Perera fires Sri Lanka into tri-series final

DAMBULLA: Thisara Perera bagged a maiden five-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka storm into the triangular one-day series final with a crushing eight-wicket win over India on Sunday.

The 21-year-old seamer, playing his first match of the tournament, finished with 5-28 off 7.4 tight overs as India were shot out for 103 in 33.4 overs, their third-lowest total against Sri Lanka in one-day internationals.

The total was not enough to put pressure on Sri Lanka, who completed the win in just 15.1 overs in the day-night match in Dambulla.

The hosts finished their league engagements with 11 points from four matches, while New Zealand have seven points and India five after three games.

The winners of the last league match between India and New Zealand on Wednesday will qualify for the final.

Sri Lanka put in a solid all-round performance in the must-win match as their batsmen backed their fast bowlers, with Tillakaratne Dilshan (35) and Mahela Jayawardene (33) adding 79 for the opening wicket in 9.2 overs.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara (13 not out) finished the match when he drove paceman Ishant Sharma through the covers for a four. Upul Tharanga remained unbeaten with 12.

Yuvraj Singh earlier top-scored with a fighting 38 in a disappointing Indian batting performance after the tourists elected to bat.

Opener Virender Sehwag (12), Rohit Sharma (11) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (10) were the others to reach double-figures.

Yuvraj was unlucky to be given out leg-before off paceman Lasith Malinga (2-21) as TV replays suggested the ball would have missed the stumps. He was the ninth man out after hitting one six and five fours in his 64-ball knock.

Sri Lanka jolted India when paceman Nuwan Kulasekara (2-31) trapped Sehwag leg-before and had Dinesh Karthik (nine) caught behind in a lively opening spell.

Perera, who played his last one-dayer in Zimbabwe in June, then wrecked the middle order when he claimed four wickets in five overs to dash India's hopes of posting a challenging total.

He was once on a hat-trick when he had Ravindra Jadeja caught by Chamara Silva at gully and Praveen Kumar caught by Tharanga at mid-off with his next delivery.

Perera ended the innings in the 34th over when he bowled Ishant Sharma. The Sri Lankan pacemen were well supported by wicket-keeper Sangakkara, who took four catches. -AFP

New Zealand offers to play in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: New Zealand has offered to play cricket matches in Pakistan to raise funds for those affected by floods that have devastated the country, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said Sunday.

“We have received an e-mail from New Zealand Cricket in which they have said they are even willing to play inPakistan to raise funds,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told The Associated Press.

“It’s (the tour) in a very early stage, but we think it’s a very good gesture on the part of NZC.”

Cricket tours of Pakistan were abandoned after the Sri Lanka team’s convoy was attacked by gunmen last year.

At least eight million people in Pakistan are in need of water, shelter or other emergency assistance.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union has already said it is planning to send its national team toPakistan to raise funds for relief efforts.

“Not only international cricket will be revived in Pakistan with these tours, it will also help us to raise funds for people affected by these floods,” Sarwar said.

Pakistan was stripped of its status as co-host for the 2011 World Cup after the ambush on the Sri Lanka cricket team’s bus at Lahore in March last year. Six police officers and a van driver were killed and several Sri Lankan players and officials were injured.

With foreign teams staying away due to security concerns, Pakistan has played in neutral venues, including United Arab Emirates and England.

Last year Pakistan played a one-day series against New Zealand in the UAE and also played its ‘home’ test series in New Zealand.

Iran's Ahmadinejad unveils new 'bomber' drone

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled on Sunday a new long-range drone, dubbed Karar, which reportedly can bomb targets at high speed, state television reported.

Television footage showed the president applauding as a blue cloth which had been covering the drone was pulled back to reveal a short aircraft painted in military-green with the words “Bomber jet” written on its side.

Images were then broadcast on television showing the aircraft flying.

Ahmadinejad made a speech at the ceremony, held in a hall of Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, but did not mention the drone.

The unveiling of the aircraft comes as Iran marks on Sunday its annual Defence Industries Day.

State television's website reported that the drone has “different capabilities, including carrying bombs to destroy targets.” It said the plane can fly for a “long range at high speed.”

