PESHAWAR, Feb 26: Doctors at the ear, nose and throat department of the Khyber Teaching Hospital on Saturday restored the hearing capability of a girl through an operation performed for the first time in the NWFP.

"This is the first time that cochlear implant operation has been performed in the province. The patient was a nine-year-old girl, Shah Zuhra," Dr Arif Raza Khan, Senior Registrar at the ENT ward of the hospital, told journalists on Saturday.

A team of local surgeons under the supervision of Dr Mohammad Iqbal, a Manchester-based ENT surgeon, performed the operation.

Dr Khan said similar operations were being performed in Lahore and Karachi.

"We invited Dr Iqbal from the Cochlear Institute of Manchester to perform the operation," hesaid.

He said Dr Iqbal planned to train local ENT doctors in the cochlear implantation.

He said the cost of the operation was about Rs1 million and it helped children who faced problems in hearing and speaking since their birth. Most of the children used a hearing aid temporarily after the operation, he said.