new traffic rules in Kohat

New traffic rules in Kohat have made the lives of common people difficult. There used to be smooth traffic to Kohat city from the Pindi, Bannu, Hangu and KDA roads. Now the authorities concerned have decided to make stops for local passenger pick-ups at Bannu gate and Peshawar Chowk. These new stops are about a kilometre and a half away from Kohat city. Thus a commuter has to pay double fare. This is an unnecessary financial and physical burden on a poor person. Furthermore, these new stops create traffic congestion.

The second problem is that Peshawar Chowk is the site of two previous bomb blasts. Usually the space was less crowded. Now, because of this new stopover, there is a constant rush of passengers at this spot. This is very unsafe from a security point of view.

Muhammad Usman Ali

Kohat

Refugees in Kohat demand extension in stay till 2020

Source Dawn

KOHAT: A jirga of Afghan refugees living in Kohat has demanded of the government to allow extension in their stay till 2020.

Addressing the jirga at Ghulam Banda refugee camp here, the maliks requested the Pakistani government to stop their expulsion and closure of schools in the camps, as it would destroy the future of their children.

They eulogised the good gesture of the government for granting them stay for 30 years with honour and dignity. They claimed that the current government in Afghanistan might not welcome them and there would be an imminent danger to their lives if they returned now.

The jirga was addressed by Maulana Zafar, Najmuddin, Noor Hassan, Malik Gul Ali and Malik Ghafoor and attended by a large number of refugees.

They accused the government in Afghanistan of playing in the hands of Nato and India which had no concern with their rehabilitation, but to establish an anti-Pakistan rule there. They said that the west and India wanted to create hatred and differences between Afghans and Pakistanis.

They demanded that the stay of illegal Afghans be extended till 2020 and of the card holders till 2025.

“We now consider Pakistan as our home and give all honour and respect to its institutions so the government should consider our demand on humanitarian basis,” the jirga members said.

A large number of Afghan refugees believe that the deadline of Dec 2016 for their return is false and they could leave whenever they like. One Gul Agha who owns a shop and his wife works as a maid in houses said that the government could not uproot their businesses and force them to vacate their houses to which were attached memories of their parents and grandparents.

Kohat: 4 dead, 3 injured as unidentified gunmen open fire at car

KOHAT (Dunya News) – Four people died whereas three were injured after unidentified gunmen open fire at a car in Kohat on Saturday, reported Dunya News.

Shakardara Nazim rural village council Munir Khan was travelling in his car along with his relatives towards his residence when unidentified gunmen opened fire at the car near Shakardara resulting in the deaths of Nazim Munir Khan, Attiq Rehman and his two sons, Shafiq and Rafiq.

Three people, including a lady and a young girl, got injured as a result of the incident. Police stated that the incident was the outcome of personal rivalry, adding that further investigation of the incident was being carried out.

Jirga threatens protest if refinery shifted from Kohat

KOHAT: Political leaders, councillors, lawyers and traders constituted a jirga to press the government to abandon the plan of shifting the proposed oil-refinery from Kohat to Karak district.

The jirga which was named as Kohat Jirga would hold talks with provincial and federal government and would create awareness among the masses about the importance of the oil-refinery in Kohat.

District Naizm Maulana Niaz Muhammad, Tehsil Nazim Malik Taimor Khan, former MNA Khurshid Begum, former Senator Abbas Afridi, JUI-F District President Jamil Paracha, District Bar President Javed Panchi, PML-N leader Haji Sher Khan, PPP District President Farid Khan, ANP leader Saeed Shah Bukhari, JI District President Qari Fateh Muhammad and trader leaders attended the jirga.

The participants termed the shifting of the oil-refinery a conspiracy against the people of Kohat.

They said that the previous government had announced the Rs 40 billion project. The OGDCL survey report had claimed that the lifespan of the oil wells in Kohat was 80 years while that of Karak is 25 years, they maintained.

PML-N protesters stop PTI rally in Kohat

PESHAWAR: Protesters belonging to the PML-N Sunday stopped the PTI’s Ehtesab rally from heading to Attock from Peshawar.

According to sources, the PTI workers from across the KP and Fata gathered in Peshawar to begin their Tehreek-e-Ehtesab rally towards Attock. However, when they reached Kohat, a large number of protesters belonging to the PML-N were on roads. The workers, burning tyres on roads at four different points, came face to face with participants of the PTI rally, compelling Imran’s supporters to change their route.

