Three militants held with arms in Kohat

Source The News

Security forces arrested three suspected militants and seized a huge cache of arms near Kohat Tunnel on Saturday, official sources said.

The sources said the security forces pulled over a truck heading to Dera Ismail Khan from Darra Adamkhel and on thorough search recovered heavy arms, including 15 Kalakov rifles, 11 Kalashnikov rifles, 10 machine-guns, six grenade launchers, 10 repeaters, 95 pistols and 30,000 cartridges, besides explosive materials from the secret cavities of the truck.

Youth killed in bid to stop suicide attack

Source Dawn

A student was killed outside a school in Ibrahemzai area in Hangu on Monday when a suicide attacker he was trying to stop blew himself up, police said.

The suicide bomber tried to enter the school building when Aitezaz Hussain, a student of class IX in Government High School Ibrahemzai, stopped him.

A police official, Ali Murtaza, told Dawn that the suicide bomber was walking towards the school at around 8am when the assembly was being held in its main ground. Aitezaz became suspicious of the way he moved and asked him to stop. But the bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body.

The police official said that the suicide bomber wanted to target the assembly. He said Aitezaz had sacrificed his life to save other students.

Hangu city police registered a case.

KP chief minister seeks recovery of gas loss caused by security threat

Source Dawn

 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has expressed inability of people in his government to enter the Kohat-Gurgury region because of the security situation there and has demanded that the cost of a loss of 11 billion cubic feet of gas in the region be recovered from consumers in Punjab and peaceful areas in his province.Advocate Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, the counsel for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and a director of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited, told Dawn on Monday that Mr Khattak had written to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority that it was difficult for his administration to do anything in the Kohat-Gurgury region.

A federal government official said that a chief minister was not authorised to write directly to Ogra, he could take up the matter only through the prime minister, the Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination or the Council of Common Interests.

On the basis of the chief minister’s letter, Advocate Ahmad pleaded before a three-member panel of Ogra not to penalise gas companies for theft and gas losses.

Ogra Chairman Saeed Ahmad Khan presided over a meeting on a petition of the SNGPL for an increase of Rs35 billion in its final revenue requirement (FRR) for 2012-13 through a hike of Rs68.64 per unit in its prescribed prices.

He said when the KP government could not access the Kohat region and a major part of Balochistan was out of bound even for the army, it was illogical to expect employees of the gas companies to recover gas bills in such areas.

An Ogra official said the SNGPL counsel had argued that Ogra could not take such a decision without a public hearing even though the recovery was required under previous Ogra determinations cleared by the Lahore High Court and repeatedly stressed by the National Accountability Bureau.

Advocate Ahmad said the minimum monthly bill of a household was about Rs240 compared with Rs4,300 of those using kerosene and Rs4,700 for liquefied petroleum gas. The natural gas has become a fuel of the privileged class with 93pc consumers getting it at highly subsidised rate.

He said he did not support an increase in gas rates for poor lifeline households but for CNG and industries because the cost of alternative fuels used by them was at least four times higher than gas. Ogra reserved the determination for internal working, but analysts said that two members of the panel appeared inclined to accept gas companies’ demand for an increase in prescribed price for FRR.

ASWJ workers granted bail

Source The News

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday issued release order of 16 workers of Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) who were arrested and charged for attacking the shops of Shia community in Kohat district.

A single bench headed by Justice Musarrat Hilali issued release order of Haider Wakeel, Shakil Saddiqui, Islamuddin, Farhan Bangash, directing them to furnish bail bonds worth Rs500,000 with the court.

Counsels for the petitioners Saeed Khan and Ibrar Alam submitted there were allegations against their clients that in reaction to the Rawalpindi incident, they on November 18, 2013 set on fire about 27 shops of the Shia community at Teera bazaar in Kohat city.

Shifting of oil refinery from Karak to Kohat opposed

Source The Nation

Strongly opposing the proposed shifting of Oil Refinery from district Karak to Kohat, members of the Khattak Loya Jirga warned to stop supply of crude oil and gas, if refinery was not established in the district.
Speaking at a news conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday, Rahmat Salam Khattak, member of the Jirga and provincial leader of ruling PML-Nawaz, said that government has planned to shift the oil refinery unit to Khushalgarh area of Kohat on the pretext of shortage of water at the proposed site Kappra, district Karak. He said the proposed site was technically feasible for the construction of the refinery but the government planned to shift it from the district.
The Khattak Loya Jirga consisted of different political parties, notables of the district and local elders. They included Mian Nisar Gul of JUI-F, Farid Toofan of PML-N, ex-MNA Mufti Jamal, Noor Muhammad Khan, Maulana Mir Ikram, Col (Retd) Khalid, representatives of Khattak Itehad, elders and student activists were in the attendance.
The PML-N leader Rahmat Salam said that it was quite injustice to shift the oil refinery from Karak to Kohat without having any genuine reason. He added if the refinery was shifted to Khushalgar area of Kohat then about 100km long pipeline for oil supply from Karak would also be required. Besides, in the long run the long supply pipeline would be unprotected during worsening law and order situation, he cautioned.

On the other hand, Khattak said that government was even not ready to extend only 3km line for the supply of water from Indus river to fulfil the requirement of the proposed refinery in Kappra area of Karak despite the fact this site was earlier selected by former provincial government and Pakistan State Oil company, he maintained. Khattak also informed that about Rs250 to Rs300 million would be spent on pipeline expansion from Indus River to the already identified site. 
“If the government was failed to provide the required funds for the water supply line, then the entire Khattak tribe would be compelled to initiate the project on self-help basis,” he added.
Khattak also alleged that the refinery was planned to shift due to manipulation of the Chief Minister Special Consultant Amjad Afridi. “We will not allow supplying Oil from Karak to Attock Oil refinery,” he warned. He informed that about 50 per cent oil reserves in Karak, which is not acceptable to supply to Attock refinery and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO).