TIMERGARA, April 24 Armed Taliban visited the Talash bazaar on Friday and went back towards Chakdarra after a brief stay in the bazaar.

Residents told Dawn it was the first time when the Taliban had visited the area, spreading a wave of fear among local people.

Eyewitnesses said the Taliban were not masked and had come in a double-cabin pickup. They said the Taliban marched in the bazaar in the vehicle, took cold drinks and went back.

People of the area expressed their wonder that the government did not take any action to stop them from visiting the area. Sources said police were not seen anywhere after the entry of the Taliban in the bazaar.

Meanwhile, the administration of the Government Girls' High School in Ziarat, Talash, asked students to wear veil while coming to school.

TRAINING CENTRE A local NGO, Anjuman Behbood-i-Khawateen, Talash, and the Development Including All, a Peshawar-based organisation, in collaboration with an IDPs' support group, set up a vocational training centre for women in the Degree College camp.

The centre is meant to impart training to women of the Bajaur Agency to equip them with skills like embroidery, cutting and sewing etc, enabling them to earn their livelihood, said Anjuman Behbood-i-Khawateen executive director Shad Begum.

She told Dawn on Thursday that different agencies and international donors were taking measures to help the displaced people.

A social worker and head of the support group, Muntazir Khan, praised the efforts, saying it would help the poor, especially women, of the violence-hit region.

The in-charge of the college camp, Hussain Ahmed, said the UNHCR would start registration of those living in the camp with the Ministry of Safron next week.

He said that despite the agreement between militants and security forces, the displaced people were reluctant to go back to their areas because of the prevailing uncertainty. He said they had also not been paid any compensation to rebuild their homes.

A group of people aged between 18 and 25 said both the government and militants were responsible for their sufferings.

UNION POLLS Annual elections of the Pegham union in Wapda subdivisions in Lower Dir were held here on Thursday. The elections were supervised by Swat circle Pegham chairman Habibul Haq.

A spokesman for the union told Dawn that the elections were held in six subdivisions of the district.

Mohammad Iqbal was elected chairman and Pervez Khan general secretary of the Timergara-I subdivision, and Shah Hussain and Subhanud Din were elected chairman and general secretary, respectively, of the Timergara-II subdivision.

Similarly, Ijazur Rahman was elected chairman and Shahid Malik general secretary of the Chakdarra subdivision, and Muslimeen Khan and Nizamud Din were elected chairman and general secretary of the Timergara regional office, respectively. Mehmoodul Hassan was elected chairman and Inayatullah general secretary of the Dir subdivision.—Correspondent