The website cited Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying that the Karar is a “symbol of the versatility and advancement of Iran's defence industries.”

The unveiling of Karar, the nickname of Imam Ali, the first Shia imam, comes two days after Iran test fired a domestically built surface-to-surface missile, Qiam (Rising).

Over the next few days Iran is expected to make series of further military announcements as the nation marks the annual government week, a period used by Tehran to tout its achievements.

In this period Iran is also expected to test fire a third generation Fateh 110 (Conqueror) missile. Iran has previously paraded a version of Fateh 110 which has a travel range of 150 to 200 kilometres (90 to 125 miles).

Also during government week, the production lines of two missile-carrying speedboats, Seraj (Lamp) and Zolfaqar (named after Imam Ali's sword) are due to be inaugurated.

The unveiling of Karar comes days after Iran took delivery of four new mini-submarines of the home-produced Ghadir class. Weighing 120 tonnes, the “stealth” submarines are aimed at operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf.

Iranian officials regularly boast about Tehran's military capabilities and the latest declarations coincide with warnings by local officials against any attack on the Islamic republic.

Iran's archfoes the United States and Israel have not ruled out a military strike against Tehran to stop its controversial uranium enrichment programme.

Meanwhile, Iran on Saturday began loading nuclear fuel in its Russian-built first nuclear power plant located in the southern port of Bushehr.

The plant, which is not targeted by UN sanctions, eventually aims to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity. – AFP

Locals use stones, sandbags to stave off flood

HYDERABAD: Workers placed sandbags and stones to strengthen river levees in flood-ravaged Pakistan's south as the rising water threatened new areas Sunday.

Three towns in the Thatta district were in danger, and officials began evacuating around 150,000 people from lower lying areas Saturday. The surge in the Indus River is expected to empty into the Arabian Sea after passing through.

“We are right now trying to protect Shahdadkot town, which is threatened by the rising floodwaters,” Sindh provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo told AFP.

He said an embankment built to protect Hyderabad was under immense water pressure and “we are trying to save the city from the unprecedented flood”.

Dharejo said the Sindh government had already escorted most of Shahdadkot's 100,000 population to safety.

“But there are still some people stranded in these villages (around Shahdadkot) and we are making efforts to rescue them,” he added.

Dharejo, however, stressed there was no threat to Hyderabad, the second-largest city in Sindh and Pakistan's sixth biggest overall.

“There is nothing of the sort... Hyderabad is so far safe despite the growing pressure from floodwaters. We have strengthened embankments around the city,” the official said.

At least two levees along the river are potential trouble spots and are being strengthened, said Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro, an official with the Sindh province Disaster Management Authority.

''We are hopeful the flood will pass on to the delta without creating much trouble here,'' he said.

The floods began in late July in the northwest after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, expanding rivers that have since swamped eastern Punjab province and Sindh province in the south.

The deluge has affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining the civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence. At least six million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall.

The United Nations has appealed for $460 million in emergency assistance, and expects to achieve that goal as the scope and scale of the disaster has become more apparent. The US has promised $150 million.

Pakistan can ill-afford the crisis. Its economy was already being kept afloat by billions in loans from the International Monetary Fund, and the cost of rebuilding after the floods will likely run into the billions.

The IMF said it would meet with Pakistani officials this week to discuss the floods and what the country must do to cope.

''The IMF stands with Pakistan at this difficult time and will do its part to help the country,'' said the IMF's Masood Ahmed, director of the Middle East and Central Asia department. – Agencies

People not allowed to create own justice system: Malik

SIALKOT: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Sunday that the culprits responsible for the deaths of the two brothers in Sialkot will be caught and punished in the same place where they committed the crime.

Malik spoke to the media while visiting the family of the deceased brothers for condolences and said that local citizens will not be allowed to create their own justice system. He also added that a change in the punishment for ignorance on the part of police has been proposed to increase the jail term from two years to ten years. He said there is no difference of opinion on this between the federal and provincial government.

Malik said that the culprits will be punished without interference of any political pressure or motive.

