SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Security forces successfully thwarted a militant plot by defusing an improvised explosive device planted on the Azam Warsak Road in Birmal tehsil of Lower South Waziristan district on Wednesday.

Police sources said unidentified armed men planted the IED under the cover of darkness for sabotage. However, due to timely action of security forces, a major disaster was averted, they added.

Security officials said after the IED was defused, the area was declared clear.

Last week, armed men abducted two customs officers along with the president of the local chamber from the Sholam area on the Wana-Angoor Adda Road. The abductees remain untraced.

A day before this incident, armed individuals also kidnapped a medic of Pakistan Red Crescent Society at a government health centre in Azam Warsak, taking him away on a motorcycle.

Meanwhile, doctors and staff of the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana, staged a demonstration on Wednesday to protest non-payment of salary for the last eight months.

The protesters warned that they would suspend all services at the hospital from Friday if funds were not released for payment of their salary.

The Wana Hospital operates under the public-private partnership mode. It is the major hospital for residents of both Lower and Upper South Waziristan districts.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2025