34 killed as rain continues to wreak havoc in Fata, KP, AJK

MUZAFFARABAD/SADDA/TIMERGARA: Thirty-four people were killed, while several houses, roads and orchards were damaged as torrential rain continued to play havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
The AJK State Disaster Management Authority said five members of a family lost their lives and a child sustained injuries when their house was hit by a huge landslide in the Sarli Sacha area of Muzaffarabad. The local people retrieved the bodies on a self-help basis.
A couple and their two children died and four children sustained injuries as the roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rain in Mohalla Tariqabad in Muzaffarabad.
In Haveli district, Abbaspur, five people, including a woman and her daughter, died when the roof of a house collapsed.
Two people were also killed in Road accidents in Muzaffarabad and Neelum valley as the roads became slippery because of rain.
Two dozen houses were damaged, most of them completely, due to landslides. The land routes leading from Bagh to Muzaffarabad and Haveli and Bagh to Rawalpindi have been closed due to landslides.
Meanwhile, three children were killed when the roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rain in the Urmar area of Peshawar.
Four children and their parents died in a roof collapse incident in Gandal in the Para Chamkani area in central Kurram Agency, locals said.
It was learnt that the roof of the house of one Tehmash Khan collapsed due to rain. Six persons, including Tehmash Khan, his wife and four children, were killed in the incident.
The dead were identified as Muhammad Javed, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Hamza and their sister Fauzia. Tehmash Khan and his wife were also killed.
Later, they were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard amid touching scenes.
Five members of a family died and two were injured when the roof of a house collapsed at Timer Dherai in Lower Dir district early Saturday.
Timergara police said those killed were identified as Ahmad Wali, 50, head of the family, his two sons Muslim Khan, 13, and Ilyas, 5, daughter Mohsina, 14, and his sister-in-law Malalai, 16, whereas Qasim, 8, and Zillah were injured.
Locals rushed to the site and shifted all the dead and injured people to the District Headquarters Hospital at Timergara for treatment.
The locals demanded the government to compensate the poor family.
In Swabi, a young girl was killed when the roof of a mud-house fell in the limits of Topi Police Station due to continuous rain, the police said.
The house of 16-year-old Bibi Shermila, daughter of Muhammad Zaman, was collapsed that was situated in Solai area of Topi city.
With the latest killing, the number of those killed in the district in the recent rains has reached four, including three girls. Two people were also injured.
A minor boy was killed while his parents sustained injuries in a roof collapse incident in the Tandel area in Malakand Agency, official sources said.
They said the roof of a dilapidated house of one Jamal Shah caved in due to rains. As a result, Jamal Shah, his wife and two-year old son Sohail were trapped under the debris.
The locals and the personnel of the Frontier Constabulary rushed to the spot and retrieved the body of Sohail while rescued Jamal Shah and his wife in an injured condition. The injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Batkhela where their condition was stated to be stable.
Four children were injured when a wall of a house collapsed due to torrential rains in Matakhel village of Landikotal tehsil in Khyber Agency, officials said. They said that the wall of the house of one Ibrahim Afridi collapsed, injuring four children.
The children were identified as Abdullah, 8, Safiullah, 8, Azhar, 7 and Muzakkir. The injured children were rushed to Agency Headquarters Hospital in Landikotal where they were provided medical treatment.
Incessant rain for the last couple of days has disrupted routine life in various areas of Shangla district.

Commuters faced problems as the rainwater inundated roads and streets in Bisham city. Schoolchildren and office goers suffered problems as rainwater inundated roads due to the poor drainage system in the city.

15 killed in rain-related incidents in KP: PDMA

PESHAWAR: As many as 15 persons were killed and 19 others were injured in various rain-related incidents occurred in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa form March 11 to 18, a report of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Friday.
According to the report, five persons were killed in Provincial Metropolis of Peshawar followed by two each in Bannu and Mardan, one each in Swabi, Tank, Malakand, Lakki Marwat, Shangla and Chitral.
Seven injuries occurred in Mardan followed by four each in Peshawar and Tank, two in Lower Dir and one each in Bannu and Swat.

Report said that 33 houses were damaged in Peshawar followed by 16 in Swabi, 15 in Abbottabad, seven in Mardan, five in Malakand, three each in Buner and Shangla, two each in Lower Dir, Bannu and Lakki Marwat and one each in Tank and Upper Dir.

