Pakistan postpones National Games due to NWFP situation

Pakistani authorities have postponed the National Games that were to be held in Peshawar due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the North West Frontier Province.

Pakistani authorities have postponed the National Games that were to be held in Peshawar due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the North West Frontier Province.

HT Image

The Pakistan Olympic Association announced the postponement on Wednesday. The National Games were to be held in a sports complex in Peshawar during November 15-21.

NWFP Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah said participants from other provinces were hesitant to come to Peshawar due to recent terror attacks in the city.

The sports minister of Punjab province had asked for the games to be shifted to Lahore but the NWFP government was opposed to such a move, Shah said. The games would be held in Peshawar, he added.

The armed forces too expressed concern over the games being held in Peshawar, reports said. Fifty people were killed and 120 others injured in a suicide car bomb attack in Peshawar on October 9 while a dozen people were killed in another suicide attack in the city on September 26.

Another 45 people were killed in a suicide attack at Shangla in the NWFP on October 12.