(title)

Passengers block KKH in Mansehra

MANSEHRA, Dec 16: A convoy of 30 vehicles was allowed to proceed to Gilgit-Baltistan after angry passengers blocked Karakoram Highway in protest against stopping of vehicles for days here in Mansehra on Sunday.

“We have spent whatever money we had, as the district administration in Mansehra is stopping us from proceeding en route Karakoram Highway to Gilgit-Baltistan since December 12,” said Fazalur Raheem while speaking at the protest gathering.

The protesters blocked the KKH at Butt Bridge here and raised slogans against the Gilgit-Baltistan government and Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah for their failure to restore law and order.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Raheem, Mohammad Safdar and other passengers said that convoys were not being allowed to go ahead since Dec 12 because of the law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan.

They said that the chief minister had failed to maintain law and order and as such was asking the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to restrict entry of vehicles into the GB.

The road, which was blocked at about 6am in morning, was reopened to traffic at about 10am when Mansehra’s district police officer Sher Akbar Khan gave a go-ahead to police to allow the convoy to proceed.

When contacted, the DPO confirmed that the GB home department had sought the help of Hazara administration to restrict the entry of convoys of passenger vehicles into GB because of the sectarian clashes there.

Mr Khan said that now they allowed the convoy on a written request from DPO Diamer.

http://dawn.com/2012/12/17/passengers-block-kkh-in-mansehra/