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NWFP govt employees supporting Taliban to go

By Akhtar Amin

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government on Saturday decided to terminate the services of employees who had links with the Taliban and supported them during military operations.

The provincial government ordered all commissioners to submit names of all such employees. The decision was made in a cabinet meeting chaired by NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti.

Briefing the meeting, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the chief minister had issued directives to all commissioners to send names of the government employees who supported the Taliban to the Home and Establishment departments of the province within 15 days. He said the government had decided to take action against employees who directly or indirectly supported the Taliban.

Regarding security measures, he said the meeting approved appointment of 2,000 additional policemen for Peshawar and 1,000 for Charsadda district.

An NWFP government spokesman said the cabinet also decided that all educational institutions would remain closed until November 1 due to security reasons. He said the provincial and federal governments had released funds worth Rs 415.88 million in the year 2008-09 for families of individuals who had been killed in various incidents of terrorism.

He said the government had approved recruitment of 11,500 Elite Force personnel to improve security. The spokesman said police personnel in the province had been issued Kalashnikov rifles. Bullet-proof jackets had been provided to around 70 percent of the policemen, the spokesman added.

Earlier in the NWFP cabinet meeting, the provincial chief minister said the NWFP government would continue operations against the Taliban in parts of the province.

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