from the assembly as well,” Khattak said. He maintained that all political parties should come together to solve this problem.
Khattak claimed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) was generating electricity in excess of its demands.
“Power generation from Tarbela alone is more than K-P’s total energy demand,” Khattak said. He also said that power outages had been centralised, reducing their say even more.
In the meeting between JI and ANP, JI Chief Professor Ibrahim said they would make decision about attending the conference after consulting with all the parties.
However, he assured ANP leaders that JI was ready to cooperate to control the power crisis. Interestingly, Professor Ibrahim also announced that JI would hold province-wide protests against the outages.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has refused to participate in the conference.
“The all parties conference is not the solution to the power crisis in the province,” PML-N central senior Vice-President Ameer Muqam said on Tuesday. He said the ANP government had all the resources and support at their privileges but they failed to conjure a durable solution.
Muqam predicted that the all parties conference would not achieve its aim of finding a tangible solution to growing power outages in the province.
Fareed Tufan, a PML-N provincial leader, said: “Both the federal and provincial governments did not take any remedial measures to overcome the power crisis over the past four-and-a-half years. They did not even provide alternate solutions to the energy crisis.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also refused to participate in the all parties conference. They also said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and ANP leaders were responsible for the power outages and energy crisis in the country.
Health hazard: Adulterated beverages continue to grow in K-P
PESHAWAR:
As the sales of adulterated beverages continue, their
increasing demand during the month of Ramazan has put the lives of many
across the province, at risk.
As the demand for cold drinks and milk increases in Ramazan, most
people, particularly the middle class who cannot afford expensive
beverages, become less concerned about the products’ quality.In May, the Government Public Health Food Laboratory received 63 samples of milk and milk products from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Out of those, 32 were found to be contaminated. Similarly, out of the 79 samples of various other beverages sent for quality assurance, only 28 were cleared.
In Nowshehra, six samples were collected, five of which were of low standard. In Charsadda four out of six were contaminated while three out of four were found impure in Swat.
“Milk and beverages containing contaminated water and chemicals, used to increase the quality of the product, mislead people who cannot differentiate whether a product is tainted or not,” Food Analyst Nighat Sultana.
Assistant Coordination Officer (ACO) Peshawar Zafar Ali Shah said that 80 per cent of the factories in the district have been sealed for producing substandard beverages and a number of persons have been fined and imprisoned. He added that this month, two factory workers were arrested and upon a tipoff, they raided another factory, recovering 600 contaminated bottles. The owner of the factory is under custody. “Those violating the Food Act could be charged between Rs15-200,000 in fines and can be imprisoned for 15 days,” he commented.
A doctor at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Dr Amir Khan said that the adulterated milk and beverages can cause various types of diseases particularly among the children.
“People prefer to buy cheap milk and beverages but those products become a curse for them… they can cause food poisoning, diarrhoea, anaemia and skin and eye problems,” he explained.
Orakzai Operation: 14 killed as jets bomb militant hideouts
HANGU:
At least 14 militants were killed and three hideouts destroyed in air raids in Orakzai Agency on Sunday.
According to security sources, two fighter jets bombed militant hideouts in the Kago Qamar and Zakhtan areas of Orakzai.“These bases were being used by militants from the Orakzai chapter of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” said a security official.
“Most of the areas in Orakzai Agency have been cleared of militants in the ongoing military operation,” he added.
Zakhtan and Kago Qamar areas of Orakzai share a border with Khyber Agency, from where TTP insurgents have been constantly infiltrating into other areas, after having set up their bases.
Security forces arrest ‘wanted’ TTP militant in Orakzai
TTP militant Maseed Khan was wanted in multiple attacks on security forces. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE
The official said that the security personnel apprehended a militant of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Orakzai chapter during a raid. The militant was identified as Maseed Khan of the Feroz Khel Tribe.
According to the official, Khan was wanted in multiple attacks on security forces’ convoys, bombings, planting roadside Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along with firing missiles at security check posts in the agency.
He was shifted to an undisclosed location by the security personnel.
Tribal areas, K-P: Anti-polio efforts hit more snags
Donors have been funding the National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF) to convince unwilling parents and have also sought help from clerics and religious leaders to vaccinate maximum number of under-fives against the crippling virus.
According to the NRDF records, a sum of Rs52,80,000 is spent every month on vaccination across the province. If a family refuses to inoculate its children, a team is rushed to the area to educate the family on the importance of the drops.
