Khyber | Pakistan

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) gunned down three “terrorists”, including an Afghan national, during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) carried out in Khyber district late on Friday night. Two among the three militants killed during the IBO, were involved in a suicide bombing in Peshawar which led to the deaths of a sub-inspector and a constable. A statement issued by the CTD said that the department conducted an IBO based on the reported presence of Fazal Noor, a commander of the banned militant Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and his group members in Ali Masjid area of the district. It added that as soon as the SWAT reached the spot, the militants opened fire which was retaliated and the exchange of fire continued for around 30 minutes. The CTD said a search operation was launched after the firing stopped and the SWAT team found three dead bodies who were later identified as Muhammad Naeem, Muhammad Karim, residents of Karak, and Noor Nabi, a resident of Nangarhar in Afgh...

KHYBER: A rapid increase in use of ecstasy pills and ice (crystal meth) by majority of youth has alarmed parents, health professionals and civil society activists in Khyber tribal district. Information collected by this scribe about the excessive use of ecstasy pills and ice by local youth unfolds a horrifying situation as the drug is now considered an essential ‘ingredient’ in social gatherings like weddings, engagements and other festive or recreational ceremonies owing to its easy availability throughout Khyber. Locals said that a majority of youth had gone out of the control of their parents or other family members as those two ‘lethal’ drugs were easily available in designated shops, kiosks, private houses and hujras and even outside educational institutions and sports grounds where those could be supplied through motorcycles or young carriers by using mobile phone service in all the three tehsils of Khyber. Ghafoor Shah, a social activist in Landi Kotal, said that local drug addicts invented their own n...

KHYBER: A student died after he was tortured by the head of a primary school in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber district on Friday, the police said. They added that Waqar Ahmad, head of a private school in Sur Kamar locality, subjected a student of grade 5, Khiyal Mat Khan, to corporal punishment during the morning assembly, leaving him critically injured. The student later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The police said that the school head used a stick to beat the student on head, neck, face and back, which caused his death. They said that they had arrested the accused when the matter was brought to their notice. Residents of Jamrud demanded exemplary punishment for the accused, and also an end to corporal punishment in educational institutions. Meanwhile, Afghan drivers complained of police torture of one of their colleagues in Shah Kas area on Friday. They alleged that traffic police manhandled an Afghan driver right in front of the police training centre in Shah Kas without him committing any traffic viol...