LANDI KOTAL: A local youth organisation Naujawanan Khugakhel held a protest demonstration here on Sunday against imposition of ban on daily wagers at Torkham border and impon of sacrificial animals from Afghanistan.

Led by Israr Shinwari, the angry Khugakhel youth assembled at Bacha Khan Chowk and chanted slogans against the authorities for stopping hundreds of local labourers from carrying out their manual jobs at the border.

The protesters burnt tyres and blocked the road for some time.

Speaking on the occasion, Israr Shinwari said that hundreds of local daily wagers earned a meagre amount on daily basis with the cross-border trade. He said that a majority of those workers also helped people in taking their luggage and personal belongings.

`Authorities at the border have stopped these poor labourers for the last 10 days which have confronted them with financial problems as none of them has any other source of income,` said Mr Shinwari.

He also accused the National Logistic Cell of trespassing its legal authority and transgressing into private properties by starting construction for the proposed custom terminal on the plots, which were not allotted to them.

He criticised the ban on import of sacrificial animals from Afghanistan and demanded immediate lifting of the ban.

The protesters threatened to hold more demonstrations and block Peshawar-Torkham road for indefinite time if their grievances were not addressed.

PROTEST: The members of a section of Christian community in Landi Kotal also held a protest demonstration against delay in construction of a residential colony for them.

Arshad Masih, who led the demonstration, alleged that Wilson Masih, leader of his rival group, had deprived some 50 Christian families of their share in the proposed colony while allotting plots to outsiders.

He said that the previous political administration had allocated Rs40 million for setting up the first ever Christian colony in any tribal area and land was also purchased for it.

He accused his rival group of allotting plots to families of its choice instead of holding a draw among the Christians living in Landi Kotal for over a century.-Correspondent