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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Man killed in Kohat accident

Source: Dawn

KOHAT, March 21: A man was killed and five others were injured when three vehicles collided on Indus Highway on Saturday.

Saddar police reported that Mohammad Asif son of Sahibzada, resident of Karak, was killed when a pick-up, a Suzuki and a mini truck collided with each other near Surgul on the Indus Highway. Five other persons sustained injuries, police said.

The injured were shifted to KDA divisional headquarters hospital. Police registered cases against the three drivers, who managed to escape after the accident.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Idrees Khan took charge of the office of deputy inspector general of police, Kohat region, on Saturday.

Mr Khan worked as a journalist before joining civil service and represented Pakistan at UN mission abroad for sometime. He is the youngest DIG in the police service. He was awarded gold medal by NWFP chief minister for best performance recently. He is also the author of three books.

He had served as DPO in Nowshera and Hangu and SP investigation in Kohat.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Taliban announce ceasefire

Source: Dawn

KOHAT, March 14: The Tehrik-i-Taliban Darra Adamkhel announced on Saturday unilateral ceasefire till March 30 as part of confidence-building measures.

Sources said that the Taliban announced the ceasefire after meeting representatives of the army, political administration and the government, adding that before engaging in formal negotiations they would see how things develop in the wake of the ceasefire.

A 10-member committee headed by Noor Zaman Afridi and comprising elders from five tribes of the Frontier Region of Kohat conveyed the ceasefire decision to Political District Coordination Officer Siraj Ahmed.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Rockets damage tehsil building, houses in Kohat

Source: dawn


KOHAT, March 11: The roof of tehsil municipal administration building and two houses in Garden Colony and Shimla Pahari were partially damaged when militants fired three rockets on Kohat city on Wednesday night.

Police said a rocket hit the roof of the TMA building hall and two others exploded in two houses in Garden Colony and Shimla Paharai behind the Balmik Mandar. However, no casualties were reported.

The bomb disposal squad reached the scenes to examine the area and ascertain the direction from where rockets were fired.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Man killed, 4 hurt in rocket attack

Source: Dawn

10 March 2009

KOHAT, March 9: At least one passenger was killed and four others, one of them a woman, were injured in a rocket attack in Darra Adamkhel here on Monday.

The militants fired rockets at the Kohat Friendship Tunnel in retaliation to a large-scale crackdown launched against them by the military, which moved into their suspected hideouts with tanks. Three Cobra helicopters also took part in the operation.

A rocket fired by the militants hit two Toyota Hiace commuter vans near the tunnel as a result Hayatullah resident of Hangu district, died on the spot, while four other passengers were wounded. The injured were shifted to KDA divisional headquarters hospital Kohat.

The military authorities said that the operation had been planned in view of the increasing attacks at the security forces and police and bomb blasts in Kohat and on the Indus Highway in Darra Adamkhel.

The militants came from Khyber and Orakzai agencies and after the strikes vanished into thick forests and mountains.

The security forces entered the mountainous area along the Khyber and Orakzai agencies and targeted the militants’ strongholds.

Sources said that the operation was still in progress and might be extended to Orakzai and Khyber agencies.

PAF UAV plane crashes

9 March 2009

KOHAT: A Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) plane of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which was on a experimental flight crashed in Kohat.

PAF has confirmed the report.

The plane crashed on mountains in the area of Warshand, Tehsil Lachi.

A spokesperson of PAF has confirmed the crashing of the plane, however, reasons of crash could not be known immediately.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Rs17m issued under BISP in Karak

Source: The Statesman

March 9, 2009

KARAK: A sum of Rs17 million are distributed among destitute women of district under Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) here on Sunday.

However, locals were not happy with the unfair distribution of forms, alleging that 2,223 forms had been distributed by MNA Mufti Ajmal in his native tehsil Takht Nusrati while only 2,266 forms were distributed collectively in two teshils including Karak and Banda Daud Shah which they termed injustice with the destitute women of the two tehsils.

They demanded of the authorities concerned to provide BISP forms to the remaining deserving women and ensure fair distribution of funds.

It merits a mention here that Pakistan is among the 29 countries where such a programme has been launched for poverty alleviation. This is for the first time that a programme has been launched in the country that will directly benefit the oppressed sections of the society.

Three girls, watchman found murdered

Source: Daily Dawn


KARAK, March 8: Police found bullet-riddled bodies of three girls and a watchman from the basement of an under-construction building near Karak town on Sunday.

Officials said that police went to the building in Tangori Chowk after receiving information that four bodies were lying in its basement.

The bodies were taken to hospital for post-mortem. Police and hospital staff said that the victims had been shot at point-blank range on Saturday night. The girls were identified as Bibi Hajra (12), Bibi Khalida (14), and Hameeda Bibi (14) and the man Mohammad Rahim, 24.

The motive behind the killing could not be ascertained, but police suspect involvement of relatives of the girls. A case has been registered on the complaint of the grandfather of the girls

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Taliban want Polish engineer’s body swapped

Source: The News

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Seek release of 4-5 militants in government custody

PESHAWAR: The Taliban in Darra Adamkhel are still refusing to hand over the body of the slain Polish engineer, Petr Stanczak, to the authorities and are insisting that some of their colleagues should be released to close an exchange deal.

A jirga led by former MMA MNA from Karak Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz has been seeking return of the Polish engineer’s body but its efforts until now have proved fruitless. When contacted by The News, he said he was planning to once again take a jirga to the tribal area to contact the commanders of Taliban from Darra Adamkhel who had kidnapped and later killed the engineer from Poland to request them to return his body. He felt he would be ready to undertake the trip, probably to Orakzai Agency, to seek a meeting with the Darra Taliban commanders. Taliban had kidnapped the Polish engineer from Attock district late last year and demanded freedom for their men in exchange for his release. They later announced that the kidnapped engineer had been killed following non-acceptance of their demand by the Pakistan government.

