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).

Profiteers held in Kohat, Karak, Hangu

Source Pakistan Observer

In pursuance to the implementation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister’s directives, the divisional administration Kohat has initiated action by regularly conducting raids on bazaars to check prices of the items of daily use and has arrested many accused for violating the rule. 

The CM issues strict directives to the concerned district administrations for controlling check onprices of edibles, adulteration, provision of quality health facilities and medicines and strict action against spurious drugs, removal of encroachment and cleanliness drive.

In this connection the district administration of Kohat has so far checked 1325 shops Kohat, Karak and Hangu districts and arrested a total number of 472 accused. Similarly 41 FIRs have been registered against the accused and a fine of Rs 315700 has been recovered during the month of June. To control over adulteration the district administration of Kohat, Karak and Hangu have raided different shops and sealed bakery shops and fined many. Similarly 24 FIRs have been registered against butchers who were not implementing directives of the Chief Minister.

To check spurious drugs, the district health officer and drug inspectors conducted raids in Kohat and checked 114 registered and 27 unregistered medical stores and taken samples for further testing in the Drug Testing Laboratory. In Karak 177 registered and 31 unregistered medical stores were checked and samples taken. In Hangu 46 registered medical stores were raided and action taken.—APP 

Karak elders rail against decision to set up oil refinery

Source Express Tribune

Tribal elders from ‘Khattak Ittihad’ expressed their reservations on Saturday about setting up an oil refinery in Kohat and decided to convene a grand jirga.

The jirga, which will take place on April 17, will chalk out a line of action regarding the decision of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s caretaker government to set up a refinery in Kohat instead of Karak, a major area for oil production. The elders felt this would deprive the area of earning royalties on oil production.

A meeting of the office bearers of ‘Khattak Ittihad’ was convened under the chair of Maulana Mirzaqeem at the Karak town hall. The meeting was attended by Rahim Khan, Captain (Retd) Lazzat Shah, Umer Badshah and other members. The group decided a grand jirga should be called to discuss and debate the issue of the oil refinery.

Mirzaqeem called on all political parties’ leaders in Karak district to participate in the jirga to unanimously address why Karak was being bereaved of its rights, and the oil refinery was being set up in Kohat at the cost of Karak.

Earlier, the elders held a sit-in at the deputy commissioner’s office against excessive power outages in the area.

Govt to provide land for Karak university

Source Dawn

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved provision of land for establishment of a university in Karak and urged the federal government to take measures for realising the project.
The decision was taken in a meeting held here on Monday with Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti in the chair.
The meeting discussed possibilities of establishing sub-campus of Kohat University of Science and Technology and a separate university in Karak, however, the option for setting up a separate university in the district was approved.
Mr Hoti said that government was establishing higher education facilities in nook and corner of the province. Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan and its sub-campuses in different districts supplemented the fact, he added.
He vowed to provide land for establishment of university in Karak and undertake required legislation in that connection.
The meeting was also informed about the location of the proposed university. The resources of provincial government and royalty on oil and gas will be equally utilised to purchase land for the university.
Provincial Minister Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel, MPA Malik Qasim, Karak ANP provident Usman Gul Khattak, general secretary Zamir Bacha, Provincial Finance Secretary Sahibzada Saeed, Higher Education Secretary Farah Hamid, planning and development secretary, Kohat University vice-chancellor and Kohat Commissioner Sahibzada Anis Ahmad attended the meeting.
The chief minister said that people of Karak and adjacent districts would benefit from establishment of the university. The establishment of the university would help to eradicate backwardness and illiteracy from the area.

PHC rejects police probe in Uzma Ayub Case

Source Pakistan Observer

Peshawar—The Peshawar High Court here on Thursday ordered inclusion of 7-Anti Terrorism Act against the accused in murder case of brother of alleged gang rape victim in Karak district and rejected the enquiry report of DIG Enquiry and Investigation, Sultan Hanif Orakzai.

A two-member bench of PHC, Comprising Chief Justice, Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth took strong exception over the DIG enquiry report and ruled that why contempt of court proceeding should not be initiated against him for presenting such report that was not based on facts.

The court directed DIG Kohat Idrees Khan to continue probe of the alleged gang rape case of Uzma Ayub and clod blooded murder of his brother, Alamzaib in Karak district. The court ordered inclusion of 7-ATA against the accused in the murder case of Alamzaib and adjourned the case till January 17, 2012.

IGP KPK Muhammad Akbar Khan Hoti and Secretary Health also appeared in the court with direction of conducting of DNA Test of the unborn baby of gang rape victim after the birth to ascertain factual position. The PHC had taken strong notice of police negligence in the case and had suspended DPO Karak after killing of Uzma Ayub brother in Karak courts.

The court had also directed IGP Khyber Pakthunkhwa, Muhammad Akbar Khan Hoti to serve a show-cause notice on DIG, Kohat for not reaching on the spot after report of the incident. The Court directed strict action against police officials found guilty in the case and submission of enquiry report within seven days before the court. The court also directed government Khyber Pakthunkhwa to provide foolproof security to Uzma Ayub and her family in Peshawar.

