KOHAT, April 10: Leaders of the Sunni Tehrik on Monday welcomed at Sumari thousands of volunteers from Hangu and Orakzai Agency for completing construction of the Kohat-Hangu road on self-help basis.

Maulana Abdullah, chief of the Hangu chapter of the Tehrik, had to order people gathered there to stop firing in celebration which was so intense that dozens of trees caught fire and many birds were killed, according to a press release issued by the head of the Sunni Supreme Council and former PML-N MNA Javed Ibrahim Paracha.

The road was an old demand of the people of the area and construction work was started following attacks on vehicles on the main Parachinar road during the Hangu violence. Four people were killed in the attacks.

Traffic on the main road remained suspended for more than 40 days and transporters were forced to use the Sumari-Hangu mud road.

The press release said the government had promised to carpet the road, construct bridges wherever necessary and remove slopes under the Barani Area Development Project which was to be completed at a cost of Rs30.2 million.

The former MNA claimed that with the completion of the road, the distance between Hangu and Karachi had been reduced by 50 miles.

He also claimed that hundreds of jobs would be created with the construction of hotels, shops, CNG stations and petrol pumps on the new route.