UNICEF has sanctioned Rs110 million for 14 months to be distributed amongst Ulema, so that they remove negative perception of the vaccine, Dr Janbaz Afridi, the deputy director of the Expanded Programme of Immunisation in K-P,. However, the number of refusal cases is not decreasing, he added.
Parents remain unmoved and some sections of the population have started using polio vaccination as a bargaining tool to get their problems solved.
A jirga, comprising elders of Mamand Khel and Sari Khel sub-clans in Frontier Region Bannu warned that they will boycott the vaccination drive and ban the entry of police officials into the area if the government did not ensure uninterrupted power supply in the district.
Fresh concerns
Meanwhile, medics warned of a measles outbreak in different parts of South Waziristan if children were not immunised on time.
At present measles vaccine is not available at the Vaccine Centre at the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Wana, Dr Azmat Hayat Khan, the agency surgeon, told journalists. He warned that further delay would deteriorate the situation. “I have informed senior officials of the health department about the situation,” he added.
Power crisis: Protesters block two main highways, ransack offices
ABBOTABAD:
Charged power crisis-hit people in several cities and towns
of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa continued their protest against long-hour outages,
blocking main roads, including Motorway, Karakoram Highway (KKH) for
traffic.
Protest demonstrations were staged in Haripur and Abbottabad cities in Hazara division against the unscheduled power outages.In Havelian, the protesters ransacked offices of power distribution company, Pesco, and pelted buildings with stones and tried to set on fire its furniture. The police, however, fired teargas shells and gunshots in the air to disperse the protesters, who kept on attacking the police with stones from a distance. A hide and seek continued between the protesters and the police for over four hours.
The protesters marched on different roads, chanting slogans against the Pesco for its failure in addressing the energy crisis in the scorching heat which has added to their woes. They also attacked the gunman of PML-N member of the provincial assembly Aurangzeb Nalotha and injured him when the MPA tried to address the mob.
The Pesco officials when came out from their offices to pacify the mob and tried to hold talks with the MPA, the charged mob made them to run away and take shelter in the booking office of a transport company. The mob also threw stones at the office.
The traders also pulled down their shutters in support of the protesters, blocked the KKH at various points suspending the vehicular traffic on the busiest highway for four hours. The administration had to divert the traffic to circular road to ensure unhindered flow of traffic.
The KKH was opened on the assurance of the ACO Khyzer Hayat Khan and DSP Headquarter Tariq Khan that there will be no unscheduled load-shedding. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on the KKH. Hundreds of passengers, including women, children and elderly people remained stuck for hours during the hot and humid weather. They were also seen cursing the Pesco, government and local administration who failed to address the problem which caused road blockade.
In Kohat a large number of people staged a protest rally and surrounded a grid station on Rawalpindi Road. The protesters blocked the road for all kinds of traffic chanting slogans against the government. They demanded of the government and local Pesco officials to end unannounced outages and said that they were suffering from severe water shortage during the fasting month. The Pesco officials called police who used tear gas to disperse them.
In Nowshera, people of Lal Kurti and Cantonment blocked the GT Road near Shobra Square for all sorts of traffic, while some of them blocked Motorway near Nowshera interchange and started pelting stones at the public transport.
Police rushed to the site and fired teargas shells and gunshots to disperse the protesters. On Saturday, hundreds of enraged protesters had attacked the Khairabad and Amangarh grid stations and set the Pesco office record and furniture on fire. Later police was called to disperse to the protestors.
In Charsadda, residents of Nisatha blocked the Peshawar-Islamabad section of Motorway, stopped the passenger vehicles and forced them to return to their areas telling that they would not open the road until their problem was solved. Police were called in to reopen the road. They fired teargas at the protesters and used light baton charge.
In Lakki Marwat protesters blocked the Indus Highway for several hours and observed shutter down strike. They gathered at a checkpoint where social activists Muhammad Iqbal along with provincial ruling party senior member Shahsawar Khan along with president of shopkeepers association Jahanzaib Khan addressed the protesters.
The protesters warned the government that if the electricity problem was not solved within one week they would surround Wapda and Pesco offices in the area along with other government installations adding that government would be responsible for any mishap.
Additional input by our correspondents from Charsadda, Kohat, Nowshera and Lakki Marwat
Seeking asylum: Fear and eloping in Abbottabad
ABBOTABAD:
A runaway Afghan couple who got married in Pakistan against
the will of their families now fears being killed at the hands of an
Afghan jirga for violating tribal customs.
