August 06, 2008	Wednesday	Sha’aban 3, 1429

PARACHINAR, Aug 5: Two children died due to non-availability of medicines in the conflict-ridden Kurram on Tuesday.

Sources said that due to closure of the main road, leading to Parachinar, the hospitals had run out of essential drugs.

Eight-month-old Yasir Ali died in Karakhela village of gastroenteritis on Tuesday, his uncle Safdar Ali told Dawn. In an adjacent locality, Jamshed Hussain, 3, died of the same disease. So far eight children have died due to lack of drugs in the area.

Doctors at local hospitals fear that the number of casualties could go up, if essential medicines weren’t supplied to the health facilities immediately. They said drugs meant for Parachinar had been purchased at the cost of Rs20 million, but couldn’t be supplied through helicopter as promised by the authorities concerned after the passage of a whole month.

Closures of roads have landed the people in puzzling situation as they are unable to transport their children to other cities.

TWO KILLED: Two persons killed and two others were injured when a tractor trolley, they were travelling in, came under fire in Lower Kurram on Tuesday.