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Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir has said that formations of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP) infiltrating into Pakistan mostly comprised Afghans. “In the TTP formations coming [into Pakistan], 70 per cent are Afghans,” he said. The defence forces’ chief made this statement at the National Ulema Conference held in Islamabad on December 10. However, details of the Field Marshal’s address at the conference were scant thus far and clips of his speech from the event were broadcast on television today. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to put an end to the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for carrying out attacks in Pakistan. Kabul, however, denies the allegation. Turning his attention to the matter at the conference, CDF Munir questioned: “Is Afghanistan not spilling the blood of our Pakistani children?” He recalled that the Afghan Taliban had been told to choose between Pakistan and the TTP. Speaking about the four-day May conflict with India, he said in Pakistan’s retal...

The World Bank has approved $700 million in financing for Pakistan under a multi-year initiative aimed at supporting the country’s macroeconomic stability and service delivery, it emerged on Saturday. The lender said the funds will be released under the bank’s Public Resources for Inclusive Development — Multiphase Programmatic Approach (PRID-MPA), which could provide up to $1.35 billion in total financing. Of this amount, $600m will go for federal programmes and $100m will support a provincial programme in Sindh. The approval follows a $47.9m World Bank grant in August to improve primary education in Punjab. A separate statement issued by the lender quoted Bolormaa Amgaabazar, the World Bank’s country director for Pakistan, as saying, “Pakistan’s path to inclusive, sustainable growth requires mobilising more domestic resources and ensuring they are used efficiently and transparently to deliver results for people.” She said that through the MPA, the bank was working with the federal and Sindh governments to “...

• Flows stabilising after ‘extraordinary’ dip • Ministry reports Dec 10-16 volatility; suspects Baglihar drawdown and refill • Lowest Chenab reading recorded at 870 cusecs • Officials also flag disruption in Jhelum inflows at Mangla • Islamabad maintains Indus treaty bars emptying dead storage on western run-of-river projects ISLAMABAD / LAH­ORE: Reporting normalisation of Chenab River flows off late, Pakistan on Friday said it had sought an explanation from India over an “extraordinary reduction” in the river flows after what it described as the complete discharge and subsequent refilling of the Baglihar dam, in violation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. In a statement, the Min­istry of Water Reso­urces said the discharge of the Chenab River (mainstem) had “successfully stabilised following a significant period of volatility”. It said Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters had taken up the matter with his Indian counterpart and sought details and data regarding the reduction in flows “under the framework o...

Pakistan accuses India of water manipulation

ISLAMABAD - Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan, Mr Salem Mohammed Salem Al Bawab Al Zaabi, called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday disclosed that Pakistan had accepted inclusion in the proposed International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza, while stopping short of confirming a firm troop commitment. Last Tuesday, Pakistan attended a conference in Qatar, which was hosted by US Central Command, to discuss the ISF’s command structure and other unresolved operational issues. Pakistan was among nearly 45 countries attending the meeting. Responding to a question on whether Washington had received Pakistan’s consent to deploy troops for peacebuilding in Gaza, Rubio said the United States was “very grateful to Pakistan for their offer to be a part of it, or at least their offer to consider being a part of it,” adding that further clarity was still required before any country could be asked to formally commit. “I feel very confident that we have a number of nation-states acceptable to all sides of this who are willing to step forward and be a part of that stabilisation force and certainly, Pakistan i...

US ‘very grateful to Pakistan’ for the offer, says US Secretary of State

Severe rainfall has caused major disruptions to air travel between Pakistan and the UAE, resulting in widespread flight cancellations and delays across multiple airports.

Pacer Abdul Subhan spearheaded a dominant all-round display as Pakistan Under-19s cruised into the final of the ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over defending champions Bangladesh at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on Friday. The rain-hit second semi-final was reduced to 27 overs a side, and Pakistan skipper Farhan Yousaf’s decision to field first proved decisive as Bangladesh were bundled out for 121 in 26.3 overs. Subhan led the charge with a probing spell of 4-20, accounting for key batsmen Azizul Hakim and Kalam Siddiki to leave Bangladesh reeling. Huzaifa Ahsan offered excellent support with figures of 2-10, while Ali Raza and Mohammad Sayyam chipped in with a wicket apiece. Samiun Basir was the lone resistance for Bangladesh with a 33-run knock before being run out at the close of the innings. Pakistan’s chase was briefly checked when wicket-keeper-batter Hamza Zahoor fell for a duck, but opener Sameer Minhas ensured there were no further alarms. The right-hander anchored the i...