Thousands evacuated after floods in China, N.Korea

BEIJING: More than 120,000 people have been evacuated in northeast China following devastating floods that have already left four dead and forced the relocation of thousands in neighbouring North Korea.

Heavy summer downpours have swelled to bursting point the Yalu river, which forms the border between the two countries, and forecasters are warning of yet more heavy rain to come.

China's civil affairs ministry said late Saturday that 127,000 people had been evacuated in Liaoning province in just three days due to heavy rains, as the nation continued to struggle against its worst floods in a decade.

In Dandong city alone, a border town with North Korea, more than 64,000 residents were evacuated and some power and transport links were cut off, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

A couple in their 70s and a mother and son died in Kuandian county, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Dandong, when flash floods swept away their homes, Xinhua said, citing a local flood control official.

A 60-year-old man was also missing in Kuandian after his house collapsed in a rain-triggered landslide.

In neighbouring North Korea, more than 5,000 people had been moved to safe places after parts of Sinuiju city and nearby rural communities near the border were “completely inundated,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

China's national meteorological centre warned Sunday that heavy downpours were expected to continue in parts of Liaoning for another 24 hours at least, coupled with some storms and gales, further exacerbating the flood situation.

Heavy rains have also battered other parts of China this summer, and nearly 3,900 people have been killed or left missing this year in flood-related incidents, official figures show.

The northwestern province of Gansu was particularly badly hit on August 7 when a torrent of mud slammed into homes in the remote town of Zhouqu, leaving at least 1,434 dead and another 331 missing.

And in the southwestern province of Yunnan, rescuers are still searching for 69 people who went missing in rain-triggered mudslides in a remote, mountainous area. Twenty-three people have been confirmed dead, Xinhua said. – AFP

Pledges exceed UN appeal: Qureshi

NEW YORK / ISLAMABAD: The response to UN appeal for rescue and relief operation in flood-affected areas of Pakistan rose dramatically to over 800 million dollars by Friday and more pledges were expected to come in, according to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Over the last two days of the UN General Assembly’s special session on Pakistan, the funding in response to a UN appeal for $460 million doubled.

The foreign minister, who had come to New York to attend the special United Nations General Assembly session on Pakistan’s floods, noted that the ‘tremendous response’ to the appeal was led by the United States, which had doubled its contribution.

The special session was called by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Aug 19 to create awareness among member states about the enormity of the disaster. Mr Ban was profoundly moved by the unfolding tragedy in Pakistan during his visit last week and called for a special UN session to raise funds.

According to figures released by the United Nations Financial Tracking System, $490 million have been committed, while another $325 million have been pledged by governments around the world, leading multinationals and charities.
These figures include the contributions and pledges made to the United Nations appeal, Pakistan government and other relief agencies. Over half of the donations came just from three donors — European Union ($180 million), the US ($150 million) and UK ($100 million).

The three donors are stakeholders in the war against terror and hence realise the importance of helping Pakistan.

As the donations picked up, the UN appeal, according to the latest figures, stood 57 percent funded with $263 million received.

In New York, Mr Qureshi told reporters that another special session of the UN General Assembly would be held on Sept 19 in answer to a call by the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton.

The foreign minister said a special meeting of Friends of Democratic Pakistan would be held in Belgium on Oct 15 to raise funds for flood victims.

Mr Qureshi also called on Pakistani expatriates to donate money and material to the charities.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Although the pledges have exceeded the $460 million UN appeal, aid workers have warned that the needs may outstrip the contribution as the number of people in want of critical assistance have gone up from six million to eight million since the appeal was made on Aug 11.

A mix of reasons were being given for the worls’s sluggish response to the calamity. These ranged from a corrupt image of the government to being a supporter of Taliban. British Prime Minister Cameron’s terror export remarks reinforced this perception and made donation collection more difficult.

Private charities and aid agencies in the West have been able to raise very little and their donation lines have remained silent.

“A humanitarian disaster of this size anywhere else would have had, in my judgment, a much quicker, a much more generous, a much more instinctive response,” Tim Costello, chief of World Vision Australia was quoted by the media as having said.

Going through the hostile remarks posted on various websites seeking comments on assisting Pakistan floods reveals that there is hardly any friend of Pakistan in the outside world.

