LOWER DIR: Speakers at a function here on Wednesday paid rich tributes to the victims of Timergara Rest House suicide bombing and said that peace was restored in the region with the sacrifices of political activists.

The function was arranged by workers of Awami National Party and members of civil society to observe the 12th anniversary of Timergara Rest House suicide bombing that had left 64 political activists dead and 105 others injured.

A suicide bomber had blown up himself during Jashn-i-Pakhtunkhwa rally at the rest house on April 5, 2010. A local journalist Bahramand Syed was also injured in the blast.

ANP activists Imran Takur, journalist Bahramand Syed, Jamal Yousafzai, Abbas Ahmad and others laid floral wreaths on Yadgar-i-Shuhada and offered fateha for the departed souls.

The speakers paid rich tributes to the ANP martyrs and said that lasting peace was restored due to their sacrifices. They also criticised the local leadership of ANP for not participating in the function.

LAID TO REST: Bakht Zamin, a martyred policeman, was laid to rest with official honour at his ancestral graveyard in Ouch here on Wednesday.

A large number of locals, senior police officers and Frontier Corps personnel attended his funeral prayer. He was shot dead by an unidentified person at Talash bazaar during his duty the other day.

Bakht Zamin, who joined police in 1999, left behind a widow, three daughters and one son. His two brothers are also in police department. His family has no enmity.

Police, Frontier Corps and Counter-Terrorism Department carried out a joint operation in Talash to trace his killer.

Talash Youth Jirga, led by its president Mohammad Raziq, staged a rally and blocked Timergara-Peshawar road to protest the murder of policeman.

The protesters chanted slogans against police for their failure to arrest his killer, who fled in the broad daylight. The rally was addressed by Mohammad Raziq, Dr Fazal Wahab, Zahid Khan and others. They demanded of the government to immediately arrest the killer.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023