TIMERGARA, May 22: A young couple was shot dead allegedly in the name of honour in Adenzai tehsil, police said.

They said that the bodies of a girl and a boy were found in a field in Badwan village on Tuesday evening. They said that both the deceased were Afghan nationals and used to live in Timer Afghan Refugees’ Camp.

Sources said that the girl had eloped with the boy four days ago. Locals informed police about the presence of their bodies in the field.

The father of the deceased boy lodged FIR with Chakdara police of the double murder against the two brothers of the girl.

LOANS WAIVER: The residents of Lower Dir threatened here on Monday to organise a protest in Islamabad if government didn’t waive off their bank loans as per the directives of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Talking to journalists, local elders Jalil Ahmad, Jalat Khan and Mian Sher Khan said that Malakand division was affected by militancy, military operation and flash floods during the last three years.

They said that the prime minister had included Dir Lower, Dir Upper and Shangla districts in his special package for the affected region.

“The State Bank of Pakistan also issued a notification on Feb 28, 2012 regarding waiving off loans taken from banks before Dec 2009,” they said.

They added that loans worth Rs60 million out of total Rs400 million had been waived off in those three districts.

They said that they would organise a protest in front of Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad if the government didn’t waive off their loans till May 31.

Meanwhile, farmers belonging to Dir Lower also complained that provincial government was forcing them through district administration to repay the amount they had taken as small loans from the defunct Dir Area Support Project (DASP).

In a statement, Mohammad Abdullah, Sharif Rahim, Sardar Hussain, Saeed Gul and Rahatullah said that they had taken small loans from the DASP for buying cows before 2009.

They said that they paid monthly installments to the project regularly but the scheme was wound up in 2009. They threatened to launch agitation if their loans were not waived off.

MoU: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Hakim Sabzwari University Khurasan, Iran and University of Malakand on Tuesday for exchange of students and teachers.

According to the MoU, exchange of students, teachers and employees of both the universities would take place for conducting joint research.