“Governments are giving donations because of the geopolitical considerations, some multinationals are also donating after being encouraged by different capitals, but Pakistan clearly lacks public sympathy, which is crucial for generating funds,” a Western diplomat commented.

Six lawmakers to appear before EC tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Six lawmakers accused of possessing fake or invalid degrees will appear before the Election Commission on Monday to explain their position before the commission decides to send their cases to district and sessions judges for trial for commission of corrupt practices.

They include three members of the National Assembly, two of the Punjab assembly and one of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. They are among 47 legislators whose degrees have been declared fake or invalid by the Higher Education Commission.

Two of the six legislators allegedly held fake degrees. They are: MNA Syed Mohammad Salman Mohsin and MPA Waseem Afzal Gondal (Punjab). Both had submitted their BA degrees issued by the Bahauddin Zakria University (BZU) in Multan during the 2008 election.

Four legislators were accused of holding invalid degrees. They are: MNAs Molvi Agha Mohammad and Syed Javed Hussain Shah, and MPAs Shafiq Ahmad Gujjar (Punjab) and Gulistan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Javed Hussain Shah has already resigned. Sources at the Election Commission said the vice-chancellor of BZU had also been asked to appear with record.

Provinces refused to divert ADP funds: Gilani

LAHORE: The commission proposed by Nawaz Sharif to mobilise resources for relief work and monitor expenditures could not be constituted as provinces refused to contribute 30 per cent of the budget for their Annual Development Programmes to it, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani disclosed on Saturday.

“We never rejected Mr Sharif’s proposal, but provinces did not agree to surrender a part of the ADP to the proposed federal pool in a meeting of all chief ministers and the AJK prime minister. Although Shahbaz Sharif did not speak on the issue (at the meeting), his silence indicated an agreement with his counterparts,” Mr Gilani told a group of journalists at his Defence Society residence.

In reply to a question that Mr Shahbaz Sharif in fact had opposed the proposal of his elder brother, the prime minister did not comment.

“Now I have decided to form a 10-member council to oversee the collection and judicious spending of the flood aid. I have asked the provinces to propose some names while I intend to make some proposals, too. It will be headed by a person from civil society,” he said.

Mr Gilani did not agree with a suggestion that the government had no credibility. “If we are not trustworthy, then no one is trustworthy in the country. It is our credibility that huge foreign aid is pouring in.”

“Those who are playing politics on flood devastation will not get any mileage. They will have to show political maturity,” the prime minister added.

“Critics are even pointing fingers at us for misappropriation of funds collected for the 2005 earthquake victims. Gen Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz should have been questioned about this,” he said.

The prime minister said the people of Pakistan were donating generously to the flood relief fund. “The amount I have received from individuals is Rs1.58 billion.”

Mr Gilani was also critical of those who made no decision on the building of dams, including Kalabagh, when they were in power. “We are fortunate that all provinces are unanimous on Diamer Bhasha Dam. We have started working on non-controversial dams,” the prime minister said

He said the government’s priorities were rescue, relief and rehabilitation. “We will also ensure no houses are built in areas prone to floods.”

Mr Gilani dismissed an allegation by former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali that breach in embankments had destroyed Rojhan Jamali, his home town.

He also defended accepting India’s aid offer for flood-hit people. “I would like to ask the critics of Indian aid on what ground we should refuse it. It will be a narrow approach if we refuse aid from India,” he said.

“At a time when we are pushing for resumption of dialogue with India, will it not be strange if we refuse its aid offer. We should come out of this approach and portray a strong image of Pakistan,” he said.

He informed his audience that at a meeting of the Asian Forum, Pakistanis and Indians had collected funds for the flood-affected.

About the Afghan scene, the prime minister said a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan. “We want a stable Afghanistan. We are a part of the problem (over there) and a part of the solution at the same time,” he said. “We do not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal matters.”

In reply to a question, Mr Gilani said imposition of a flood tax was not under consideration.

Shahdadkot situation turns critical

LARKANA: As floodwaters gushing from breaches in the Tori and Begari dykes piled pressure on an improvised embankment near Shahdadkot, authorities warned the hours between Saturday midnight and daybreak were critical for the town.

