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, o v g FC, POLICE AND RESCUE 1122 CARRY OUT RESCUE, RELIEF OPERATION; ARMY CHOPPERS SHIFT CRITICALLY INJURED TO PESHAWAR

BAJAUR/ISLAMABAD

S A L E E M J A D O O N aT least 44 people were killed including JUI-F Tehsil Navagai General Secretary Maulana Hameedullah Haqqani and Khar Tehsil Emir Maulana Ziaullah Jan, while over 100 were wounded in a suicide blast at a workers’ convention of Jamiat Ulema

Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Bajaur district on Sunday

The explosion occurred when more than 400 JUI-F members and supporters gathered under a tent near Dubai More (Shindai) in the town of Khar, near the border with Afghanistan

KP Health Minister Riaz Anwar told AFP that 44 people had been confirmed killed and over 100 wounded in the suicide attack

It was a suicide attack with the bomber detonating himself in close proximity to the stage, he added

Footage of the site after the blast showed panic-stricken people gathering as ambulances arrived to move the injured to hospitals Afterwards a large police contingent cordoned off the area

Bajaur District Emergency Officer Saad

Khan confirmed that Maulana Ziaullah Jan, JUI-F emir in Khar tehsil, was also killed in the blast

Speaking to the media later at night, KP Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan said 10 kilograms of explosives were used in the blast

He said ball bearings and other explosive materials had been collected from the site

Investigation is underway and culprits will soon be arrested,” the provincial police chief promised

Meanwhile

KP caretaker Information

Minister Feroze Jamal Shah said hospitals across Bajaur and neighbouring areas had been put on high alert We are trying to move critical patients to Peshawar and other hospitals through helicopters,” he said while speaking to Geo News

“Our utmost priority right now is to provide medical treatment to the injured The blast site has been cordoned off Pakistan

Army and other institutions are assisting us in the operation, he added

Separately, Bajaur District Health Officer Dr Faisal Kamal said more than 150 in- g PM, PRESIDENT, US EMBA SSY, LEADERS OF ALL POLITICAL PARTIES CONDEMN SUICIDE ATTACK

CM Khan also visited the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar where he met and inquired about the health of injured persons He also expressed his best wishes for the speedy recovery of the wounded and directed the administration to provide them with the best medical facilities

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast so far

The Caretaker Provincial Minister Taj Mohammad Afridi condemned the blast and expressed grief over the horrific blast in Khar, Bajaur headquarters The caretaker Provincial Minister is with the bereaved families in this hour of grief Instructions have been issued to the relief department officials to take the necessary steps in time

chinese vice pM he lifeng reaches pakistan on three-day visit

ISLAMABAD

Chinese Vice Prime Minister (PM) He Lifeng has arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit as part of high-level engagements and dialogues between Pakistan and China

Upon arrival Chinese Vice PM He Lifeng was received by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal upon arrival

During his visit, PM Lifeng will hold meetings with the Pakistani leadership Lifeng’s visit is part of highlevel engagements and dialogues between Pakistan and China

The federal government finalised the preparations for a central event following the completion of a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project

An event will be organised in Islamabad tomorrow over the completion of 10 years of CPEC project titled From vision to reality in which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Vice PM He Lifeng will be the special guests

The event will be attended by federal ministers, lawmakers from the National Assembly (NA) and Senate, secretaries and the business community Pakistan and China had launched the CPEC project on July 5 2013 with an investment of over $25 billion

The officials said that CPEC created employment for millions of people and Pakistan started generating 8,000 MW of electricity via the projects

Under the CPEC, Pakistan started several economic development projects with the collaboration of China jured people had been brought to the Bajaur District Headquarters Hospital

“Over 35 people have been referred to the Timargarh hospital while 15 critically injured persons have been sent to Peshawar via a Pakistan Army helicopter he added KP Governor Ghulam Ali also confirmed the 30 deaths in the bomb explosion JUI-F central leader Hafiz Hamdullah said that he was also going to attend the workers convention but he did not join the public event due to his busy schedule While condemning the bombing incident Hafiz Hamdullah said that it is terrorism and chaos

In a statement issued in the evening, KP caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan sought a detailed report on the blast from police

The miscreants and anti-peace elements will be dealt with strictly, the caretaker provincial minister said in a message Rescue 1122 teams are being engaged in rescue operations at the accident site said the Caretaker Minister Relief Rehabilitation and Resettlement As soon as the information was received ambulances of Rescue

1122 reached the spot, Taj Mohammad Afridi said

The staff was alerted to the blast in Bajaur LRH Asim Khan Spokesperson LRH told APP Emergency is fully operational all staff are present Asim Khan said adding after transferring the injured from Bajaur to Peshawar, all kinds of treatment will be provided Emergency ICU and other wards are also ready, he added

I n e f f i c i e n c y, c r i m i n a l n e g l i g e n c e o f P T I ’ s g o v t c o s t c o u n t r y d e a r l y : P M

LAHORE

S TA F F R E P O R T

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday lambasted the criminal negligence and inefficient performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf s (PTI) government led by former prime minister Imran Khan Niazi, saying that the country paid heavy price for their blunders and political vendetta