The man is in protective custody of the Abbottabad police, while the
woman has been sent to Darul Aman by a local court. However, facing the
threat of being killed by the jirga in their native town, the couple has
now sought asylum in Pakistan.Hewad, a resident of Jalalabad, who claims to be a trader of used computers in Kabul, told the police he fell in love with Mariyam Marjman Molouda after meeting her at a local market a few months back.
He added that the feeling was mutual and their relationship started growing stronger. However, happily ever after was a far cry for the couple
From Kabul to Abbottabad
“I was shocked when I learnt that Mariyam’s parents were planning to marry her off to her late elder sister’s husband, Abdul Rehman,” Hewad said.
The couple decided to leave Kabul and came directly to Abbottabad, along with two of Mariyam’s nieces, also Abdul Rehman’s daughters.
After reaching Abbottabad, the couple, with the help of their Pakistani friend, Qaisar, settled into a flat near Mandiyan Chowk and got married about a month ago, SHO Mirpur Police Qamar Hayat.
No escape
Four days ago, over 20 armed men from Mariyam’s family tracked the couple down in Pakistan and entered their house forcibly, eyewitnesses. They allegedly beat Hewad and his friend Qaisar, but just as they were about to take Hewad away, the local police intervened.
The couple was escorted to a police station and presented before the court of judicial magistrate the next morning. They produced their nikah nama and recorded their statements endorsing their decision to move to Pakistan and get married, against the will of their families.
The couple told the court that they feared the local jirga in Afghanistan would publicly execute them to ‘punish’ them for violating tribal customs. The magistrate, however, sent Hewad to the police’s protective custody. He was then sent to the Mansehra Jail after being booked under the Foreigners’ Act, since he did not have travel documents.
Mariyam’s press talk
“I brought my nieces, Husna, 5, and Sana, 2, with me to Abbottabad,” Mariyam said, while addressing the media from the Darul Aman, Abbottabad. She said they had sent Husna back to Kabul, while Sana was still with her.
Mariyam further said that, as she is the youngest among all her siblings, she was tasked to take care of her nephews and nieces. She said she decided to run away with Hewad after learning of her parents’ wish to get her married to Abdul Rehman, a chronic patient of paralysis, who, she said, is known as her father among their acquaintances. “How can I marry a man who is in his 60s and whom I always respected like a father?” she said.
Mariyam asked for protection for herself and her husband, saying she was sure her family would kill them.
Counter-allegation
On the other hand, Muhmmad Ishaq, who claimed to be the younger brother of Abdul Rehman, filed an application with the police claiming that Mariyam was his sister-in-law, and Sana was her and Abdul Rehman’s real daughter.
He further alleged that Hewad, who was an employee of their computer shop, had abducted Mariyam and forced her to marry him. He requested to be given the custody of his sister-in-law.
However, Mariyam and Hewad denied Ishaq’s claim, adding that the tribesmen were only interested in taking them back to their native town and to publicly execute them in the name of ‘honour’.
PHC takes notice
Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court chief justice took suo moto notice of the case on Saturday, and asked the district judiciary and the police to provide security to the couple. The chief justice also asked the district administration to present the couple before his court on July 23.
Pakistan court separates Afghan elopers
It was an about turn for the judge, who last week appeared to accept that Mariyam and Hewad married legitimately by ordering that they be protected and given accommodation together in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar.
Mariyam and Hewad, both 22, said they fled Kabul last month to wed in the leafy town of Abbottabad in northwest Pakistan, where US troops found and killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.
The woman said her parents wanted her to marry her dead sister’s husband and that if she is sent back to Afghanistan she would probably be murdered for marrying someone of her own choice.
On Tuesday, her mother and brother appeared in court with the 48-year-old man in a wheel chair claiming he was her real husband.
Her mother Raazia, 65, told AFP that Mariyam had consented to the match and married him six and a half years ago. Two years later, the man had a stroke and has been left partially paralysed, she said.
“The court should hand over the girl to us, we will not kill her,” Raazia said.
Judge Dost Muhammad Khan referred the matter to a family court, ordering Mariyam into a women’s shelter and sending Hewad for questioning.
The case should be decided “within 40 days”, said Khan, who intervened personally after media reports said the woman’s life was in danger.
Hewad, who like many Afghans goes by one name, also told AFP last week that he faced serious threats from Mariyam’s family.
“I am sure they can harm me here and if we are sent back to Afghanistan, they will simply shoot us,” he said.
