Villagers protest after cattle killed in shell hit

LAKKI MARWAT: The villagers of Simoo Banda on Friday blocked the KP-Punjab Road at the Kargil Chowk to protest the killing of cattle when a mortar shell hit a hujra.

Speaking on the occasion, the Matiullah and other elders said a shell hit his hujra (male guest house) leaving two cows dead. A camel and two more cows were injured in the incident; a tractor-trolley was also damaged.

They said the government had failed to maintain peace in their villages, vowing not to become internally displaced persons and migrate to Punjab. “We will prefer death in our village to migrating to other areas,” Matiullah said.

The locals and passengers faced difficulties as the road remained blocked from 8:30 am

to 2:15pm for all kinds of vehicular traffic.Later, Assistant Commissioner Yasir Nazeer met the protesters. He announced Rs1.25m cash compensation to the owner to compensate him for the loss of his cattle and promised to probe the incident.The road was reopened and the protesters dispersed peacefully after the assurance by the official.