PESHAWAR: Taking notice of illegal construction activities being carried out in designated forests in Makhnial area of Haripur district and the purchase and sale of forestland for commercial purposes, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed officials to immediately impose a ban on all types of construction activities in the area. The chief minister, who chaired a high-level meeting here on Monday, also ordered the imposition of Section 144 to this effect and its strict implem

Feeling pressure, the Afghan government announced it was going on the offensive, although its troops have been forced to largely defend against Taliban assaults. American aircraft, mostly drones and A-10 jets, have carried out about 40 strikes on Taliban targets since the Feb.... A Taliban roadside bomb killed seven members of the security forces, including senior local officials, in southern Uruzgan Province.In northern Baghlan Province, the Afghan air force struck two houses, an attack based

HARIPUR/ MANSEHRA: Wildfires have ravaged forests on hundreds of acres of land in Haripur and Mansehra districts with strong winds fanning the flames to engulf more areas.... Malik Amjad, another office-bearer of the movement, said the wildfire had destroyed majority of forested area in Dana Feroz, Komal Gali, Makhniyal, Pir Sohava and Khariyan forested areas.... Meanwhile, Makhniyal sub-divisional forest officer Zohaib Khan said the fire had started from an unknown point in the Margalla Hills

The following report is updated on Thursdays and compiles all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan for the month.... The report includes government claims of insurgent casualty figures, but in most cases these cannot be independently verified by The Times.... Both sides routinely inflate casualty totals for their opponents. Analysis in previous reports refers to “ pro-government forces ” in order to include casualties for U.S. and coalitio