LANDI KOTAL: Government schools in Akkakhel area of Bara tehsil reopened on Wednesday after remaining closed for six years, officials said.

Agency education officer Ateeq ur Rehman told Dawn that arrangements had been made to gradually reopen all the 73 educational institutions in different parts of Akkakhel, where displaced families had already started returning to their homes.

He said that transport facility would be provided to the teaching staff as public transport was not yet fully functional in most localities of Akkakhel. He said male and female teachers would be picked from Peshtakhara on the outskirts of Peshawar to be dropped to their respective schools.

`The political administration has agreed to provide financial assistance for arranging free transport for teachers,` he said.

Mr Rehman said security forces had also agreed to issue facilitation cards to all the teachers in order to exempt them from frequent body search and checking at various checkposts.

He said most of the teaching staff had been informed a few days back about the reopening of government schools, and they had consented to rejoin their duties.

`Donor agencies have also provided tents for schools which weredestroyed during militancy,` he said, adding the reopening would be gradual as they were still struggling to arrange for necessary items in all the 73 schools, which included 33 girls primary schools, two middle, a high and a higher secondary school for girls, and 16 primary, five middle and fourhighschoolsforboys.

When approached, a teacher told Dawn they had been informed about the reopening of schools in Akkakhel.

Requesting anonymity, he however expressed his apprehensions over security at the reopened schools.

KHASADARS PROTEST: A group of about 50 khasadar personnel on Wednesday held a protest demonstration against the abolition of six checkposts by the political administration, last week.

The protesters chanted slogans againstthe concerned ofñcials,alleging that only `poor` khasadars were victimised while the higher ranked personnel were still receiving extortion money from transporters at other checkposts illegally established on the Peshawar-Torkham Highway.

Assistant political agent Tayyab Abdullah, however, refuted the allegations, insisting that the checkposts were abolished on public complaints. He said he had assigned the task to the naib tehsildar of Torkham to keep a strict vigil on the illegal activities of the khasadars.

He said he had given a week`s ultimatum to the disobedient khasadar personnel to mend their ways or face strict disciplinary action.