LAKKI MARWAT: A forest fire was brought under control at Shaikh Badin hilltop in Darra Pezu town, bordering DI Khan district, officials claimed on Friday.

They said the cause of the blaze was not immediately known. They said workers of wildlife department and Rescue 1122 were mobilised when the fire was reported on Thursday night.

Wildlife department divisional forest officer Khan Malook Khan said his department’s workers deployed at the national park responded quickly when they learnt about the fire.

“Though the fire incident occurred at a distance from the national park and reserve forest the wildlife workers reached the site and built a fire line to prevent the blaze from spreading to other areas,” Malook added.

He said throwing burning cigarette butts was the leading cause of such fires.

A Rescue 1122 official said a team of firefighters was dispatched to the area when the incident was reported. He said wildlife workers had controlled the flames before the rescue firefighters reached there.

Shaikh Badin is a famous mountainous tourist station at a height of 4,516 feet in the southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the government had established the national park in 2003 to conserve the flora and fauna and promote tourism.

SHOT DEAD: A man was killed and another sustained injuries when their rivals opened fire on them over a murder enmity in Lakki Marwat on Friday.

The incident occurred near Manjiwala Chowk in the limits of city police station.

The police said the victims were attacked when they were going to Miramshah in a car.

Police said the deceased and the injured belonged to Miramshah town of North Waziristan, adding the attackers fled the place.

Syed Nawaz, a relative of the deceased, told the police that after offering Fateha in Bhana Manjiwala area here, they left for their hometown, but when they reached near Manjiwala Chowk, their rivals, Shah Qiaz, Asadullah and Sabir Zaman, sprayed the car with bullets, killing Mir Shamid Khan, 55, on the spot.

He said his other relative, Naeemullah, was injured.

A Rescue 1122 team shifted the deceased and the injured to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Serai Naurang.

The police registered a case against the attackers and began investigation.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2024