KOHAT, Dec 22: The Kohat police and the local health authorities destroyed 18,000 used disposable syringes here on Saturday in the presence of Zila Nazim Malik Assad.

The syringes were recovered, in a joint operation, from two Afghan scrap dealers on Friday.

The health department has provided syringe-cutters to all the hospitals and dispensaries in the area and issued strict instructions to the staff to completely destroy the syringes after use, it has been learnt.

The police had information that two Afghans were dealing in used disposable syringes for the last so many years in the Jangle Khel area. The syringes were sent to Lahore, where they were washed and repacked for sale.

On Friday, a police party headed by DSP Wisal Khan raided the godowns of scrap dealers in the Jangle Khel area and seized a huge quantity of used syringes ready for transportation to Lahore.

The two accused, Bashir Khan son of Mohammad Raz, and Sultan, son of Behram, residents of refugee camp No.1, have been charged under section 107. But they have not yet been arrested.

The Jangle Khel police station, when contacted, said that the two accused, who collected the used syringes with the help of Afghan children, had been issued a stern warning in this regard.