| The 'timber mafia' is responsible for funding militancy in the NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the provincial government is devising a strategy to crack down on the covert industry, Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi said on Sunday. Dawn News quoted the minister as saying that Pakistan was suffering annual losses of Rs 65 billion due to environmental degradation and deforestation. Earlier, officials of the Environmental Protection Agency briefed the minister on the agency's projects and forestation efforts in various parts of the province. |