Uzma Ayub case: action taken against 25 cops

Source The News

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Kohat Range Masood Khan Afridi on Monday said that action had been taken against 25 policemen in the Uzma Ayub rape case and murder of her brother Alamzeb.

Talking to family members of Uzma Ayub at the office of Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Takht Nusrati, here, the DIG said that all possible help would be extended to the affected family. He said that Alamzeb murder case was being probed thoroughly and a monitoring committee had also been formed to oversee the performance of the inquiry committee.

The official said so far 25 police officials had been taken to task and action would be taken against others as well. He directed the police to ensure security of the affected family and asked them to inform the police if they needed any sort of help.

Four bullet riddled bodies found in Karak

daily dawn

In the first incident of its kind in the district, four bullet-riddled bodies were found in Kunghara area here on Saturday.

Sources said that the victims were killed on charges of spying for foreign countries. All of the four were blindfolded and handcuffed, they added.

“Letters were also found in the pockets of deceased. The letters say that all those, who are spying for the secret agencies of Israel and India, will meet the same fate,” police said.

Police added that they took the bodies in their possession when got information about their presence in Kunghara area. “It seems that the unidentified persons have been killed somewhere else and their bodies thrown here,” they added.

Police said that empty bullets were also found with the bodies. The bodies were shifted to hospital for postmortem. Doctors at the hospital said that the victims were killed on Friday night. “No visible marks of violence could be seen on the bodies,” they added.

The identity of the victims could not be ascertained, however, Karak police registered a case against unidentified persons and started investigation

7, including five FC men, killed in Kohat attack

Source Daily Times


Five Frontier Constabulary personnel, a foreign oil and gas exploration company’s driver and guard were killed on Thursday after suspected terrorists kidnapped two engineers of the foreign company in Kohat district, police sources said. The loss of five FC personnel followed an attack on the vehicle carrying the MOL Company’s engineers in Lachi tehsil, police sources in Kohat told Daily Times. “The attackers took away two MOL Company’s engineers after the attack on the vehicle that was coming back from exploration in the Karak district,” they added. Two FC soldiers were reported injured in the crossfire. abdul saboor khan

Recovery of kidnapped official, his driver sought

Source The News

Relatives of Fayyazur Rahman, the kidnapped official of foreign oil and gas exploration company, MOL, and his driver, Said Kalam, have demanded their safe recovery.


Talking to reporters here Wednesday, Mohammad Suleman and Ataullah said their relative Fayyazur Rahman and his driver Said Kalam had been kidnapped from somewhere in Kohat and Hangu areas.

They added that they had no enmity with anyone and demanded coordinated efforts for their safe release. They said their families were extremely disturbed due to the kidnapping. “We are passing through difficult times. We are hoping that efforts are being made to get them recovered,” Mohammad Suleman said.

Two killed in Karak

Source Dawn

A land dispute claimed two lives in Sabirabad here on Tuesday. Police said that two rival groups opened fire on each other over a dispute on a piece of land and as a result Haq Nawaz and Gul Rahim of same family of Ghundi Mir Khankhel were killed on the spot. Sabirabad police registered FIR against the accused.

Three persons killed in road accident in Karak

Source The News

Three members of a family were killed in a road accident on Friday. Three persons, Basirullah, Nabeel and Rauf of Algadi area in Karak were killed when their motorcycle rammed into a car on the Indus Highway near Tableeghi Markaz.


The relatives of the deceased registered a first information report (FIR) against the motorcar driver in Karak Police Station but the accused escaped. In another incident, five persons were seriously injured when two motorcycles collided head-on in Latambar area. The injured, identified as Najeeb, Daraz, Ayub, Asad and Raham Nawaz, were rushed to the nearby health centre but were later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital because of their critical condition.

Moreover, three persons were injured when a car overturned in Sicot area because of speeding. The injured including Noor Wali Khan, Azam Khan and Gul Wali were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, Karak, for treatment. Two of the injured were later shifted to Peshawar.

Meanwhile, Wazir tribesmen residing in Karak continued to visit the Zebi dam and Lawagher dam for picnic during the Eidul Azha holidays despite imposition of Section 144 on the visit to dams because of growing incidents of drowning.

Kohat Indus Highway completely worn out

Source APP


About 70 kilometer section of the Indus Highway linking Kohat with Karak has completely worn out causing numerous accidents and loss of precious lives.One lane of the highway is totally in a dilapidated condition and bumpy due to over-loaded trucks exceeding the weight limit fixed by the National Highway Authority (NHA).It may be mentioned that the highway, which is used by all types of vehicles, connects eastern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with commercial hub of the country Karachi.


Mohammad Yasin, owner of a transport company, said that the over-loaded trucks were mainly responsible for the damage to the highway.
“The NHA has not evolved an effective mechanism to check flow of over-loaded trucks on this important route,” he added.
A tribal elder of Khattak tribe in Karak said over 150 people have been killed during last five years due to accidents on this dangerous patch of the highway.
“ Local people have written several letters to the NHA urging it to take steps for its repair but in vain”, he said.
Residents of the district Karak also suffer difficulty in shifting sick people to hospitals in Kohat and Peshawar due to the broken highway.

