Afghanistan, Pakistani tribal areas celebrate Eid al Fitr

Afghanistan and the northern Pakistani tribal areas bordering it, including North Waziristan, are celebrating Eid Al Fitr on Thursday. Like most Arab and Islamic countries, the religious festival of Eid Al Fitr was celebrated across Afghanistan with religious fervor and zeal on Thursday. The festival marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadhan and special prayers for peace were offered in mosques and Eidgahs. The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai attended Eid prayers at a mosque at the Presidential Palace along with Cabinet ministers and parliamentarians. The militancy-hit Afghanistan has not faced any violent incident so far and the Afghan people have been attending Eid prayers across the country peacefully. The Supreme Court of Afghanistan on Wednesday announced that the moon of the Islamic month of Shawwal had been sighted in Saudi Arabia and that Eid Al Fitr would be celebrated in the country on Thursday. Meanwhile, North Waziristan tribal area of northern Pakistan also celebrated Eid today as a 25-member committee of Ullema of North Waziristan on Wednesday, after deliberating for more than four hours, declared that Eid would be celebrated across the region on Thursday. Maulvi Sanaullah, who was heading the committee, received personal 19 accounts of crescent sightings and afterwards declared Eid Al Fitr in the region a day ahead of the rest of the country.