The PML-N supporters were being led by the party MNA Abbas Afridi; however, the PML-N senior leaders Talal Chaudhry claimed that the protest was joined by other parties as well. “The protest has nothing to do with PTI’s rally,” he clarified.

Meanwhile, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the ruling party is using ‘dirty tactics’ to halt the way of anti-government protesters. “Protest is our democratic right which could not be snatched.

Apparently to foil PTI’s political show, the ruling PML-N organised a public meeting in Peshawar Sunday. PTI’s protest march is part of the opposition’s efforts to press the government to launch probe into Panama Leaks, which involved offshore holdings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family. According to our correspondent, PTI activists from all over KP and Fata reached Zakori Bridge to kick off the rally. Imran Khan addressed his supporters before formal start of the rally. He was accompanied by senior party leaders including Naeemul Haq, Jehangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The rally started heading towards Attock, where a large public meeting will be held in Khairabad area.

KP govt to construct new building for Kohat hospital

Source The News

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday decided to construct a new building for the Liaqat Memorial Hospital Kohat.

An official handout said that the decision was made at a meeting chaired by provincial Health Minister Shahram Tarakai.The meeting decided that the old building would be demolished as it was in a dilapidated condition. It was told that the existing building was beyond repair as it was built in 1952.  

The handout said that work on the construction of new building would be started in July this year and completed within next two years at an estimated cost of Rs400 million. It said that the Refugees Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) programme would provide financial assistance for the construction of new building.

Secretary Health Dr Jamal Yusuf, Director General Health, Dr Pervez Kamal, Commissioner Kohat Division, Musarrat Hussain and representatives of RAHA programme attended the meeting. The meeting was briefed in detail on the master plan of the new building.

Army Officer gunned down in Peshawar

Source The News International

PESHAWAR: In yet another apparent target killing incident, unidentified assailants gunned down a senior officer of the Pakistan Army at a mosque near Hayatabad at the time of Friday prayers.

The family members of the deceased told The News that armed men waiting in ambush opened fire on Lieutenant Colonel Tariq Ghafoor at a small mosque near the Ring Road leading to Hayatabad.

“Those accompanying him told the police that they went to the mosque in a car. They said they entered the mosque while Lt Col Tariq was parking the vehicle when they heard three shots,” Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Mubarak Zeb told The News.

As the relatives and other people came out of the mosque after hearing the gunshots, they found the colonel critically wounded. He succumbed to his injuries on way to the Hayatabad Medical Complex. His body was sent for an autopsy to the Combined Military Hospital and later to the Khyber Medical College.

Lt Col Tariq Ghafoor belonged to Kohat but was living in the family’s bungalow in Hayatabad. The family owned a gas station on the Ring Road near the place where he was shot dead.

The deceased was the elder son of the late Major General Fazal Ghafoor, who had served as the inspector general of the Frontier Corps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata. The general had led the Frontier Corps to put down the armed uprising by the black-turbaned followers of the Tanzim Nifiaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) head Maulana Sufi Muhammad in Swat and the rest of Malakand Division in 1995. He was the son-in-law of Mian Mehboob and brother-in-law of Mian Saeed Ahmed.

Lt Col Tariq Ghafoor’s younger brother Asad and a sister are also serving as officers in the army. “He was a thorough gentleman and a friend indeed. He will be missed forever,” said one of his close friends, Muhammad Saeed. Lt Col Tariq is survived by his widow, a son and three daughters. His funeral prayer will be offered in Chambai village near the Kohat prison at 2pm today (Sunday).

Our Kohat correspondent adds: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the killing of Lt Col Tariq Ghafoor. Its spokesman Muhammad Khurasani called reporters to make the claim and to assert that he was on their hit-list due to his role in taking action against the Taliban in Quetta. He added that the TTP’s special task force was tasked to carry out the attack.

Petty dispute: Three men gunned down

KOHAT: Three men were allegedly killed over a petty dispute in Jungle Khel on Sunday. A police spokesperson told the media the accused Yousaf Khan, Qasim, Asim and Wahid Khan are members of a group. They barged into the hujra of Muhammad Suleman and opened fire on Suleman, Muhammad Hassan and Habib. The accused managed to escape the scene after committing the crime. However, police registered an FIR and started investigation to find the culprits. Rafiullah, cousin of the deceased, told the police the two groups had a petty dispute a few days ago.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2016.

Gas royalty funds fail to bring change in Kohat

KOHAT: Kohat district has been receiving a big amount of oil and gas royalty every year, but no corresponding development could be seen in any sector.

