PESHAWAR: Gunmen yesterday opened fire on a convoy of Nato containers in a northwestern Pakistani town near the Afghan border, killing a driver and wounding a helper, officials said. The attack took place at Shagai area, 20km southeast of Landi Kotal, the main town of the troubled Khyber tribal region. “Gunmen opened fire from the nearby mountains on the convoy carrying Nato military vehicles after it entered Pakistan from Afghanistan and killed a driver and and injured one of the helpers,” local tribal police official Khan Dad said.
Power deficit likely at $7.4bn
ISLAMABAD: The Planning Commission estimates show that the power sector deficit will be ballooned to Rs742bn ($7.4bn) in the current financial year, an official said. “Without pursuing reforms, the lingering power sector crisis cannot be overcome,” Shahid Sattar, member energy of the Planning Commission, said. “This crisis cannot be resolved on short-term basis as it at least requires two years of serious work after which improvements can be materialised,” he said, adding that the magic wand would not work to fix the problem.
Shopkeeper dies in Quetta attack
Islamabad: A man was killed in a hand grenade attack in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan in southwest Pakistan yesterday morning. Unknown assailants lobbed the grenade at a shop on Sariab Road, killing its owner, Dawn News reported. The shop which dealt in CDs was located near the Awami petrol pump. The owner was injured and taken to a nearby hospital where he died.
Second polio case reported
ISLAMABAD: A second child has contracted polio in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border after the Taliban banned vaccinations nearly a year ago, a UN official said on Thursday. The first polio case was detected in the North Waziristan region, known as the strong bastion of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants, earlier this month, with officials expecting a “bigger outbreak” “This is the second child, a 36-month-old boy getting paralysed after contracting polio,” the World Health Organization’s senior coordinator for polio eradication in Pakistan, Elias Durry, said.
Agencies