The prime minister expressed these views after performing the soft launching of various development projects which included Rs50 billion Medical City, Rs52 billion National Health Support Programme and Rs30 billion Population Welfare Programme

On the occasion PM Shehbaz Sharif also broke grounds for SL3 Lahore Ring Road project, Shahdara to Kala Shah Kaku Metro Bus extension project and inaugurated 1 263 MW Punjab Thermal power plant in Jhang with a capacity of generating 10 billion inexpensive units annually

Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said Imran Niazi had neglected the completion of gas-fired Haveli Bahadur Shah power plant due to his animosity with the PML-N leadership and the country had to pay an additional whopping amount of Rs77 billion besides, its original cost of Rs74 billion at that time due to non-functionality

He said the project was to be inaugurated during 2019 but it was stalled due to criminal negligence of Imran Niazi and lack of interest of the previous government

A huge amount of the nation went down the drain causing huge loss for the poor country, he opined, adding it was one of the worst examples of PTI’s bad governance Who will be held accountable for such blunder? It is the continuation of a saga of 75 years for which they were all responsible,” he quipped Why the judiciary did not take suo motu notice of such negligence the prime minister question and maintained that he had no intention of victimization and did not want injustice with anyone, but there should be a transparent accountability of all those responsible for such failures whether it was done in a dictatorship or democratic regime justice should be dispensed without any victimization, he said With such accountabilities, the nations in the world moved forward, he added

The ceremony was attended by Punjab Governor Caretaker Chief Minister federal and provincial ministers parliamentarians and the relevant authorities

The prime minister said these were the facts which the nation must knew about the four years’ rule of Imran Niazi who played havoc with the national economy

The prime minister said that they felt ashamed while carrying begging bowl due to those failures of the past government

It was a huge mishap of our history (PTI’s government) which is already strewn with such unpleasant incidents If we do not change the attitude we cannot aspire to to achieve anything he regretted

Citing example of China, he said it had now become the world’s second largest economy Japan and Germany bounced back economically from the destruction of World Wars owing to commitment devotion and determination, he added Let us gird up loins and work hard for the country’s progress as peeping into past would be useless If they failed the public will not forget them Let us wash away the blots of the past the prime minister stressed He also expressed the resolve to revive country’s economy by eliminating poverty and unemployment choppers started a relief operation by airlifting the injured person to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Peshawar Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) Hospital, which are kept on emergency The Army choppers are being used to airlift the injured from district headquarters Khar to Peshawar wherein so far 44 have been killed as a result of the heavy blast during the ongoing JUI-F Worker Convention in Dubai Mor (Shindai Mor), Bajuar and more than 100 other injured P a k i s t a n a r m y h e l i c o p t e r i s b e i n g p r o v i d e d f r o m K h a r t o P e s h a w a r f o r s er i o u s l y i n j u r e d p e o p l e a n d I G F C M a j o r G e n e r a l N o o r Wa l i r e a c h e d B a j a u r t o s up e r v i s e t h e a c t i v i t i e s Rescue operations are underway by security forces and other law enforcement agencies as well The area was cordoned off and the investigation was started Security forces continue to donate blood to the injured a doctor at Bajaur Hospital told APP

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanded a high-level inquiry into the Bajaur bomb blast in which a large number of party workers lost their lives and over 200 got injured JUI-F supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed sorrow over the bomb explosion and demanded the prime minister and caretaker KP chief minister conduct a high-level inquiry

Fierce opposition prompts Senate chairman to ‘drop’ violent extremism bill

ISLAMABAD

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Sunday dropped a bill aimed at curbing violent extremism after fierce opposition from lawmakers, including those from the ruling coalition

According to the agenda for Sunday’s session Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was supposed to table the bill titled The Prevention of Violent Extremism Bill 2023 However many parliamentarians including those from the ruling coalition, opposed the bill

The bill said that those calling on others to show or use force, propagating and publishing extremist material using all kinds of media for radicalisation or manipulating people s beliefs or provoking sectarian strife would be guilty of violent extremism PTI s Mohammad Humayun Mohmand said that he did not know why the bill was being tabled on Sunday

Is there an emergency in Pakistan that we come and do this on Sundays, on public holidays?”

He went on to say that if such legislation was passed by following the due procedure then it would only add to its credibility If we do something in haste just because the government thinks little time remains then haste makes waste, he said Climate Minister Sherry Rehman tried defending the holding of today s session and said that in the past sessions had been called on Sundays and Saturdays She also commented on the statements by other parliamentarians questioning why the bills on the agenda were not being referred to the relevant committees

Perhaps they don t know that when the National Assembly (NA) completes its term, the bills that originate from there [ ] the rule is that they become infructuous the day the assembly’s term ends,” she said Sherry said that the Senate could also introduce amendments to bills after the assembly’s term ended No one likes hasty legislation she said PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui then said that as a member of the ruling party, there was perhaps a compulsion that they would vote for the bills, adding that they would do so

At the same time he said that several of the bills on today’s agenda were “important” Talking about the prevention of violent extremism bill he said that it covered vast areas