LOWER DIR: The police on Wednesday claimed to have foiled a terror bid by arresting a suspected militant along with arms and ammunition during a search operation in Maidan area here.

District police officer Liaqat Ali Malik, who supervised the operation, told journalists that the Maidan police on information of intelligence agencies arrested Dost Mohammad in Kumbar area of Maidan. He said a suicide jacket containing 8kg explosives, 13 kilogrammes of explosives, four mortar shells, six RPG boosters, 103 yard safety fuses, six timing devices, 126 cartridges, an HMG barrel, 12 kilogrammes of iron pieces used in making of remote-controlled bombs, electric wires etc, were recovered.

The DPO said they had the information that a group of militants in Maidan was regrouping to carry out sabotage acts. However, he said the police acted timely and foiled the terrorist plot.

Mr Malik said arms and ammunition were dumped in a tank that was hidden under the earth. He said the outlaw was jailed twice in the past for sabotage acts.

The accused was shifted to an undisclosed location for further interrogation, he maintained.

WILDFIRE RAVAGES FOREST: The Jamaat-i-Islami Lower Dir secretary information Riaz Mohammad Advocate on Wednesday said a wildfire in a Talash forest was becoming out of control as the local authorities were doing nothing to put it out.

Talking to journalists in Timergara, he said the officials of the forest department, firefighters of Rescue 1122 and local volunteers were trying hard to extinguish the fire, but to no avail. The fire broke out in the forests of Gumbat and Amluk Dara Talash two days ago.

The JI leader said there was no water available to put out the fire in the forest situated at a dangerous slope which was difficult to climb. He said a forest official fell and injured while another fainted due to heat while fighting the blaze the other day.

He feared that the fire could reach the village below, saying the elected representatives should talk to the chief minister to arrange for helicopters to put out the blaze.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2021