The administration sought the Army’s help for evacuation of Shahdadkot while navy helicopters and boats plucked the marooned from Garhi Khairo.

Late into the evening, the authorities made a desperate move to cut the road between Shahdadkot and Balochistan to deflect waters off Shahdadkot.

Ghulam Yaseen Shar, District Coordination Officer of Qambar-Shahdadkot, told Dawn that the night was critical because floodwaters from Tori and Begari were advancing on a newly-built embankment around the town. Seepage had taken place from portions of the dyke.

The DCO said the torrents were flowing into the Right Bank Outfall Drain-III towards the Hamal lake.

Talking to journalists, chief of the Chandio tribes, Sardar Khan, said the banks of the RBOD-III were not strong enough to resist the fury of the Indus.

He said the Warah town would be inundated once banks of the RBOD-III gave way.

“We have decided to build an embankment along the 30km Naseer Shakh to avert the danger,” he added.

Sardar Khan said heavy machinery should be sent urgently to build a dyke for saving towns from waters flowing towards Manchhar.

The DCO said a slow flow into the RBOD-III was a matter of concern.

As fears of flooding gripped the town, people began streaming out of Shahdadkot with whatever they could lay their hands on, clogging the motorway.

Sindh Food Minister Mir Nadir Magsi said he was not clear about the volume of waters estimated to flood the region.

The waters were flowing smoothly into the RBOD, but their velocity was slow. In an attempt to calm a terrified populace, he said if the waters continued to flow at the present pace, the threat to Shahdadkot would fizzle out.

According to the minister, the town would be in danger only if the flow turned towards the Shahdadkot-Ratodero road.

Ramesh Lal, an MNA, said floodwaters had touched a recently built four-feet high embankment. The barrier turned out to be flimsy, he added, as it was just two feet higher than the water level.

The legislator said about 90 per cent of the population had left while the remaining had chosen to stay back to guard property.

Army and navy helicopters airdropped food packets to marooned people in Garhi Khairo and adjoining areas.

Seepage from the embankment at the Gul Hassan Brohi village and Brohi petrol pump, near the motorway, was plugged after frantic attempts through the day.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had an aerial view of the affected areas on Saturday and discussed the situation with provincial Ministers Ayaz Soomro, Nadir Magsi and Jam Saifullah Dharejo.

According to sources, the Rangers and Magsi tribesmen pre-empted an attempt by members of a local tribe to divert the waters by resorting to illegal cuts in embankments.

ELECTROCUTED

Six people died and 24 others, including eight women and children, were injured when a high-tension electricity wire fell on their tractor-trolley on the Indus Highway near Kashmore.

The tractor-trolley, which was taking 30 flood-affected people and their livestock to safe areas, hit an electric pole.

ROBBERY

Displaced Hindu families returning home in Jacobabad on three wagons were robbed of their belongings near Dodapur.

Thousands marooned in Gandakha

QUETTA: Thousands of people were marooned in up to 10-foot-deep waters in Gandakha town on Saturday as rescue work could not be launched even though 24 hours had passed since the inundation of the tehsil.

The town cut off from the rest of Jaffarabad district was facing a shortage of food, drinking water and medicines.

About 70 per cent of the town’s people had left for safe places themselves, while others were awaiting government help and had taken refuge on high grounds in the west of the town and on roof tops of buildings.

Floodwaters submerged over two dozen more villages in the area. Hospitals, a rural health centre, water supply schemes and government offices were inundated.

In Chowki Jamali, about 5,000 people, mostly women and children, camping near the Noorpur regulator, were facing food shortage. “Please provide us food as we have nothing to eat. Our children have no milk,” Attaullah Jamali said.

Two helicopters dropped food packets in areas of Gandakha after failing to find a place to land.

Local people complained that most of the packets dropped had landed in floodwaters and milk packs had burst upon falling.

Two women were critically injured when a wall of a house collapsed during an attempt by a helicopter to land.