According to Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz, the Darra Taliban initially demanded release of 60 of their colleagues but later whittled down the list to four or five militants belonging to Darra Adamkhel. He said the Darra Taliban also dropped one of their original demands for withdrawal of Polish troops from Afghanistan.

It is probably the first time that a group of militants is trying to trade the body of a kidnapped person to seek release of its men. The killing of the Polish engineers caused anger in Poland and established the reputation of the Taliban from Darra Adamkhel as the most intolerant and radical group of militants in Pakistan.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Mudslide in Kohat

Source: Daily The News

Mudslide kills four of a family in Kohat

Thursday, March 05, 2009

KOHAT: Four members of a family were killed and another was injured when a mudslide struck them near the Ghulam Banda refugee camp here on Thursday.

Residents said Bibi Shireen and her daughters Nek Bibi and Juma Gula, accompanied by her seven-year-old son Sanaullah and four-year-old grandson Gul Jan, were busy digging at the hillside when the incident happened.

Villagers rushed to the site and were able to rescue Nek Bibi and Juma Gula in seriously injured condition. Nek Bibi later died in the Women and Children Hospital.

Later, the bodies of Bibi Shireen, Sanaullah and Gul Jan were also recovered from the mass of mud.

DOCTOR FREED: Militants on Thursday released a doctor and his driver kidnapped in Darra Adamkhel a fortnight ago. According to sources, Dr Sameen Shah, in-charge of EPI, FR Kohat, had been kidnapped along with his driver Aurangzeb at gunpoint.

The kidnappers had demanded Rs5 million for their release. The two reached home safely on Thursday, sources said.

Militant’s HQ destroyed

KOHAT: Militant’s HQ destroyed in Darra, cleric held

Daily Dawn

By Abdul Sami Paracha Thursday, 05 Mar, 2009


KOHAT, March 4: Security forces blew up the headquarters of a top militant commander in the Saraam area of Darra Adamkhel and arrested a prayer leader on Wednesday.

Officials said the security forces launched an operation in Bostikhel, Akhorwal and Sarram areas and arrested three suspected militants, including the prayer leader, Hafiz Saeed Afridi.

Militants also attacked the army’s security camp in Akhorwal with four rockets, injuring a soldier, Aqeel Shah.

The security forces have been trying to flush out militants from Darra Adamkhel to make the Kohat-Peshawar highway and the Kohat tunnel safe, but terrorists’ attacks have witnessed an increase.

The district administration, meanwhile, discussed different suggestions with tribal elders to stop kidnappings and killings on the Kohat-Parachinar highway and defuse the tension between rival sects.

Kohat DCO Siraj Ahmed, at a meeting of the tribal elders here, decided to form defence monitoring commi- ttees in all the villages along the Kohat-Parachinar high- way, to ensure safety of passengers.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Statesman

KWO vows to halt gas pipeline repair

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

From Nasir Iqbal Khattak

KARAK: President of Karak Welfare Organisation (KWO) Noor Ahmad Khan has warned that gas authorities would not be allowed to repair the damaged pipeline and would continue their struggle till the acceptance of their demand.

Talking to mediamen on phone from an undisclosed location here on Tuesday, he said that the indifferent attitude of concerned authorities compelled them to take such an extreme step. KWO president regretted blowing up the pipeline and said that they would halt gas supply to other parts of the country till the provision of the facility to the entire district.

Noor Ahmad further said that in December 2008, a convention was held which was attended by all political parties of the area and gas department in which it was decided that gas would be supplied to the entire district, royalty would enhanced by 30 per cent and employment would be given to locals, adding that the authorities have failed to honour their promise.

He maintained despite repeated demands, quarters concerned had denied to fulfil their promises. He demanded of the government to ensure the provision of gas to nook and corner of the district, enhance gas royalty by 30 per cent and provide employment to locals.

2 killed: At least two persons were killed here in different incidents on Tuesday.

In the first incident a vehicle crushed a cycle rider at Tarkhe Koi locality when he was crossing Indus Highway.

The injured was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. In the second incident, a man committed suicide here on Tuesday by eating poisonous medicines. Reason behind the suicide could not be ascertained.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Three arrested in Kohat swoop

Source: The News

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

KOHAT: Police Monday claimed arresting three suspects in a raid on the house of a local militant commander at Ghorzandi area of Lachi tehsil on Monday.

Sources said that continuing with the search operation, a heavy police contingent headed by DSP Abdul Hai and SHO Lachi Police Station Zafarullah Khan, conducted a raid on the house of a local commander Tajmeen Jamal in Ghorzandi village and arrested three suspected persons having links with the militants.

The arrested people were identified as Muhammad Zaheen, Muhammad Rameen and Muhammad Ramzan, an Afghan national. A stolen car (LXN-6518) and a motorcycle were also taken into custody. Police also recovered arms and three kilograms of hashish.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

JUI’s Mufti Abrar arrested in SF operation in Kohat

Sunday, March 01, 2009


KOHAT: Operation by the security forces here continues in full swing whereas former MPA and leader of JUI (F) Mufti Abrar has been taken in custody.

According to reports, the security forces have started operation against extremists in Ghorkhandi, an area of Kohat and executed operation at their hideouts while firing was also made by militants at the security forces.

Sources said that the exchange of firing continues in the area while the security forces during search operation arrested Mufti Abrar, a former MPA and a leader of JUI (F).