Rockets damage house

LANDI KOTAL, Sept 26: The house of Jamrud khasadar line officer was partially damaged when militants targeted it with two rockets on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials said that the rocket attack caused damage to the main gate of the house of Tehseenullah situated at Naway Abadi in Jamrud. Nobody was, however, hurt in the attack. The attacker managed to flee from the scene after the attack.

The local administration has registered a case against unknown attackers and started investigation. —Correspondent

Labourers die of suffocation

UPPER DIR, Sept 26: Two labourers died of suffocation while cleaning a well in Kotkai village here on Wednesday, officials said.

They said that four labourers Razaullah, Sher Ahmed, Shah Mohammad and Matiullah were cleaning a well when they fell unconscious due to poisonous gas.

Two of them, Shah Mohammad and Matiullah, died before reaching the hospital. The two others were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital wherefrom they were shifted to a hospital in Peshawar.

The bodies of the dead were taken to their village in Tirkot for burial. —Correspondent

Workers seek regularisation

PESHAWAR, Sept 26: The employees of health department of Fata, Expanded Programme on Immunisation, held a protest demonstration here on Wednesday against the change in their service structure from contract to fixed pay and demanded immediate regularisation of their services.

The protesters led by junior EPI technician Fata Saeed Riaz held a demonstration near the press club. Scores of health technicians serving in different tribal agencies took part in the protest.

The protesters warned that if their demands were not fulfilled, they would be compelled to boycott the polio campaign in all the tribal agencies and frontier regions.

Talking to reporters, Saeed Riaz said the transfer of employees was unjustified as they were performing their duties for the last eight year on contract.

He urged the president, prime minister and KP governor to regularise their services and end the growing unrest among the employees. —Bureau Report

Another riots victim dies

PESHAWAR, Sept 26: The death toll in the Sept 21 riots reached seven after another wounded person succumbed to his injuries at Lady Reading Hospital here on Wednesday, a hospital source said.

An official said that the deceased was identified as Syed Bilal Shah, who belonged to Mansehra. He was student of the University of Engineering Technology (UET) Peshawar. He had sustained bullet wounds during a rally in connection with the Yaum-i-Ishq-i-Rasool (pbuh) near the university campus and was under treatment at LRH.

The source said that the body was handed over to his relatives, who shifted him to Mansehra for burial. —Bureau Report

Misuse of funds alleged

KARAK, Sept 26: Former nazim Banda Daud Shah tehsil council Hameedullah Khattak has alleged that Rs23.7 million were wasted on a drinking water supply scheme to Makori and demanded a probe into the matter.

Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said that Rs23.7 million were earmarked from the production bonus funds of oil and gas company to lay a new supply line to the Makori area, but the public health engineering department wasted the funds on the old supply line, which had aggravated the drinking water problem for 15,000 population of the area. —Correspondent

MMR issues discussed

PESHAWAR, Sept 26: The secretary social sector Fata, Dr Aftab Akbar Durrani, has assured the representatives of Khwendo Kor organisation to incorporate the World Health Organisation’s recommendations regarding maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the tribal region.

He said this during the first meeting of steering committee of the project “Saving mothers in community” held at Fata Secretariat here on Wednesday.

He said poverty, low literacy rate, undeveloped health infrastructure and lack of unawareness were the main causes regarding MMR and high infant mortality ratio (IMR).

The secretary stressed on expediting activities to achieve the millennium development goals.

Dr lubna Hassan while speaking on the occasion said that human resource training of health personnel like doctors, CMWs, LHVs and volunteers from civil society was mandatory to achieve the targeted goals. —Bureau Report

University syndicate meets

MINGORA, Sept 26: Some important decisions were taken in the seventh meeting of the syndicate of the University of Swat which was held under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohammad Jahanzeb Khan here on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by the newly-nominated member of syndicate, Advocate Sher Mohammad Khan, vice-chairman, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Dr Khalid Khan, additional secretary, higher education department, and Prof Dr Neelofar Zeb, principal, Jinnah College for Women, University of Peshawar, were also present.

The meeting discussed important issues related to university affairs and decisions were taken accordingly. Members of the syndicate appreciated the progress made by the university under the leadership of Dr Jahanzeb and assured their cooperation in addressing problems of the university. —Correspondent

Bid to smuggle drugs foiled

LAKKI MARWAT, Sept 26: Police foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics to Sindh and arrested two alleged drug smugglers here on Wednesday.

An official told Dawn that a suspected car was stopped on Wanda Banochi checkpost. He said six kg hashish, six kg opium and 150 gram heroin were recovered from the hidden cavities in the vehicle.

“The arrested drug smugglers included Abdul Latif and Abdul Rauf of Lakki Marwat,” he maintained, saying that the narcotics were reportedly being smuggled to Sindh.

Meanwhile, Lakki Marwat DCO Nisar Ahmad paid inspection visits to the newly-built civil hospital and Government Degree College for Girls in Naurang town on Wednesday.

The DCO directed the officials of communication and works department to use all-out efforts for completion of petty nature works in both the projects. He said the district administration wanted to make the hospital and college functional without any further delay. —Correspondent