Civil servants in Pakistan’s northwest asked to return June 20
June 13th, 2009 - 7:04 pm ICT by IANS
Peshawar, June 13 (IANS) Civil servants in Pakistan’s restive northwest, where the military is engaged in a major anti-Taliban offensive, have been asked to report for work by June 20 or face suspension.
North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Chief Minister Haider Khan Hoti told reporters here Saturday he had directed the civil administration in the Swat, Buner and Lower Dir areas to return to work by June 20 so that repair work on electricity, water, and gas utilities could be carried out.
“We would ensure return of internally displaced people by end of July,” Online news agency quoted him as saying.
Some three million civilians have been displaced from the three districts by the military operations, which continued for 49th day Saturday.
The military says it has largely secured Buner and Lower Dir districts and is now engaged in mopping up operations in Swat.
To go by military figures, over 1,400 Taliban have been killed in the fighting. There is, however, no independent confirmation of this as the media has been barred from the battle zone.
The military began its operations April 26 after the Taliban reneged on a controversial peace deal with the NWFP government and instead moved south from their Swat headquarters and occupied Buner, which is just 100 km from Pakistani capital Islamabad.
The operations had begun in Lower Dir, the home district of Taliban-backed radical cleric Sufi Mohammad, who had brokered the peace deal and who is the father-in-law of Swat Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah. They later spread to Buner and Lower Dir.
The military opened up a new front last week, going into action against the Taliban in NWFP’s Bunnu district and in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
- Security forces kill 35 Taliban in Pakistan's northwest - Jun 14, 2009
- Pakistani army chief flies combat mission against Taliban - Jun 15, 2009
- Pakistani military to focus on Baitullah Mehsud's Taliban group - Jun 15, 2009
- Pakistani forces consolidate hold in Swat - Jun 04, 2009
- Want proof of Taliban casualties: Pakistani editorial - Jun 20, 2009
- Pakistani forces kill 22 Taliban: Military - Jun 17, 2009
- Pakistani Army claims victory over Taliban in Swat, Waziristan - Feb 23, 2010
- Pakistan's Taliban chief Fazlullah may be dead, says news portal - Jul 02, 2009
- Holbrooke arrives on three-day Pakistan visit - Jun 03, 2009
- No valid data on refugees in Pakistan's northwest - Jun 03, 2009
- 90 percent of Malakand division under army control - Aug 10, 2009
- In 'principled decision', Pakistan to target Taliban's Mehsud - Jun 16, 2009
- 80 percent Pakistanis say Taliban threat to nation: Survey - Jul 02, 2009
- Tide in Pakistan's Swat has decisively turned: Army chief (Lead) - Jun 04, 2009
- 38 Taliban killed as Pakistani Army continues operations - Jun 20, 2009
Tags: battle zone, buner, capital islamabad, civil administration, civil servants, face suspension, frontier province, gas utilities, haider khan, hoti, independent confirmation, military figures, north west frontier, nwfp, peace deal, radical cleric, reneged, restive northwest, south waziristan, tribal areas
