Dawn
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Dawn - 17:42 May 19, 2026
Security forces killed 22 India-sponsored terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Tuesday. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said an area sanitisation operation has been underway since May 17 in North Waziristan’s Shewa general area, “based on credible intelligence leads with respect to the presence of khwarij.” Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). During the operation, troops “effectively engaged khwarij location and after [an] intense exchange of fire, 22 khwarij belonging to Indian sponsored Fitna-al-Khwarij have [been] sent to hell” in the last 24 hours, the ISPR said. It added that weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”. The ISPR revealed that “evidence further confirms that khwarij coerced and intimidated the local population, for... -
Dawn - 17:39 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Capital police on Tuesday stopped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi from reaching Adiala jail in Rawalpindi to meet incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) allowed the ex-premier to have twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, the former premier has been restricted from meeting visitors for several months. Afridi set off for the Rawalpindi jail earlier today. He was accompanied by Imran’s sisters and a number of PTI workers and leaders. However, police stopped the delegation at Islamabad’s Chungi No. 26 from proceeding towards Adiala Jail, despite heated arguments. Police personnel form a line to stop PTI workers and leaders from proceeding towards the prison. — Mohamma... -
Dawn - 17:16 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission on Tuesday invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from local and international investors for the much-delayed sale of three of the country’s most viable electricity distribution companies (Discos). The deadline for submitting EOIs for the partial or full sale of the Discos falls in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. The three companies are Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco), and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco). The three are considered the most viable Discos among the 11 electricity distribution companies originally carved out of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in 1998. The divestment aimed to improve service quality through private-sector management practices. The plan was supposed to be completed within five years but failed to take off over the following three decades. The transaction offers investors an opportunity to acquire between 51pc and 100pc shareholding, along with managem... -
Dawn - 16:46 May 19, 2026
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday underscored Pakistan’s strides as a net regional stabiliser contributing to peace and stability in the region and beyond, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The prime minister made the remarks during his address to faculty members and student officers at the Command and Staff College in Quetta on Tuesday. “The prime minister underscored the importance of military diplomacy and cooperation and the strides made by Pakistan as Net Regional Stabiliser to contribute towards peace, stability and progression in the region and beyond,” said the PMO statement. PM Shehbaz, referring to Marka-i-Haq, also paid tribute to the Pakistan Armed Forces’ historic victory under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. “The enemy falsely perceived itself as stronger than Pakistan. They rejected our sincere offer of dialogue to resolve differences and remove misunderstandings; instead, they chose the path of provocation, vi... -
Dawn - 16:24 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad sessions court sentenced Umar Hayat, the main accused in the Sana Yousaf murder case, to death on Tuesday after finding him guilty of killing the teenage TikTok influencer at her residence in June last year. Hayat was arrested a day after 17-year-old Yousaf was shot dead in her Islamabad house on June 2, 2025. On Monday, 23-year-old Hayat — son of a retired government official and a TikToker himself — retracted his earlier confessional statement admitting to Yousaf’s murder. Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced the verdict on Tuesday, handing Hayat the death sentence under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for committing qatl-i-amd (intentional murder) of Yousaf. The death sentence would be subject to confirmation by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) under Section 374 (sentence of death to be submitted by court of session) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The court also directed the convict to pay Rs2.5 million as compensation to th... -
Dawn - 15:56 May 19, 2026
HYDERABAD: Adilpur police registered a first information report (FIR) of the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl in Sindh’s Ghotki district on Tuesday, more than two weeks after the incident was said to have taken place. The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered against 5 suspects on the complaint of the girl’s father under Section 376(2) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The said provision states: “When rape is committed by two or more persons in furtherance of common intention of all, each of such persons shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.” According to the FIR, the incident took place on May 3 when the girl and her parents were working in the fields of a wadera (land owner). The FIR quoted the complainant as saying that his daughter was working some distance away from him and after a while, he heard her cries coming from the landowner’s dera (sitting room). He said his wife ran toward the dera after hearing their daughter’s cries. The landowner was present there along wi... -
Dawn - 15:06 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Tuesday signed a $320 million loan agreement for the reconstruction and improvement of critical sections of the N-5 highway — the country’s longest national highway from Karachi to Torkham near the Afghan border. The loan agreement was signed for “Reconstruction of National Highway N-5 under Pakistan’s Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework Project,” amounting to $320.16 million. The project will cover critical sections of the N-5, which traverses Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, serving as a backbone of Pakistan’s transport network. The loan agreement was signed by Muhammad Humair Karim Kidwai, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, on behalf of the Government of Pakistan, and Mr Konstantin Limitovskiy, Chief Investment Officer, Public Sector & Project and Corporate Finance (Global) Clients of the Beijing-based AIIB. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema also attended the signing ceremony... -
