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| April 30, 2003 | Wednesday | Safar 27, 1424 |
IUCN office damaged in rocket attack
PESHAWAR, April 29: Police remained clue less on Tuesday about the identity of the criminals who launched a rocket attack on the office of Dir-Kohistan (development) project at Shringle.
The superintendent of police of district Dir (Upper), Noorul Huda, on telephone told Dawn that the identity of the culprits had not yet been established.
The upper portion of the three-storeyed building, housing the offices of Dir-Kohistan development project, was destroyed in the rocket attack late Monday night.
The staff of IUCN — the World Conservation Union — housed in the same building is working under the development project in the district.
The SP said that two rockets were fired at the project office at around 10:45 pm on Monday and fortunately there was no casualty. However, the building caught fire and some official record of the project was destroyed, he added.
“It is premature to say something about the actual reasons of the attack,” he said.
Meanwhile, elders and notables of the area held a protest meeting at Shringle to condemn the attack terming it an attempt to make the donor agencies withdraw financial assistance.
The meeting set May 5 as the deadline for the local administration to trace the culprits involved in the attack.
Businesses and shops at the main Shringle bazaar remained closed throughout the day on Tuesday in protest against the attack.
The provincial government had directed the district coordination officer, Dir (Upper), to probe the matter. The forest department secretary was also asked to visit the area to look into the matter, said the senior provincial minister, Sirajul Haq.
The rocket attack also came under discussion during the provincial assembly’s session on Tuesday after the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s member from the same area, Farid Khan, raised a point of order.
He asked the government to ensure security to the lives and property of the people.
He staged a walkout from the hall when he was not allowed to deliberate on the issue in detail by the NWFP Assembly Speaker, Bakht Jehan Khan.
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