MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has stopped Chinese nationals from travelling in the province without armoured vehicles, said a senior police official on Wednesday.

“As we’re adopting all possible measures for the safety of Chinese nationals, they shouldn’t travel in the province without armoured vehicles in line with the government’s directions,” deputy inspector general of police in Hazara range Tahir Ayub Khan told a meeting here on Wednesday.

The participants discussed security arrangements for the Suki Kinari hydropower project in the Malkandi area of Kaghan Valley.

Accompanied by district police officer Shafeeullah Gandapur, the DIG visited the sites of the Suki Kinari and Balakot hydropower projects.

He also attended security meetings for the hydropower projects in Malkandi and Ghanool areas. The participants included security personnel, Chinese engineers, and managers of the two projects.

Mr Tahir said the height of the boundary walls of residential colonies, where Chinese engineers and workers lived, won’t be less than eight feet high and might be topped with barbed wires.

He said the security personnel would protect the lives of the Chinese engineers by all means.

The DIG assumed the office after his predecessor, Mohammad Ijaz Khan, was suspended following a suicide attack on a convoy of Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower project in Shangla district on March 26, 2024.

The Karakoram Highway attack killed five Chinese and their Pakistani driver.

Earlier in the day, the DIG met local lawmakers, elders, clerics, lawyers, traders, and journalists and sought their support against crimes and drug trade in the district.

DPO Shafeeullah Gandapur said the police would continue cracking down on drug peddlers, timber smugglers, and other outlaws.

“We’re going to plant over 6,000 saplings this season. It is a clear message for timber smugglers that we wouldn’t allow them to chop down forests at any cost,” he said.

VACANCIES: The residents of Nikka Pani area here on Wednesday demanded the early filling of the vacant posts of teachers in the local middle schools for boys and girls.

A group of residents, Liaquat Shah, said middle schools in the area were short of teachers, and therefore, students complained about learning loss.

He said the residents met the education department’s high-ups and apprised them of the problem, but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024