TIMERGARA, Feb 2: About 400 ordinary combatants from Malakand Division were killed by the Northern Alliance forces when they laid down their weapons after the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif. This was disclosed by Haji Jamshed, who escaped from a cell of Northern Alliance, while talking to journalists at his residence in Alladand, Malakand Agency, on Friday.

He said that he was among the other 600 volunteers who surrendered to the Northern Alliance forces after the Taliban’s fall. He added that they all were brought to a school in Mazar-i-Sharif where the Northern Alliance forces killed about 400 Pakistanis in a torture cell.

An activist of the defunct Terhik Nifaz-i-Shariah Mohammadi, Shamshi Khan, while narrating the same story, disclosed that he was released after Rs68,000 ransom was paid to the Northern Alliance commander.

He alleged that most of the Pakistanis were captured by the Northern Alliance commanders for ransom and those who were unable to arrange the money were killed brutally.

DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES: Lower Dir district Nazim Dr Mohammad Yaqoob Khan has directed the district development committee (DDC) to initiate work on the approved schemes and complete the same within the stipulated period.

Presiding over a meeting of the DDC attended by officials of the district administration and various departments, the Nazim directed the concerned quarters to ensure timely, fair and judicious utilization of funds allocated for different projects in the district.

The meeting was informed that tenders for the schemes had been floated in the national press and that work on the development schemes would be initiated soon.

Loadshedding: The residents of Dir district have criticized the Water Power Development Authority authorities for sending inflated bills to the consumers, unscheduled loadshedding and wrong meter reading.  

The Tehsil and district councils have adopted resolutions asking Wapda staff to end loadshedding, but no response has been received.

The Reshawar Electric Supply Company XEN and SDO, when contacted, said that the system tripped due to overloading due to illegal connections and power theft.

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