Despite progress in recent years and improved legal protection, women suffer chronic rights abuses in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Earlier this month a video emerged of the public execution of a woman accused of adultery in Afghanistan, who was shot dead as dozens of men cheered.
Activists fear that women’s rights in Afghanistan are under particular threat as Nato troops prepare to leave in 2014 and Kabul seeks peace with the Taliban, who brutally repressed women during their 1996-2001 rule.
Loadshedding protesters close Peshawar Motorway
PESHAWAR: The residents of Peshawar and Charsadda here Monday staged protest demonstration on motorway against prolong hours of loadshedding and blocked it for about one hours, which has created problems for motorists and residents.
A large number of people protesting against loadshedding from nearby villages of Peshawar and Charsadda blocked Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway for more than one hour, demanding an immediate end to power outages during Iftar and Sehri.
Police started aerial firing after the protestors turned violent and called Elite Force for help. The protestors later dispersed after the local administration stepped in and assured them of conveying their concerns to the relevant quarters for resolution.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed there to avert untoward incident. Later, motorway was opened for traffic.
Defending religious rights: Protests breakout over killing of Muslims in Myanmar
PESHAWAR:
Activists from the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) and Tehreek
Nifaz-e-Fiqa Jafria (TNFJ) staged protests on Friday condemning violence
against the Rohingya Muslim minority of Myanmar.
The IJT activists were led by Peshawar Nazim Abidullah Shaheen, while
TNFJ activists were led by their provincial president Sardar Ali
Qazalbash. Demonstrators gathered outside Peshawar Press Club holding
placards and banners with slogans against the Myanmar government’s
policies.They claimed thousands of Muslims were being slaughtered by Myanmar’s military leaders. They lamented the silence of Muslim and Arab leaders over the issue as well.
The IJT provincial Nazim suggested that an impartial inquiry be carried out under the United Nation Human Rights Commission (UNHCR).
Jamaat-e-Islami protests
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) activists also took to the streets after Friday prayers, protesting against excessive power outages in addition to the violence against Muslims in Myanmar. At the occasion, JI PK-III candidate Khalid Gul Mohmand criticised the ANP government for failing to curb power outages. Towards the end, it was discussed that another rally opposing muslim massacres in Myanmar will be held.
Rendered homeless: K-P housing authority to raze old houses
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Housing Authority
(PHA) is set to construct four-storey residential flats by demolishing
old houses in the Peshawar Civil Quarters, much to the residents’
resentment. According to the plan, the 451 houses in the Civil Quarters
and residential colony of Kohat Road will be demolished to make space
for the flats.
According to the special branch, the proposed construction of the
flats has been strongly opposed by the Civil Quarters Welfare
Association (CQWA), who vowed to halt the construction of new flats.
They have closed their offices in protest and demanded the government to
use the previous site plan, proposed by former K-P chief secretary Ijaz
Qureshi, for construction. The association also asked they be given the
ownership of the residential quarters.CQWA, an organization formed by the residents of the Civil Quarters, agreed to Qureshi’s plan which envisaged building two-storey flats in area with ownership rights granted to the civil servants. The plan was dropped by the government.
Civil servants that certain political figures in the provincial government have set their eyes on the land. They argued that flats in Larama, Dabgari Garden and the police colony are lying vacant but the government is adamant on tearing down their residences. “The government should spend the allocated Rs994 million for the multi-storey flats to build a new housing scheme for government servants instead of razing down the old one and displacing about 2,000 people,” the civil servants maintained.
In a recent meeting, Attaullah Toru, the additional chief secretary of the Planning and Development department (P&D), asked CQWA President Anwar Khan to explain the concerns of the Civil Quarters residents.
It was decided that administration department secretary Hifzur Rahman will soon convene a meeting of Communication and Works department secretary and Housing Department secretary for examination of the plan, according to official sources in the P&D department.
Section Officer Housing Fayaz Ahmad Khan, confirmed the plan to be executed by K-P Housing Department saying, “In the first phase, 108 four-storey flats would be constructed in the area used as a football ground in the Civil Quarters, 72 existing flats in front of the Kohat roadside would be razed and 700 shops will be built in its place.”
Meanwhile, according to officials in the finance department, Peshawar Civil Secretariat has recently spent Rs15 million on the repair and maintenance of houses in the Civil Quarters and also spent around Rs6 million on the construction of a new hockey ground in the area.
The gender divide: More men than women affected by hepatitis in Swat
SWAT:
Across the provincial border in Swat, a surprising statistic
shows that hepatitis has a far greater prevalence rate in men. However,
as a doctors explain, that is only because women with the disease are
rarely brought in for diagnosis, let alone treatment.