Dawn - 14:41 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Karachi Zone on Tuesday suspended two officers and registered a case against a private individual over a recent raid on a jewellery shop in the metropolis’s Sarafa Bazaar. The development came days after FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar took notice of the incident and demanded a full inquiry, with the report to be submitted within 48 hours. According to an FIA spokesperson, FIA Karachi Zone Director Muntazir Mehdi ordered immediate legal and departmental action. Two FIA officers present at the scene were suspended, while a case was registered against a private individual for allegedly slapping a citizen. Assistant Director Syed Ali Mardan Shah, in charge of the FIA’s Karachi Anti-Corruption Circle (ACC), was removed from his post and attached to headquarters, while Assistant Director Rabab Qazi was transferred from FIA ACC to the Human Trafficking and Smuggling Wing. A departmental inquiry was also initiated against all officers and officials present during... -
Dawn - 13:40 May 19, 2026
A ban on Indian civilian and military aircraft using Pakistani airspace has been extended for another month, until June 24, according to a Notice to Airmen (Notam) issued by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Tuesday. The previous extension was set to expire on May 24. The ban extension took effect on May 19 at 10:40am and the restriction was extended until 4:59am on June 24, according to the Notam. “Pakistan airspace not available for Indian registered aircraft and aircraft operated/owned or leased by Indian airlines/operators, including military flights,” the Notam, available with Dawn, read. Pakistan’s airspace is divided into two flight information regions (FIRs) — Karachi and Lahore, according to a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) document from 2022. The Notam applies to both the Karachi (OPKR) and Lahore (OPLR) FIRs. India and Pakistan closed their airspaces to each other’s airlines since late April 2025, when tensions between them escalated in the wake of a deadly attack in Indian-occupie... -
Dawn - 13:30 May 19, 2026
Bangladesh are three wickets away from a famous Test series win at home after spinner Taijul Islam took 4-113 to rattle Pakistan despite a rearguard by the opposition batters on Tuesday. Pakistan ended day four on 316-7, needing another 121 runs for victory in what would be a record chase of 437 on the fifth and final day in Sylhet. Mohammad Rizwan, on 75, and Sajid Khan, on eight, were unbeaten at the close of play. Left-arm spinner Taijul struck key blows, including Babar Azam for 47 and Salman Agha on 71, to keep Bangladesh in the hunt for their first-ever Test series win over Pakistan at home. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan plays a shot during the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on May 19, 2026. — AFP Bangladesh, who won the opener of the two-match series, also closed in on back-to-back Test series victories over Pakistan —having whitewashed them 2-0 on Pakistani soil in 2024. Pakistan slumped to 162-5 and were h... -
Dawn - 13:27 May 19, 2026
Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel. The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media. They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on February 28. Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the so-called “self-sacrifice” scheme (janfada in Persian) where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations. Iranian authorities say millions of people, including top figures such as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Pres... -
Dawn - 13:12 May 19, 2026
PESHAWAR: Two people lost their lives and 11 were injured in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The Met Office has forecast dust-thunderstorm and rain with occasional gaps in upper parts of the country till May 23. According to the PDMA’s report, two deaths were reported in rain-related incidents last night from Mardan. Meanwhile, four people were injured in Battagram, one in Mardan and six in Swat. Four houses — one in Battagram and three in Shangla — were fully damaged. Twenty-seven houses were partially damaged in Shangla, two in Swat, five in Torghar and one each in Upper Dir and Mardan, according to the report. A school also suffered damage due to adverse weather in Shangla, the data showed. According to the PDMA’s daily weather report, the highest amount of rainfall in KP over the past 24 hours was recorded in Kalam at 12mm, followed by 11 in Chitral, 8mm in Malam Jabba, 7mm in Saidu Sharif and Balakot, and 4mm each i... -
Dawn - 13:10 May 19, 2026
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday expressed concern at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak in central Africa — declared a “continental” emergency — as the number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) jumped to 131. The toll from the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has risen to an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said. There has also been one death in neighbouring Uganda. However, speaking to Congolese national television overnight, Kamba cautioned that the toll was an estimate and further research was needed to confirm whether all 131 suspected deaths were indeed linked to Ebola. No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola behind the latest outbreak of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half century. The outbreak’s epicentre is in the northeastern Ituri province on the border with Uganda and South Sudan, whose status as a gold-mining hub leads to people ... -
Dawn - 13:07 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI on Tuesday announced countrywide protests on Friday against Imran Khan’s imprisonment, rising inflation and other issues. The announcement was made by senior PTI leaders during a press conference held out the Parliament House after a parliamentary party meeting. The press conference was addressed by former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI parliamentary leader Shahid Khattak. Addressing the media, Qaiser said the entire party and the people of Pakistan were deeply concerned about the health of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. He said that the parliamentary party had unanimously endorsed the decisions taken at yesterday’s summit of the TTAP. “Protests will be held across the country on Friday against inflation, the increase in petroleum prices, concerns over the health of PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, demands for their transfer to hospital, the release of political pr... -
