09 November 2004	Tuesday	25 Ramazan 1425

WANA, Nov 8: Neelofar Bakhtiar, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Women Development, and wife of the NWFP Governor, Begum Shamim Iftikhar, visited Wana, in the South Waziristan tribal region on Monday and distributed foodstuff and gifts worth Rs1 million among women and children.

The adviser distributed about 1,000 bags of floor, ghee, sugar and other gifts, including chaddars, henna and bangles among women and girls on behalf of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, says a handout. About 2,000 women thronged the seminary to get food assistance.

Ms Bakhtiar and Begum Shamim Iftikhar distributed these items at a ceremony held at Madressah Al Banat. She also distributed gifts among 500 girls studying in the seminary.

She was brought to the seminary under tight security and paramilitary forces sealed off all routes to Wana.

Despite the tight security arrangements, a missile hit the helipad, landing in an open space. The explosion, however, did not cause any casualty or damage to helicopter parked at the helipad, sources said.

Militants attacked the Wana Scouts camp on Sunday night and fired rockets on paramilitary installations. A rocket hit an electricity tower in the area which disrupted electricity in the area. Power supply was restored after a five-hour-long breakdown in Wana and the surrounding areas.

Earlier, speaking at the seminary Ms Bakhtiar said that the government was committed to the development of women in the Federally-Administered Tribal Area. She acknowledged that tribal women had been neglected in the past.

She said that promotion of education, particularly among women, was the foremost aim of the government, saying that the Women Development Division has already approved five women development projects for the South Waziristan.

She urged need for peace and stability in the area and said that national interest must be above all other considerations.