In the case of Amankot-native Sultan Mahmood, the disease cost him a
job in Saudi Arabia. “I was not aware I had the disease until I went for
a medical for a Saudi work visa. I lost my visa and a huge amount of
money because of that, adding that he probably got the virus from a used razor blade while shaving.Most people in Swat get medical treatment from dispensers and unqualified practitioners because they charge less than certified doctors. Unfortunately, experts cite this as a major cause of the spread of virus.
Recently in Banjot village six children were administered expired measles vaccines, three of whom died, while the other three were listed as critical for an extended period of time. All of them actually had undiagnosed hepatitis.
Another native of the region, Asia Bibi, 24, also has hepatitis, but so do eleven other members of her family. “Extreme poverty and this disease have made our lives miserable,” she said. Her brother Adnan, 14, who has hepatitis C, cannot afford treatment.
Meanwhile, Asia’s sister, Nighat Bibi, got hepatitis during her pregnancy. Now her newborn also has it.
None of them have it bad as Khalida, Asia’s 50-year-old sister-in-law, who has had hepatitis C for the last 7 years and the disease is now in its incurable stage. “Doctors say the disease has reached my liver and it is completely infected,” she said, adding that she is losing large amounts of blood every day. “It has ruined our entire family,” she added.
Situation in Swat
Dr Fazal Akbar, an assistant professor at Saidu Teaching Hospital in Saidu Sharif, said that although no authentic research data is available regarding the prevalence of hepatitis in the Swat, he estimates that around 10% of the valley’s population is carrying the disease.
“Khwaza Khela, Amankot and Gut Peochar tehsils are the areas where most patients come from. A major factor in the spread of the disease is used syringes. In Swat, most medical treatment is done by unskilled practitioners who don’t bother to use fresh syringe for each patient,”
He also explained the gender imbalance in the number of diagnosed cases. “There is a lack of awareness among our people. They don’t get checkups, and the disease is often only detected when somebody is going abroad as a labourer and needs to undergo a medical,” he said, which also explains why women rarely, if ever, are tested for the disease.
Positive steps
Unlike the federal capital and Rawalpindi, Dr Akbar said that in Swat, the government has taken keen interest in controlling the disease and has provided a substantial amount of vaccines to local hospitals. However, “The main problem we are having is with the genotype 3A virus, which exists in 90% of patients in Swat. Patients with genotype 3A cannot recover with common vaccines but need Peginterferon, which we don’t have,” he said. However, Dr Akbar was hopeful that request for an increased allocation of Peginterferon will be granted.
The doctor urged people to take precautionary measures and not go to unskilled and unqualified practitioners. “Everyone should make sure that brand new syringes are used for vaccination,” said another doctor. “Similarly, a new razor blade should be used whenever one goes for a shave,” he added.
Pakhtun heritage: Remembering the battle of Maiwand
PESHAWAR:
Almost 131 years ago on July 27, an Afghan militia engaged
and defeated the mighty British Indian Army in the legendary battle of
Maiwand.
The battle took place during the second Anglo-Afghan war, with Afghan
troops being led by Sardar Muhammad Ayub Khan. Today, his grave lies in
the Royal Durrani graveyard in Peshawar, near the shrine of Sheikh
Habib Baba.In the fierce battle, almost 971 British troops were killed by the Afghans. Afghan losses, however, were thrice as high. By the end of the battle, Afghans held their ground and the British were forced to retreat.
Although it was Sardar Ayub Khan’s leadership that shaped the victory, local legends speak of a girl named Malalai who inspired the Afghans to defeat an army that had been successful in all its military campaigns so far.
Nowshera DCO Ayaz Mandokhel, who is also a student of Afghan history, explained the story further. “It was the first time the British-Indian army was defeated by any Asian power,” he said.
Mandokhel says the victory turned the Afghan girl into a local legend. “She encouraged young men to go to the battlefield, support Ayub Khan and die with honour… her words are remembered by Pakhtuns to this day.”
‘If you are not killed in Maiwand, O my beloved, it is a life of shame which you will live,’ she is said to have cried.
Mandokhel says “this day (July 27) should be considered the ‘Pakhtun defence against colonialism’ day.”
The Maiwand area is located in the Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Ayub Khan, the son of Amir Sher Ali Khan, was the governor on Kandahar, Mandokhel informed. “He was a great figure of resistance against the British-Indian Army,” he said, adding many parts of Afghanistan had already been annexed by the British Empire at the time.