Pakistan is targeting January to issue its first panda bond tranche, part of a planned programme of up to $1 billion, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday, as Islamabad seeks to diversify funding sources and tap China’s onshore debt market. The inaugural issuance is expected to raise the equivalent of about $250 million, with further tranches to follow under a phased programme once regulatory approvals are completed, the ministry said after Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a review meeting on the plan. Approvals from multilateral partners have already been secured, and final clearances from Chinese regulators are expected by early January, the statement said. The panda bond programme, denominated in yuan and sold on China’s domestic market, is part of Pakistan’s broader debt management strategy as it works to stabilise its economy under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund programme. Pricing for the inaugural bond will be determined closer to the launch once all regulatory requirements are co...

ISLAMABAD: United Nations (UN) experts have expressed concerns that India’s “unlawful use of force“ on Pakistan’s territory in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir appears to have “violated the rights to life and security of person”, it emerged on Friday. This observation by UN special rapporteurs was made in a report dated October 16, which was made public on December 15. The report outlined India‘s military response to the Pahalgam attack, as well as New Delhi’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in “abeyance” following the incident. The five UN experts who compiled the report also observed that New Delhi’s actions that “may be taken to disrupt the flow of water to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty” appeared to risk violating the rights to work and livelihood, an adequate standard of living — including the rights to water and food — a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and development. The attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 resulted...

ISLAMABAD: Former Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman has described attacks on Pakistan in May this year as a strategic mistake by India. “They underestimated our military power and thought we will not react. They never expected a befitting response,” he said while speaking at a seminar here. The seminar was organised by an overseas Pakistanis group led by Barrister Shehzada Hayat, in collaboration with the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society (PESS), headed by Senator retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum to pay homage to Pakistan’s martyrs, express solidarity with the armed forces, and commemorate the 149th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The former air chief said the telling response by Pakistan shattered the myth of “shining India”. He chided India for blaming Chinese help to Pakistan for its failure saying “If we have Chinese JF-17 aircraft, you also have Rafale jets. Overseas Pakistanis’ contribution to national economy praised He made it clear that Chinese pilots did not come to...

The German government said on Thursday that it would take in 535 Afghans who had been promised refuge in Germany but have been stuck in limbo in Pakistan. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the RND media network that Berlin wanted to complete the processing of the cases “in December, as far as possible” to allow them to enter Germany. The Afghans were accepted under a refugee scheme set up by the previous German government, but have been stuck in Pakistan since conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office in May and froze the programme. Those on the scheme either worked with German armed forces in Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban, or were judged to be at particular risk from the Taliban after its return to power in 2021 — for example, rights activists and journalists, as well as their families. Pakistan had set a deadline for the end of the year for the Afghans’ cases to be settled, after which they would be deported back to their homeland. Dobrindt said that “we are in touch with t...

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has undertaken an official visit to Libya, where Pakistan and Libya agreed to strengthen defence cooperation at the military leadership level.

Pakistan Virtual Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib has said that cryptocurrency mining activities are expected to begin in Pakistan within the next few weeks as part of the government’s efforts to regulate digital assets and generate new sources of revenue.

Pakistan on Wednesday termed the sudden changes in the flow of the River Chenab “unacceptable” and called on the international community to take serious notice of what it described as India’s violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday sought substantive additional debt from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to payoff remaining Rs1.7 trillion circular debt and refinance part of recently acquired Rs1.25tr commercial financing in one-go at longer terms for bringing down expensive power tariffs and improving grid stability through demand growth. The request was formally made by Power Minister Sardar Awais Leghari to a visiting ADB delegation led by Ms Leah Gutierrez, Director General, Central and West Asia Department though he did not pitch size of the proposed loan to be discussed subsequently. ADB’s total debt stock currently stands at $17bn, the third largest after China and the World Bank. Informed sources told Dawn that the minister proposed that the Manila-based lending agency should come up with financing instruments and arrangements that could directly make power sector debt more affordable through longer payback period and cheaper interest rates than commercial financing from the market. The ADB’s finan...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday demanded public apologies and corrections from international media outlets that published unverified claims linking Pakistan to the Bondi Beach shooting incident in Australia, calling the reporting a ‘vicious disinformation campaign.

Federal Minister for Information Ataullah Tarar has strongly criticised what he described as a false media campaign against Pakistan following the shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Australia.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that it was falsely claimed after the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia that one of the attackers was from Pakistan, holding “hostile countries” responsible for this campaign. The tragic attack by two men on Sunday resulted in the death of 16 people, including one of the attackers. Soon after the incident, a Pakistan-origin man living in Sydney was misidentified as one of the attackers. Later, it was confirmed that among the father-son duo of suspects, the former, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, was from India, and the latter, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, was born in Australia. View this post on Instagram “When the incident happened, certain media outlets were very quick to state that one of the attackers was from Pakistan and the other one was born in Australia. “There was no evidence to prove this claim, there was no documentation, and there was no verification of this claim. But somehow, we know that this campaign was launched from hostile countries trying to ma...