PBC condemns Charsadda attack, announces strike on Tuesday

ISLAMABAD: Condemning the deadly terrorist attack at Shabqadar Courts in Charsadda that killed at least 13 people, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Monday announced to observe a country-wide strike tomorrow.
In a statement issued here today, PBC Vice-Chairman Barrister Farogh Naseem and Chairman executive committee Abdul Fayaz strongly condemned the attack and appealed to the lawyers to observe the strike across the country on Tuesday.
Lawyers will hold protest meetings in their respective Bar rooms wearing black bands to denounce the tragic incident, said the statement.
The PBC deplore the utter failure of the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments in maintaining the law and order situation in the province. They also demanded of the government to arrest the culprits and bring them to book at the earliest.

Expressing solidarity with the bereaved families on behalf of the legal fraternity, the PBC emphasized the need of evolving foolproof and practical strategy to improve the security situation in and around courts throughout the country to ensure safety of judges, lawyers and litigants.

At least 16 killed as suicide bomber hits Shabqadar court

CHARSADDA: At least 16 people were killed and more than 20 others injured on Monday when a suicide bomber hit the gates of a local court building in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district in northwestern Pakistan, police and hospital officials said.
The large explosion rocked a District and Sessions court building in Shahbqadar town, which lies close to Mohmand Agency in the militancy-hit Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
According to police, the suicide attacker attempted to enter the court building but detonated his explosives when he was stopped at the gates by policemen.
“Policemen were deployed here for security duty. The bomber tried to force himself inside the court. He had a weapon and fired shots before blowing up his explosives,” DIG Saeed Wazir, who said the injured included five police constables.
Hospital and police officials confirmed at least 20 people were wounded in the attack. “A woman constable was also injured in the blast,” said DSP Fayyaz Khan, who confirmed the explosion was a suicide bombing.
Eyewitnesses described a huge explosion at the scene.
"We were sitting with a lawyer when a huge explosion took place in the sessions court," said Gohar Khan, a local police officer who was at the scene.

A large contingent of army and other law-enforcement personnel had arrived at the location following the blast, and the injured were shifted to the Tehsil hospital and the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

PM condemns terrorist attack 
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condemned the terrorist attack in Shabqadar. In a statement issued from the PM’s Office, the prime minister extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.
He said that the countless sacrifices by law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism will not go in vain. He said the nation is united in its commitment to wipe out menace of terrorism from our soil.
PM Sharif lauded the brave police officials who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty in Shabqadar today.
Security was beefed up in Shabqadar following the attack, with entry and exit routes of the tehsil closed down. Shabqadar is adjacent to the Mohmand tribal area, which has seen several attacks in recent days.
On March 1, a remote-controlled roadside bomb targeted a convoy of vehicles travelling in Mohmand, killing two Pakistani employees of the United States Consulate in nearby Peshawar.

About two weeks earlier, on Feb 18, Taliban gunmen killed nine paramilitary personnel in two separate attacks on checkposts in Mohmand.

Hawaldar Naseem: The father who sacrificed himself in the line of duty

Hawaldar Naseem, a father of three children, was one of two policemen martyred in the line of duty on Monday when they stopped a suicide bomber from entering the premises of a local court in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda. At least 13 people, including two policemen, were killed and several others injured on Monday when the suicide bomber detonated his explosives after he was stopped at the court gates. Eyewitnesses and fellow policemen present at the spot said Hawaldar Naseem's selfless act of bravery and sacrifice by challenging the suicide bomber helped save many other lives and avert a major disaster. According to police, the suicide attacker attempted to enter the court building but the policemen posted for guard duty challenged him at the gates of the Sessions' court. “Policemen were deployed here for security duty. The bomber tried to force himself inside the court. He had a weapon and fired shots before blowing up his explosives,” said DIG Saeed Wazir. Naseem was martyred when the terrorist detonated his suicide vest. Police officials said his funeral prayers will be offered at the police line in tehsil Shabqadar. Five police constables were also among those injured in the terrorist attack. In a statement from the PM House, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lauded the brave police officials who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty in Shabqadar today. He strongly condemned the terrorist attack, and extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The countless sacrifices by our law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism will not go in vain, said the prime minister. The brave police officials who embraced martyrdom in the line of duty sacrificed their today to safeguard a peaceful tomorrow for our future generations, he said.