According to Mandokhel, after their defeat in the first Anglo-Afghan war, the British claimed that the ‘weather was against them’, since it had been snowing at the time. “This time, there was no excuse. The battle of Maiwand was in July,” he added.
Understanding militancy: NGO offers chance to study terrorism
PESHAWAR:
For the past few months, a large billboard near the main gate
of the Islamia College University has been inviting students to a
certificate course in International Terrorism Studies (ITS). The course
has been introduced by the South Asian Centre for International and
Regional Studies (SACIRS) – described by its website as a non-profit
organisation based in Peshawar.
Waqar Ali, a SACIRS employee and M Phil scholar at the University of the Peshawar (UoP) it was a three-month certificate. Ali said that this course will
be launched from October this year. He added that experts from UoP and
foreign professors will also deliver lectures in this course.When asked about why they introduced ITS, Waqar replied that they had previously arranged courses in conflict management and other disciplines.
“People need to know what terrorism is about,” he said, adding that people are keen on enrolling in the course.
“Officials from intelligence agencies and the Pakistan Army are also expected to join the course,” Waqar maintained.
SACIRS director Hussain Shaheed Soharwardi explained that people usually talk about terrorism without knowing what it is and the issues which are involved in it. He said increasing public awareness was the primary reason to launch this course. Soharwardi added that many have asked to him to start this course in Islamabad. But, since Peshawar and its neighbouring areas were worst hit by the violence, he started this course in the provincial capital.
About the contents, he said that they will teach the theories of terrorism and discuss different terrorist organisations. “Starting with the Irish Republican Army we will discuss Pak-US and Nato operations and strategies for the Af-Pak region.”
Arguably, Peshawar has withstood terrorism’s worst onslaught. The city has grappled with the worst terrorist attacks at the height of Taliban insurgency, and still carries scars from its past. Perhaps, it is a sign of changing times as terrorist attacks have dropped, security is lax and no more barricades are being made. More importantly, it is trying to make sense of terrorism by tackling it academically.
Mehsud IDPs hope to find a way back home
TANK / DI KHAN:
Given the option to continue living in camps in D I Khan and
Tank, or returning to their homes in South Waziristan Agency, many
internally displaced persons (IDPs) have chosen the latter, despite
threats from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). At the moment their
hopes of returning to a peaceful existence seem doomed.
The TTP have distributed pamphlets in South Waziristan, issuing death
threats to the Mehsud IDPs, stating that the agency is a war zone where
its militants are fighting against security forces.Security forces launched ‘Operation Rah-e-Nijat’ in 2009 in South Waziristan, dividing the Mehsud between those who joined the TTP and those who turned to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for refuge as IDPs.
The result has been a bitter conflict, even within their individual families.
The origins of the TTP can be traced to the Mehsud tribe, while many of the party’s leadership and foot-soldiers hail from South Waziristan.
At their camps, Mehsud IDPs in D I Khan and Tank move from one ration centre to another in a desperate attempt to meet their basic household needs.
Shahbaz Khan, 72, from South Waziristan his son joined the TTP in 2009 after the military operation and he has not heard from him since.
“The war in our region has turned our lives into hell. I lost a son when he joined the militants. I am dependent on rations given to IDPs in relief camps to feed my family of 13,” he explained, holding his walking stick in one hand and a water cooler in the other.
In the aftermath of TTP threats, repatriating IDPs has proved to be a difficult task for the government. Despite this, the Pakistan army and political administration of South Waziristan began returning the Mehsud IDPs to their respective areas on July 16.
“Each of these families were provided with transportation, a six-month ration and Rs25,000, among other necessities,”assistant political agent of the Ladha sub-division of South Waziristan, Nawab Khan Safi, said.
The Mehsud IDPs face a difficult reality. On the one hand, they faced hard times in their respective camps, while on the other they are unsure about their homes, which could have been destroyed during the military operation in their areas.
Despite this looming uncertainty, hundreds of IDPs gathered in the registration centre to return home.
On July 18, Phase 5 of the IDPs repatriation was completed under the supervision of security forces and civil administration authorities. Some 1,118 families, including 4,874 individuals have begun returning to their homes in the agency. It seems that both the economic and political structures of the Mehsud tribe have been deeply uprooted by war in the region.
