The thriving town of Balakot was almost completely destroyed in the earthquake of 2005. Much of it still is, and the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction has become mired in bureaucratic wrangling and interagency disputes and vacillation. Most of the population are still in temporary shelters. The entire town was designated as in the ‘Red Zone’ – the area where the possibility of a future ‘quake was rated as extremely high and where it would…
Posts published in “Day: April 12, 2012”
THOUGH Gilgit-Baltistan has remained cut off from the rest of Pakistan since April 3 when sectarian violence engulfed different towns, the freeing of 34 hostages on Tuesday was a bit of good news to emerge from the troubled region. The hostages, which included government officials, were kidnapped in reaction to sectarian killings in Chilas. Their freedom was secured after local clerics got involved in mediation efforts. The episode shows that the region’s Shia and Sunni…
GILGIT: The educational institutes and offices on Thursday re-opened in Skardu after eight days of curfew, DawnNews reported. After Chilas tragedy, Skardu’s educational institutes and offices were closed. Tragedy of Chilas in Gilgit was happened after the explosion and firing during the protest. Curfew was imposed in Gilgit, following the incidents of ethnic killings. The curfew was lifted twice for a duration of five-hours in the past eight days. http://dawn.com/2012/04/12/institutes-and-offices-re-open-in-skardu/
GILGIT: Even as lives were lost and blood spilt during last week’s sectarian violence in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), the community of Chilas managed to save at least 200 Shia passengers – including women and children – and swiftly shift them to areas where they would be out of harm’s way. The passengers were travelling from Rawalpindi to Gilgit and Skardu, and had just reached the town of Chilas when sectarian violence broke out in Gilgit after…
GILGIT: A curfew imposed in Gilgit on April 3 would be relaxed for three hours on Thursday from 2pm. Meanwhile, people released by kidnappers on Tuesday left Gilgit for their native areas on Wednesday. They were seen off by Assistant Commissioner Usman Ahmed. The hostages belonged to Shangla in Hazara division and some areas of Punjab. Thirty-four people were kidnapped from Hunza after sectarian clashes claimed at least 14 lives in Gilgit and Chilas on…