A child died of gastroenteritis.
“The situation in Dera Allahyar, Rojhan Jamali, Kashmirabad and Sohbatpur is worsening because more flood torrents are reaching the areas which have been inundated for the past week. The level of floodwaters is rising and damaging more houses and other buildings,” sources said.

Usta Mohammad was still surrounded by high floodwaters and a large numbers of adjacent villages were submerged.

The sources said the floodwaters were at a considerable distance from Jhal Magsi but threatening various areas in the district.

Nadra to be tasked with survey of losses: Sindh CM

LARKANA: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Saturday that the Nadra would be tasked with carrying out a comprehensive survey of losses and registration of flood affected people in the province.

Talking to journalists at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto after having an aerial view of devastations caused by floods in Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, Mr Shah said that the government had carried out temporary registration of displaced people and conveyed the magnitude of losses to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

He said that each displaced family would initially receive Rs20,000 and more would be done for them in future. The Nadra’s registration process would encompass losses of human lives and damage to crops and property, he said.

He said that 19 districts of Sindh were badly affected and admitted to certain lapses in rehabilitation process, which he said would be addressed soon.

He said that the floodwater had played havoc with Sindh and 80,000 cusecs of water was still flowing from the Torhi embankment breach that had already caused widespread destruction.

He said the breach water was heading towards Shahdadkot and government was trying its level best to save the town. Shahdadkot would be saved from the floodwater because it was now spilling into RBOD, he hoped.

He said that according to experts after flowing into RBOD the floodwater would be diverted to Hamal Lake and Manchar Lake. Larkana had no threat of flood from any direction, he said.

About Mir Zafarullah Jamali’s allegations, the chief minister said that he was an old friend and “we reiterate we have not made breaches anywhere. We have tried our level best to save all and diverted all our resources to relief, rescue and rehabilitation”.

He advised flood survivors to people not to rush to already saturated districts and go to Karachi, Hyderabad and other less saturated districts. A free train service and buses had been launched to take them to relief camps, he said.

He said that private transporters had skyrocketed fares taking undue benefit of the displaced people and asked the district administration to take action against them.

He was accompanied by Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto, Jamil Soomro, MPAs Haji Munwar Ali Abbasi, Mujadid Isran and others.

Our Dadu correspondent adds: The chief minister said here on Saturday that the government was trying to protect Qambar-Shahdadkot and Mero Khan towns.

Talking to journalists, he said that if water level dropped in the Indus then Manchhar Lake water would be released into the river and if water level did not recede and Manchhar was filled then it could pose danger to Sehwan.

He said that efforts were being made to protect populated area of Sehwan taluka. Indus Highway would not be closed and it would be protected from floodwater, he said.

He said that floodwater had overtopped at Torhi bund, leading to breaches, which had also washed away Dadu-Moro road. The government gave top priority to protecting lives, he said.

Meanwhile, a crowd of flood affected people surrounded the vehicle of the chief minister during his visit to Larkana-Sehwan flood protective bund and complained about non-provision of relief goods.

Later, he attended a briefing by district administration at DCO office.

Unesco’s flood team due today

ISLAMABAD: A team of flood management experts from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) arrives here on Sunday for a scientific mission as part of the organisation’s response to the natural disaster.

The Unesco mission will help upgrade Pakistan’s flood management capacity, including use of satellite images in flood mapping and evacuation plans, latest computer models for flood forecasting, analysis of landslides, etc.

The team will also identify aquifers to provide drinking water to flood-affected areas. Unesco has said it is working closely with other UN agencies and the government of Pakistan in rescue and prevention efforts.

An inter-sectoral task force of experts based at the Unesco headquarters in Paris and its office in Islamabad are coordinating the organisation’s activities.

Early estimates indicate that 5,457 schools have been damaged of which 4,419 are in Punjab and Sindh. At least one million schoolchildren have been affected by the floods. Most schools are closed and access is extremely difficult.

Unesco is preparing a range of initiatives to respond to the crisis, including projects to be submitted to the revised Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan being prepared by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Three killed in fresh Karachi violence

KARACHI: After a brief period of relative calm, violence broke out again in Orangi Town and its neighbouring areas on Saturday as at least three persons were killed in separate armed attacks.

The fresh wave of terror surfaced just days after weeklong deadly clashes that were set off following the assassination of a provincial legislator earlier this month.

The killings sparked arson attacks in which two vehicles were set on fire in Orangi Town.

Business remained closed and transport stayed off the roads amid frequent gunshots that forced residents to stay indoors throughout the day. Life in the densely-populated town remained paralysed with least effort from security authorities to restore order and peace.

Early in the morning, three people in a taxi were attacked near the Banaras traffic intersection that left two of them, including the driver, dead.

The motive and the attackers remained unknown for the police, but they suspected it as fallout of the recent violence in different parts of the city.

“The number of attackers and their mode of transport are not clear,” said Inspector Raja Tariq, the SHO of the Orangi Town police station.

“The taxi was attacked near an area called Qasba Piri close to Banaras traffic intersection. The taxi driver who was in his early 50s died on the spot just minutes before an injured passenger succumbed to his wounds in a nearby hospital. The bodies have been shifted to the Edhi morgue after the medico-legal formalities for want of identification,” he said.

Almost in a similar attack on a public bus in the same area, a passenger who was later identified as Shan-i-Zar sustained bullet wounds and was shifted to the Civil Hospital, where his condition was described as critical.

The early morning attacks on people travelling in the public and the private vehicles continued and spilled over into adjoining areas.

“A young motorcyclist was attacked by armed men near the Valika stop when he was going to work on a motorbike bearing registration number KAK-0515,” said an official at the Site-A police station.

“Hit by three bullets, he died on the spot. Witnesses told us that they saw at least four armed men disappearing from the crime-scene on foot,” the police official said.

The young victim was later identified as Asif Iqbal, a resident of Chishti Nagar in Orangi Town’s Sector 11½.

The police later registered an FIR (693/2010) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against unidentified suspects on the complaint of the victim’s brother Yousuf Iqbal.

Most parts of the Orangi Town became tense as Asif’s body was brought to his home.

Uninterrupted gunfire in Ghaziabad, Raees Amrohvi Colony and other parts of the town forced shopkeepers to pull down the shutters. Transport also disappeared from roads.

A Suzuki pickup carrying a family was intercepted by armed men on two motorbikes near Raees Amrohvi Colony.

The men dragged the family out of the vehicle and tortured them and attempted to slaughter one of the youngsters among them before setting the four-wheeler on fire.

“Two young brothers were badly wounded in this incident,” said Sub-Inspector Umer Farooq, the SHO of the Pakistan Bazaar police station.

“They have been identified as Maqbool and Abid. They tried to slaughter Maqbool but he managed to escape with a cut on his neck. He has been shifted to the Civil Hospital in a critical condition.”

A large number of area people also took to main Shahra-i-Orangi and staged a protest against the administration for its failure to provide security to the public.

They chanted slogans against the police and Rangers. However, they dispersed after the police resorted to aerial firing and baton-charge.

Manzar Alam — a Ghaziabad resident in Orangi Town’s Sector 11½ — speaking to Dawn accused the police and Rangers of “deliberately providing an opportunity to miscreants for staging such deadly attacks”.

“It is beyond everyone’s understanding that strife-hit areas which are always vulnerable to violence in reaction to any incident in the city, are left abandoned by the law-enforcement agencies,” he said.

“The same situation emerged today [Saturday] when the armed men near the Banaras traffic intersection, Kati Pahari and Qasba areas faced little resistance in carrying out their nefarious activities,” he said.

Youth gunned down in Lyari, motive unknown

KARACHI: A young man was gunned down in a Lyari locality on Saturday, police said.

They said that 27-year-old Imran Anwar was a resident of Memon Society in Lyari and targeted on Shah Waliullah Road.

“He was passing through that area when two men on a motorbike intercepted him,” said an official at the Kalri police station.

“They fired at him twice before escaping from the scene. He sustained a single bullet wound in the head and died on the spot.”

Although the police remained clueless about the motive and the culprits behind the murder, they said that the victim was close to some people active in the Lyari Peace Committee.

“His killing is maybe connected with his association [with the members of the committee] but one cannot say anything with certitude at this initial stage of investigation,” added the official.