Under the radar: With free treatment available, awareness biggest issue in K-P
PESHAWAR:
Muhammad Saleem is in a fix these days. Should he go work to
sustain his family, or relegate himself to bed as advised by doctors who
have told him to avoid physical exertion so that he does not suffer a
relapse of hepatitis C.
Almost seven years back, Saleem, a father of six, had applied for a
job in Saudi Arabia. However, when he got the results of his medical
test — a part of the visas process — he learnt he had hepatitis.The 45-year-old from Swat Valley is raising his children in poverty after spending most of his limited savings on treatment. Despite efforts to get treated at the provincial government’s expense, help has not been forthcoming.
“It was the worst day of my life when the doctor diagnosed me. Not only do I have this disease, it also deprived me of the opportunity to earn more abroad and secure a better future for my family,” Saleem.
While unsure of how he got the disease, Saleem has been extra careful to keep his family members from getting infected. “Though the behaviour of people around me, did not change, I felt embarrassed that I had to separate my toothbrush, towel and other things at home as a precaution,” he said, adding that his wife had her blood tested twice after he was diagnosed, and the results were clean each time.
Saleem has spent over Rs200,000 on the treatment of the disease but has not felt any change in his body despite four years of regular treatment. Now he has approached the government-run Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, hoping to get free treatment.
“My family is suffering because of me. There is no one to cover household expenditure and I have two daughters who are of marriageable age,” Saleem said.
On the rise
The prevalence of hepatitis B and C continues to increase in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, despite the provincial health department running two separate programmes to facilitate patients and provide medication to all district level and teaching hospitals in the province.
More than 9% of the province’s population suffers from hepatitis C, while another 2% have hepatitis B, according to K-P Hepatitis Control Programme Project Director Dr Ghulam Subhani.
Subhani said the total budget in Annual Development Fund for treatment of hepatitis is Rs360.475 million, while another Rs500 million were sanctioned for hepatitis treatment under the Benazir Health Support Programme in the 2010-11 budget.
In 2011, around 3,000 hepatitis B patients and 15,000 hepatitis C patients were treated under the programme free of charge.
Moreover, 71,000 patients were tested for hepatitis B and 31,500 were tested for hepatitis C. Another 7,850 patients were administered the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, which is a technique used to amplify the number of copies of a specific region of DNA in order to produce enough DNA to be adequately tested, according to Hepatitis Central, an online resource on the disease. The test helps in early detection and is crucial to controlling the spread of hepatitis.
“We will test around 600,000 patients this year and 30,000 will be given PCR tests in an effort to detect all carriers in the province,” the project director said.
The target for 2012-13 is to provide free treatment to around 40,000 patients across the province, for which new budget
would be sanctioned by the end of August 2012, Subhani added.
Moreover, the K-P government will give Peginterferon — an antiviral drug used to treat chronic hepatitis C — to around 1,600 patients who qualify under the set criteria. “Patients must provide Zakat forms, lists of previous medicine, PCR records and identity cards so that the injections can be given to deserving patients,” he said.
The main problem in the smooth running of the programme is lack of public awareness, which is why few poor people sign up for it.
“We are providing free treatment in all hospitals of the province, but people still don’t know,” he said, while stressing that poor patients should take advantage of the facilities and not spend their limited resources on buying medicines.
Around Rs3.7 million was sanctioned in the ADP for the awareness programme, which was underutilised and was eventually given back to the finance department, according to Dr Suhban.
According to the report issued by the district health information system, 26,542 blood samples were collected from three major hospitals in Peshawar and three blood transfusion centres in the first three month of this year, 21 of which tested positive for HIV, 585 for hepatitis B, 396 for C, and 62 with other diseases.
Nato supply route: Peshawar police devise 14-point security plan
PESHAWAR:
The city police have devised a 14-point security plan for oil
tankers and container trucks carrying supplies for US-led Nato forces
stationed in Afghanistan.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had asked for an elaborate security
plan following a three-day closure of the Torkham border crossing over
security concerns.The 14-point plan calls for winding up all Nato terminals from Peshawar and its outskirts, according to a police official.
“We have suggested that the government ensure not a single Nato container is parked in or outside the city,” the official added. “We also suggested that Nato trucks and oil tankers drive non-stop from Attock to the Torkham border crossing.”
The police have asked for sniffer dogs, jammer vehicles and a 20-member bomb disposal squad.
Nato vehicles will be scanned at Attock and then they will be cleared for their onward journey to the Torkham border in convoys. One jammer-installed vehicle would accompany each convoy.