District executive officer (finance) Wahidur Rehman Khattak told Dawn that Kohat district had been getting royalty since 2011 according to the ratio of production from the local oil and gas wells.

He said that in 2014-15 Kohat received over Rs61 million in royalty of which 50 per cent was given to the oil and gas producing constituency. Similarly, in 2013-14 the companies gave Rs41 million and so on.

Answering a question, he said that for unknown reasons no mega project could be started.

He admitted that condition of hospitals, roads and water and electricity supply schemes in Kohat had worsened over the years.

Though 50 per cent of the royalty goes to Shakardarra, condition of its hospital could not be improved.

The town has no water and voltage of electricity remains so low that the scheme for bringing water to the area from Indus River was abandoned several years ago.

An official said on condition of anonymity that the funds were being misused otherwise the royalty funds in addition to the annual share of Kohat from the provincial government could solve all major problems of the district.

Mr Khattak said that the royalty funds were released to contractors for the approved schemes, but unfortunately no development could be seen in the district.

Sources said that the companies had promised to reconstruct the hospital and road, but the lawmakers from the area were employing people of their constituencies and keeping mum about the development projects.

It may be recalled that the oil and gas companies had announced a mobile hospital for Shakardarra to reach the scattered population and establishment of a burns centre in Kohat. Residents said that the lawmakers never bothered to pressurise the companies to help resolve problems of their constituencies.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2016

Govt asked to resume train service to Kohat, Mardan, Khyber

Source Express Tribune

A civil society organisation has launched a campaign to press the federal government to resume train service to Kohat, Hangu, Mardan and the tribal areas so that people can benefit from the facility.

The activists of Karwan-e-Amal, a civil society group in Kohat, on Sunday staged a rally to ask the federal government to resume the train service to their district.“We have approached the political leaders, federal government officials and others concerned to resume this important service for the people of Kohat,” said Saleem Altaf, chairman of Karwan-e-Amal.

He added that the campaign would continue for a few weeks for which the political leadership and elders of Kohat have been taken into confidence.According to the elders of Kohat, infrastructure is already there in the shape of tracks, railway station and other facilities and only the federal minister for Railways needs to approve resumption of the cargo as well as passenger trains.

“This will benefit thousands of people of not only Kohat, but the entire southern districts and the tribal belt,” one of the elders said.

Hundreds of miles of railway tracks were built in the past up to Mardan, Dargai, Torkham in Khyber Agency and Kohat and Bannu in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, the tracks are not being used by any passenger and cargo train for the last several years. The government and the Pakistan Railways have lost interest in reviving the train service to any of these destinations.

The Khyber Train Safari from Peshawar to Landikotal in Khyber Agency used to be popular with local and foreign tourists but it was closed several years ago due to insecurity and other unspecified reasons. It ought to be revived now that the security situation has improved.

Thousands of kanals of land of the Pakistan Railways also hasn’t been utilised properly to benefit the public.

A number of elders have also asked for usage of the railway track in Mardan and Khyber Agency. There are reports that most of the properties of the Pakistan Railways have been occupied due to negligence of the department and the ministry. In Mardan, the railway station has been converted into a market.

Kidnapping for ransom : CTD arrests suspect in Kohat

KOHAT: The counter-terrorism department (CTD) has arrested a suspect who was allegedly involved in a kidnapping for ransom in Kohat. According to a handout issued by the department on Tuesday, the suspect was identified as Khushi Mohammad, who hailed from a village in Gujranwala. “He had abducted Fazal Mohammad, son of Khan Mohammad, on January 19,” read the handout. “After kidnapping Fazal, Khushi demanded Rs10 million as ransom for his release.” As per the document, CTD officials conducted a search operation in the area and managed to arrest the accused. Khushi has been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Further probe is underway

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2016.

Two Kohat Circle engineers suspended

source: Tribune

Two engineers of Kohat Circle have been suspended for using substandard material in development projects and negligently carrying out their duties. This was stated in a handout issued on Friday. Adviser to CM for Communication and Works Akbar Ayub Khan and C&W Secretary Muhammad Asif Khan took the decision after they noticed substandard material was being used in the construction of two playgrounds at Lachi and Babri Banda. They sought a report from the superintending engineer to this effect and discovered two engineers, Shakir Kamal and Saeedullah, had negligently performed their duties. Action will also be taken against the subdivisional officer in-charge.