Dawn - 10:23 May 19, 2026
Sindh Inspector General Javed Alam Odho on Tuesday vowed transparency in investigations into drug queenpin Anmol alias Pinky, noting that the probes stretched across multiple “domains”. Anmol was arrested last week from her apartment in Karachi in connection with the possession of narcotics and an unlicenced weapon. She is in police custody till May 22 in two of the 15 cases active against her, while her judicial remand in other cases extends till May 30. Responding to media queries at an event held at the Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Sindh police chief said multiple agencies were involved in probing Anmol’s alleged criminal activities. “There are now different institutions involved […] so there will be transparency, and secondly, each [authority] will work under its domain,” he affirmed. “You referred to one bank account with Rs30 million, indicating a huge quantum, so you are absolutely correct. We are working on this exact aspect,” IG Odho said in response to a question by a reporter. He ... -
Dawn - 10:18 May 19, 2026
Thailand is drastically cutting the length of visa-free stays for tourists from more than 90 countries in an effort to curb crime involving foreign nationals, officials said on Tuesday. Tourism is vital to the Southeast Asian nation’s economy, but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid highs. A recent series of high-profile arrests of foreigners has included cases linked to drug offences, sex trafficking and foreigners operating businesses such as hotels and schools without proper permits. Under Thailand’s current tourism scheme, travellers from more than 90 countries — including Europe’s 29-nation Schengen area, the United States, Israel and several South American countries — are eligible to visit for up to 60 days without a visa. Thailand’s cabinet approved reducing visa-free stays for travellers from those countries on Tuesday, Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul told reporters in Bangkok. The new visa-free duration would be decided on a country-by-country basis, with most foreign na... -
Dawn - 10:12 May 19, 2026
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a committee on the compressed natural gas (CNG) crisis in the province. The development comes a day after, in a rare show of unity, the KP government and opposition joined hands over wheat and CNG crises in the province and demanded that the federal government resume wheat supply and withdraw its orders for the closure of CNG stations in the province. The province has been affected by a CNG crisis since April, with several filling stations shut and millions of citizens struggling for affordable fuel. The situation has also negatively impacted the economic activity in the province. In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, Kundi said, “Thankful to PM Shehbaz for constituting a committee on the critical issue of CNG closure in KP. “KP is producing nearly 508 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas against a requirement of around 130 mmcfd, yet our people continue to face unneces... -
Dawn - 08:00 May 19, 2026
Two teenage gunmen opened fire on Monday at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, California, killing a security guard and two other men outside the mosque before the suspects were found dead, apparently from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said local law enforcement and the FBI were investigating the attack on the largest mosque in San Diego County as a hate crime. However, no precise motive or precipitating incident for the gun violence has been publicly suggested by authorities. All of the children attending a day school at the mosque complex were accounted for and safe after the shooting, which erupted at about 11:40am PDT (1840 GMT), officials said. At an evening news conference, Wahl disclosed that the mother of one of the two suspects had called police about two hours before the shooting to report that her son, whom she described as suicidal, had run away from home, taking three guns she owned and her vehicle. Two teens dressed in camouflage According to the chi... -
Dawn - 07:17 May 19, 2026
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday raised objections over the non-submission of certified copies of Supreme Court orders during the hearing of miscellaneous petitions seeking early hearing of appeals filed by convicted human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha in the controversial social media posts case. Justice Muhammad Azam Khan heard the petitions seeking fixation of the sentence suspension petitions at an early date in light of directions issued earlier by the SC directing the IHC to decide the plea within a fortnight. Senior lawyer Faisal Siddiqi appeared before the court on behalf of the couple on Tuesday. Former president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) Riasat Ali Azad, District Bar President Chaudhry Naeem Gujjar, former federal minister and Imaan’s mother Shireen Mazari and other lawyers were also present in the courtroom during the proceedings. At the outset of the hearing, Siddiqi informed the court that miscellaneous petitions had be... -
Dawn - 07:13 May 19, 2026
Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday asserted that “propaganda, fake news or externally-sponsored terrorism” could not derail Pakistan’s progress. The field marshal made the remarks while interacting with officers and troops of formations deployed in Balochistan during his visit to Quetta, according to the military’s media affairs wing. “The field marshal emphasised that Pakistan’s destined rise cannot be obstructed through propaganda, fake news or externally sponsored terrorism,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) quoted him as saying. “He reiterated that hostile forces attempting to derail Pakistan’s progress through proxies and propaganda will ultimately fail due to the resilience of the state and the unity of its people,” the statement added. Highlighting the contours of the prevailing security environment, the military chief reaffirmed that the armed forces, with the “steadfast support of the people, remain fully committed to the eradication of...
10706 items