“Each convoy will comprise 10 vehicles – not more than that,” the official said. “A member of the bomb disposal squad will also travel with each convoy to find and defuse any explosive device en route.”
The police have also suggested to the government to increase the number of check-pots of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) on the route.
“More check-posts will minimise the threat to Nato vehicles. We have also suggested that the government monitor the profile of every driver of the vehicle.”
The police will submit the document of security plan to the government on Friday.
Terror strike: Bajaur truck bomb kills nine tribesmen
KHAR:
Bajaur Agency was once again gripped by violence as militants
targeted the pro-government Salarzai tribe on Thursday when an
explosives-laden vehicle was detonated in the Pashat market area killing
nine civilians and injuring 23 more.
Jehangir Azam Wazir, the Assistant Political Agent Khar, said that
the blast occurred around 9am, when a bomb planted in a pick-up truck
exploded in the main bazaar of Pashat, about 30 km north of the Agency
headquarters.Four vehicles and shops in the vicinity of the attack were also destroyed in the high-intensity blast which happened during the early morning hours, Wazir added.
Ajmal Khan, a tribesman and eyewitness of the blast, a double-cabin pick-up truck, in which the explosives were attached, had been parked in the market beforehand.
He identified the dead as Gulfaraz, Nizamuddin, Asfandiyar, Taleem Khan,Waheedullah, Lais Khan, two children Hina and Reshma.
The dead and the injured were shifted to Agency Headquarters (AHQ) Hospital immediately after the blast and the area was cordoned off by security officials.
Medical Superintendent of AHQ, Muhammad Riaz, the dead included two children, adding that “four critically injured civilians were referred to the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar.”
Salarzai sources revealed that the market was owned by Shahabuddin Khan, a local leader of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) considered to be pro-government.
Talking to a tribal elder, wishing not to be named, revealed that Shahabuddin’s family were receiving constant threats from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) “who were refused sanctuary for a training camp by the family”.
The attack, for which no group has claimed responsibility so far, is in continuation of similar attempts by the Taliban to violently target the Salarzai tribe for their continuing fight against militants and support for government-run military operations in the agency.
In May this year, 24 tribesmen were killed in a similar blast in Khar after which cross-border attacks by militants based in Afghanistan’s bordering Kunar province have made the Agency a target for militant elements.
The Bajaur Agency, where military operations were conducted in 2008 and 2009, has been repeatedly declared clear of militants by the authorities. However, attacks on pro-government militias have continued unabated in the area.
Power outages: Political tussle leaves villages in darkness
PESHAWAR:
Political wrangling between an Awami National Party (ANP)
provincial minister and the chief of Pakistan Peoples Party- Sherpao
(PPP-S) has plunged villages in Charsadda district into darkness for
over a month.
Around 50,000 people
from 15 villages in Charsadda have had to bear the brunt of power supply
politics between ANP leader and current Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) law
minister Arshad Abdullah and PPP-S chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao.Abdur Razaq, a resident of Amirabad, said that they received their power supply from the Sheikhabad Grid Station (SGS) for 10 days, but Abdullah and his men disconnected the line on June 21, 2012.
The reason, according to him, was that Sherpao had spent around Rs1.4 million to set up new power pylons. The pylons were supposed to allay the burden on
Tangi Grid Station (TGS) by diverting some power from SGS.
TGS is situated in an area under the political sway of Sherpao, while SGS is located in an area that constitutes Abdullah’s vote bank. People getting their power from SGS complained of low voltage to Abdullah, after Sherpao used his influence to divert the supply to new villages. Abdullah allegedly cut off the supply by bringing down several of the power pylons Sherpao built to the ground.
Fazal Wahab, a resident of Jan Abad, said that for the last one month there has been a blackout in the whole area.
“ANP never get tired of talking about the philosophy of non-violence… (but) rather than coming up with a solution, Abdullah resorted to cutting the power supply for thousands of people,” said Musa Khan, former nazim from Amirabad Pul.
Shahjehan, a Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco)official from the area, confirmed that the issue might not be resolved soon.
Abdullah, however,
denied any involvement in the issue. He said that his presence was politicised and he has nothing to do with power pylons.
Sikandar Sherpao said that it was Pesco’s responsibility to solve the consumers’ problems.
“I don’t know but people said Abdullah was among those who had cut off the power supply to the area,” he said, adding that the electricity to the area was cut off twice.
He said that the provision of the power supply was approved from Pesco as setting up a new feeder will take some time as well as a cost of about Rs8-9 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment