Police thwart plot to assassinate NWFP minister

October 4th, 2009 LAHORE - The Dera Ismail Khan police has arrested a man named Amin alias Chota Aftab, for playing a prominent role in the public flogging of a girl in Swat earlier this year. Nine persons including Amin were arrested a few days ago in DI Khan while they were trying to escape to Karachi, The Daily Times reported.

September 8th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said steps will be taken on war-footing for restoration of girls schools destroyed by the extremists in Swat. Talking to media after attending an informal meeting of the NWFP cabinet, Gilani said the constitutional committee will arrive at a decision regarding changing the name of NWFP.

July 1st, 2009 PESHAWAR - Pakistan's traditional Shandur Polo Festival will be held from 7th to 9th of July at world's highest polo ground in Chitral. The NWFP Minister for Population Welfare, Saleem Khan, has announced that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and NWFP Chief Minister Haider Khan Hoti would attend the final match on July 9th, the Dawn reports.

June 7th, 2009 PESHAWAR - TheTehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM) and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had developed differences over the issue of implementing Sharia in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain has said. Hussain claimed the TNSM's leadership was receiving life threats from the Taliban.

June 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Four people were killed in a blast Monday in Kohat town in Pakistan's restive northwest where the military is currently engaged in a major anti-Taliban operation, a media report said. The blast, the second in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in a week, occurred at a bus stand in Kohat's Teera Bazar area, Geo TV said.

May 28th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan has claimed that Swat Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah has been killed in a military operation being carried out in the SwatValley. Announcing a whopping four million rupees bounty on Fazlullah, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the Army has confirmed the deaths of several top militant commanders.

May 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Twenty-seven Taliban militants were killed Monday in separate operations carried out by the security forces in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials said. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said three militant commanders were among the 27 killed.

May 14th, 2009 LAHORE - Only 38 percent of the NWFP and the FATA is under Pakistan Government's control, a BBC map illustrates. The 18-month-long research covered 24 districts of NWFP, seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions of the FATA.

May 8th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Kayani has said the Army would mobilise all available resources to launch a 'decisive operation' to crush and flush out the Taliban from North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "The Pakistan Army will employ requisite resources to ensure a decisive ascendancy over the Taliban," The Daily Times quoted General Kayani, as saying at the 118th corps commanders' conference held at the General Headquarters (GHQ).

May 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Tuesday approved the immediate grant of Rs.500 million for providing relief to thousands of people displaced by the activities of the Taliban and Al Qaeda along the border with Afghanistan and by the ongoing military operations against the militants in the restive northwest. On the request of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government, Gilani also approved a supplementary grant of Rs.8 million for arranging food items on emergency basis for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), APP news agency reported.

May 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Ten security personnel were kidnapped Friday by militants in northwestern Pakistan, a media report said. The security men were kidnapped in Upper Dir district of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Dawn TV channel reported citing unnamed officials.

April 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A blast took place in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province Wednesday, authorities said. The blast occurred when a funeral procession was passing by a house under construction in Muryali area of Dera Ismail Khan Wednesday, the News International reported.

April 24th, 2009 RAWALPINDI - Worried by the increasing threat perception from the Taliban and questions being raised over the Army's capability and willingness to thwart the challenge, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said that the military is fully prepared and committed to take on the challenge. Addressing an operational meeting at the General Headquarters here, General Kayani said he is aware of the doubts being raised over the intent of the security forces of the country, and clarified that his forces would not hesitate to retaliate.

April 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government and the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) have agreed to keep the Swat peace deal intact, The Nation reported. Representatives of the NWFP government, which included provincial information minister Iftikhar Hussain, Commissioner Malakand Division Syed Muhammad Javed and other top officials, held a meeting with the TNSM delegates.

April 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has taken suo motu notice of the flogging of a girl in the Swat Valley. Chaudhry has asked the federal interior secretary, the NWFP chief secretary and the NWFP inspector general of police to appear before the court on Monday.