Public awareness, education on IED blasts imperative to save lives

Ninety-eight people lost their limbs in IED blasts in K-P

PESHAWAR: There is a dire need to educate citizens on mine risk education to guarantee their lives are safe from this threat.

This was the crux of a seminar organised on mine risk education in the provincial capital on Thursday.

Keynote speakers were of the view that education in this regard had been successful up till now and further efforts could lead to more lives being saved. Moreover, mines themselves did not pose a major threat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), however, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) blasts led to numerous people sustaining injuries, with victims mostly losing their limbs.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has done work on educating citizens against falling prey to these IEDs and had launched an awareness campaign in this regard.



“We registered over 98 people who lost their limbs with male victims making up a large chunk,” Inayat Jalil Qazi, PRCS Mine Risk Education Officer said.

Adding that 90 per cent of the victims were male while the rest were female including young girls.

Qazi said that generally patients were referred to the Pakistan Institute of Prosthetic and Orthotic Sciences (PIPOS).

The PRCS official said that the injured received vocational training so they could earn a living for their dependents.

Some 64 cases were reported from Lower Dir, while around 23 from Dera Ismail Khan and 13 from District Hangu.

Similarly, 200 cases were observed in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas.

“Youngsters try to clever [try to shift IEDs to another location] and it not only harms them but others as well,” he said claiming it as the reason why PRCS was focusing on modifying behaviour.

PRCS representative Kamran Yousafzai said the organisation had been working independently to dispense health facilities.

Yousafzai added that 16 facilities were handed over to the provincial government, while PRCS still runs three facilities.

“We have 3,000 beneficiaries of the Mother and Child Health Centre in Peshawar,'' he said.



Furthermore, three health facilities in District Charsadda were also being maintained by PRCS.

The organisation supports the government in natural disasters as well.

He said PRCS supported some 6,825 Temporarily Displaced Families (TDP) from 2007 to 2009 from Malakand and Bajaur. While TDPs from Kurram and Waziristan were supported from 2009 to 2011.

Similarly, health facilities and non-food had been dispensed to 0.2million TDPs from North Waziristan Agency in 2014.