No drone attack carried out in KP, says CM aide

PESHAWAR: Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Sunday insisted that no drone attack had been carried out in the province recently.

“No drone attack has been carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The reports being spread through social media in this regard are baseless,” he said while speaking at a press conference along with Food Minister Muhammad Zahir in Islamabad.

It may be mentioned here that four members of a family were killed in an explosion at a house in the Ladha town of Upper South Waziristan tribal district on Tuesday, May 14. The blast is shrouded in mystery. Official sources had said the explosion was caused by explosive material allegedly stored in the house.

Speaking about the situation in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Barrister Saif said the KP government was in contact with the students stranded there. “As many as 1,000 students from KP are present in Kyrgyzstan. The provincial government would bring them back using its own resources if needed,” he assured.

Food Minister Muhammad Zahir Shah said the provincial government was purchasing 0.6 million tonnes of wheat from farmers with the approval of KP government.

“The rate of 40 kg of wheat has been at Rs31,00 while the Rs9,720 price has been set for 100 kgs,” explained the minister, adding that 22 centres had been specified for wheat purchase in the province.

The food minister said the wheat was being purchased from KP farmers in the first phase. “Up to 27,000 metric tonnes of wheat has been purchased from farmers so far,” he elaborated.

Zahir Shah said payment was made to the farmers within 24 hours after purchasing the commodity.

The minister said the KP government had launched a mobile app to make the entire purchase process transparent. “As many as 1.4 million farmers have been registered through the app,” he said and added that the KP government would purchase wheat from the Punjab farmers in the second phase.