Several trees burnt in Waziristan forest fire

WANA: Hundreds of trees, inkling olive and other precious ones were reduced to ashes when a huge fire erupted in the forests in the Kaniguram area in the South Waziristan district on Monday.

The police said that a blaze broke out in the nearby forest in the Kaniguram area that burnt hundreds of trees, including olive, cedars and other precious plants within no time. They said that the fire destroyed a vast area of forest as no proper machinery or department like Rescue 1122 were in place to extinguish the inferno.

District Forest Officer Salim Khan Marwat has confirmed the fire eruption in the forest in Kaniguram and said that blaze had been under control now after hectic efforts by local people and district administration.

Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 said it had extinguished fires that erupted in forests in various areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Director General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122, Dr Khateer Ahmad said his department had successfully put out the blazes in 16 forests, including Swat, Buner, Shangla, Lower Dir and Malakand after hectic efforts during the last three days. He said that fire extinguishing operations continued in Muhammad Baig village, Islampur in Swat, Swabi, Khyber and Shangla districts and some other parts of the province.