Two shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: Two people including a woman were killed and two policemen injured in separate incidents in parts of Peshawar on Thursday.

According to Yakatoot police, a man, Kiramatullah, and a woman, Zahida, were shot dead when they were going towards Jamil Chowk on Pandu Road. They were taken to Lady Reading Hospital but doctors pronounced them dead.

Both of them belonged to Gharibabad area at Inqilab Road. Police have registered a case against unidentified killers.

In another incident two personnel of special police (community police) got bullet injuries when they were attacked by armed men near Shahpur police Chowki in limits of Chamkani police station.

A source said that they were going in a private vehicle that came under attack. The source revealed that police suspected involvement of Malik Shamat Khan who mistakenly attacked them taking them as his enemies. —Bureau Report

Afghan envoy meets Hoti

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: Afghan Consul General in Peshawar, Syed Mohammad Ibrahim Khel, called on Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti here on Thursday and discussed matters pertaining to bilateral relations, security situation in the region and Afghan refugees.

The Afghan consul general stated that Afghans considered Pakistan as their second home and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had set up an unprecedented example of Islamic brotherhood by giving shelter to Afghan Refugees for more than three decades. He apprised the chief minister of problems and difficulties confronting Afghan refugees.

The chief minister said that Afghan refugees were our brethren and assured every possible facility despite untoward circumstances.

He directed the concerned authorities for provision of all possible facilities to Afghans having legal travel documents in major hospitals of Peshawar. He also directed health department for ensuring admission to Afghan students on allotted seats in Khyber Medical College. —Bureau Report

Transporters stage protest

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: Transporters held a protest demonstration at Bara Road here on Thursday against the increase in bus stand fee and chanted slogans against the government for avoiding action against the contractor concerned.

Holding banners and placards inscribed with demands for cancellation of the contract of General Bus Stand, the protesters said they were not ready to pay extra.

Talking to media persons, transporters leaders including Abdullah Jan and Noor Hussain said that government had fixed stand fee at Rs66 but the contractor had started charging the transporters Rs500 per vehicle.

They appealed to the chief justice of Peshawar High Court to take notice of the sheer injustice on part of the contractor and stop exploitation of the transporters. —Bureau Report

Road projects inaugurated

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: ANP joint secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Aimal Asfandyar Wali Khan inaugurated three projects of widening of road and reconstruction in Charsadda on Thursday.

A handout said that the to be completed at a cost of Rs2 billion included widening of Charsadda-Mardan Road and Sardaryab-Kharakai Road and rehabilitation of Nowshehra-Nasata Road.

The projects will be completed jointly by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority and Jica.

Addressing notables and party workers, Aimal Wali said that quality roads were vital for speedy development and economic prosperity and added that a network of roads costing billions of rupees had been spread across Charsadda on the directives of ANP central leader Asfandyar Wali Khan. —Bureau Report

Youth festival concludes

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has asked the students to keep themselves abreast with the history and achievements of their leaders.

He was addressing as chief guest at the concluding ceremony of the youth festival for peace organised by the provincial culture department at Nishtar Hall here on Thursday, said a handout. During the festival students of Islamia Collegiate Peshawar and Frontier Youth Academy held competitions of national songs, tableaus and speeches in Urdu, Pashto and English languages.

Mr Hussain said that peace was our heartfelt desire as without it no one could think about any kind of progress or development. He said that followers of Bacha Khan had given sacrifices due to which the law and order situation had been controlled to a great extent. —Bureau Report

Students block road

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: A group of students belonging to Kurram Agency held a protest demonstration near the press club here on Thursday against the murder of a student and demanded arrest of killers.

The students of different educational institutions were led by leaders of the Kurram Students Union. The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with demands for arrest of the accused. They also blocked the main Sher Shah Suri Road for some time and chanted anti-government slogans. The protest also led to traffic disruption for some time.

Talking to media persons, student leaders Mohammad Habib and Niamatullah said that a student Mohammad Aman had been killed on Warsak Road on Aug 15 but police had failed to arrest the accused so far. —Bureau Report

Confiscated vehicles

PESHAWAR, Sept 13: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secretary excise and taxation has said that a strategy has been evolved for retrieval of ‘confiscated’ vehicles from the people who were allotted the same. Notices would be issued in the first phase to the people concerned so that a complete report could be submitted in the court on next hearing, he added.

The secretary, Mohammad Akbar Khan, was presiding over a high level meeting here on Thursday regarding the retrieval of confiscated vehicles.

The participants discussed in detail matters relating to retrieval of the vehicles in the light of directives issued by the Peshawar High Court and presented some viable proposals and took decisions in this regard. —Bureau Report

Pakistanis detained in Saudia

TIMERGARA, Sept 13: Central vice chief of JUI-F Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan said here on Thursday that over 400 Pakistanis hailing from different parts of Malakand division had been detained in various prisons of Saudi Arabia for the last four months while the Pakistan embassy at Riyadh was only acting as a silent spectator.

Talking to local journalists at his religious seminary at Chakdara, the JUI-F leader said that most of the detained Pakistanis had approached his party.

“The Pakistanis having no legal documents have been kept in temporary jails at Riyadh, Jeddah and other cities of the Saudi Arabia,” he said.He alleged that despite knowledge of these countrymen, the Pakistani consulate in Saudi Arabia had been doing nothing either to release or bring them back to Pakistan. —Correspondent