KOHAT, April 2 The district administration and security forces on Thursday created confusion by issuing different timings for opening the Kohat Friendship Tunnel for people.

The district administration decided to keep the alternative Nizampur (Kohat)-Nowshera road and the Kohat Friendship Tunnel open only from 6am to 5pm due to security reasons. But a spokesman for the security forces said in a late night press release that the Kohat tunnel would remain open from 5am to 8pm till April 10.

The control of the Kohat tunnel and the Indus Highway passing through Darra Adamkhel has been with the security forces for a few years.

The district administration also said the Kohat-Mianwali road would remain open for traffic for 24 hours due to the closure of the Kohat-Rawalpindi highway for annual repair of the Khushalgarh Bridge.

Earlier, the tunnel remained open for traffic from 6am to 6pm, but now the district administration has asked the people belonging to southern districts of the NWFP to reach it by 5pm.

District Police Officer Dilawar Khan Bangash on Thursday claimed that ample security arrangements had been made for people on the Nizampur-Nowshera road, but it had to be closed at 5pm for the safety of commuters.

He advised people to reach the Kohat tunnel before 5pm so that they could cross Darra Adamkhel before evening as a precautionary measure

The Kohat-Rawalpindi highway would be opened on April 12 after completion of repair work on the.