KHUZDAR/QUETTA: Locals held protest on Monday after the tragic death of siblings who drowned in a dam near Khuzdar. The protesters blocked the N-25 Quetta-Karachi national highway for several hours, blocking traffic between the two cities.

The dead bodies of seven-year-old Nasibullah Langove and his sister, 12-year-old Khanzadi, were recovered by Levies personnel and residents.

The officials reported that the siblings were passing by the dam area when they slipped and drowned.

The protesters chanted slogans against the government and demanded the construction of an alternate route for pedestrians alongside the dam.

Later, Muhammad Ali Durrani, assistant commissioner of Khuzdar, held negotiations with the protesters, assuring them that the issue would be resolved as soon as possible.

Coast Guards ‘seizes’ $136m worth of drugs from Makran

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy, identified as Abdul Sattar, drowned in a flash flood caused by heavy rains in Qila Saifullah.

Drugs seized in Makran

Seperately Pakistan Coast Guards (PCG) have seized 5,493kg of drugs, including hashish, crystal and heroin, worth $136 million in the Kapkapar area of Makran, close to Iran border.

A spokesman for the PCG said on Monday that a team conducted an operation in Kapkapar on receiving information about the presence of drugs in the area.

During the search operation, 5,166kg of hashish, 274kg of crystal and 53kg of heroin were found in an abandoned house of the area.

“The drugs were kept by the smugglers in the house for shipment to Gulf and other countries through the Makran coast,” the spokesman said.

No arrest could be made as all the smugglers escaped from the area before the raid.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2023