On the other side, this bumpy road with ditches is damaging vehicles, especially their tyres. According to an NHA official, the Kohat-Karak highway is totally broken and there is a need to lay a completely new road.

Timely delivery of bills sought

Source The News

The telephone subscribers have resented the non-delivery of the monthly bills and asked the authorities to ensure the provision of bills in time. Addressing a press conference here Wednesday, Arshadullah, Zareen Khan and Masood Alam said that due to negligence of the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) they could not deposit the bills and now had to pay fine. They said that the PTCL officials did not entertain their complaints made for rectifying out of order telephones. The residents asked the PTCL authorities to make sure that bills were delivered to them in time.

Security plan for Karak devised

Source The News

A meeting here Wednesday reviewed the law and order situation in the district and devised a security plan. District Police Officer Sajid Ahmad Khan Mohmand, who presided over the meeting of deputy district police officers of all circles, said police were the main target of terrorists. He pointed out that there was lack of information sharing between the police and the intelligence agencies and urged better coordination to forestall terrorist activities.

Rs80m released for Karak gas supply scheme’

Source The News

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly member Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel on Saturday said the provincial government had released Rs80 million for the supply of gas to Karak tehsil and Takht Nusrati area. Addressing a public meeting here, he said the government had also decided that 50 percent amount of royalty of oil and gas would be spent on the development of Banda Daud Shah tehsil. He said that work on gas supply to six villages in Karak tehsil including Mithakhel, Thordhand, Ghundi Mir Khankhel, Badinkhel, Turkikhel and Alikhel would be started soon. He added that entire village of Mithakhel would get the gas facility as 12-kilometre-long gas pipeline had been approved for the village. The MPA informed that the oil and gas exploring foreign company MOL has released Rs60.5 million as production bonus for the uplift of the area and added that drinking water supply schemes would be launched on priority basis to meet the longstanding demand of the people of Band Daud Shah tehsil.

4 people killed at Indus Highway at Karak

Source: Daily Mashriq

Four people killed and two injured in accident at Indus Highway near Karak. According to details on Indus Highway near Shaheedan More a Suzuki Carry going to Peshawar collied with a truck going to D I Khan. Due to this accident Muhammad Waqar, Sher Ali and Inamullah resident of Peshawar and one Muhammad  Saleem died at the spot. The two critically injured person Abdul Waheed and Ahmed were shifted to hospital for treatment.

17 die in Karak road accident

Source The News

Seventeen people, including two women and two children, were killed and seven others sustained injuries in a collision between a Hiace and a trailer on the Indus Highway early on Monday. Police said the Hiace (BM 640), carrying newspapers from Islamabad to Bannu, rammed into the trailer (TLL 382 Lasbela) near Pashano Ghundi on Indus Highway in the jurisdiction of the Karak Police Station at about 5:40 am. Eyewitnesses and hospital sources said 17 people, including two women and two children, died and seven others sustained injuries in the accident

Four killed in Karak separately

Source: The News

Four persons were killed and two others sustained injuries in separate incidents in the district on Sunday. Two persons were shot dead and two others sustained injuries when their enemies opened fire on them over a land dispute in Kot Banda area in Banda Daud Shah tehsil. The slain were identified as Muzaffar Khan and Mumtaz, residents of Kot Banda. Javed, brother of slain Muzaffar Khan lodged first information report (FIR) at the Terri police station against Gul Wali, Mir Ajab Khan and Ismail.In another incident, Mosam Khan allegedly killed his son Muhammadullah over some domestic issue in the jurisdiction of Takht Nusrati Police Station. Meanwhile, a student of grade-4 Sundas, daughter of Ihsanullah, was crushed to death by a speeding ambulance on Indus Highway. The father of the student, who is a teacher by profession, said that his daughter was crossing the Indus Highway at Shaheedan area when the ambulance hit her. She succumbed to her injuries on way to hospital.

Accdident on Kohat Indus Highway

Source Daily Mashriq

A vehicle coming to Kohat fell into to ditch. Two people were killed while two were injured. According to details the a vehicle coming from DI Khan to Kohat fell into deep ditch at Meeta Khel in Karak area on Indus Highway, due to which two persons Faheem and Ahmed Khan resident of Lachi were killed on the spot while two persons Rahim Dad and Haji Umar resident of Lachi were critically injured. They were taken to district hospital Karak in critical conditions.

One killed in band daud shah due to stone sliding

Source: Daily Mashriq

In the village Jatta Ismail Khel of Tehsil Banda Daud Shah in District Karak One man was killed and others were injured due to sliding of stone from Hill.According to details on Tuesday morning Hijrat Khan, Taj Muhammad, Shah Fahim and Maqsood resident of jatta Ismail Khel were loading stone on Tractor trolley from Hill when all of sudden a stone fell on them and Hijrat Khan died on the spot while other were severly injured they were rushed to hospital in critical conditions.