Islamabad | Pakistan

Rain-wind/thundershower with isolated heavy falls is expected in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pothohar region, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and adjoining hilly areas on Wednesday, while hot and humid weather is likely to prevail in other plain areas of the country.

PM calls emergency meeting; directs health minister to reach Islamabad, suspends health secretary

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has announced that the long march to Islamabad will be held on September 27, saying there will be no change in the date.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has reported a significant increase in wheat flour prices across several cities, with Islamabad recording the highest price for a 20-kilogram bag.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Friday forecast more rain-wind/thundershower in Islamabad, the Potohar region, upper Punjab, Kashmir, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan during the night, with isolated heavy rainfall also expected at a few places.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad late Wednesday on an official two-day visit to Pakistan at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, the Foreign Office said.

ISLAMABAD - Syrian Foreign Minister and Minister for Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, marking the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly two decades and the first since the political transition in Damascus.

Syrian FM to visit Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: After a gap of 14 years, 27 police stations in the federal capital were provided 30 new vehicles on Saturday to improve response time and mobility. According to a statement issued by the interior ministry, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry handed over the keys to Islamabad police during a ceremony held at Police Lines. The statement quoted Naqvi as saying that the concept of modern policing was impossible with non-functional vehicles. “Only by meeting police requirements in line with the times can we achieve the desired results. These new vehicles will improve police response time,” he said. He was further quoted as saying that all necessary resources were being provided to Islamabad police to ensure public safety and security. “With the provision of resources, police will be able to perform their duties in a better manner,” he said. He said construction and upgradation of all police stations in Islamabad was also underway and would be completed soon....

The Yadgar-i-Fatah monument, built to honour Pakistan’s martyrs and commemorate Marka-i-Haq, was inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday night, on the eve of the country’s 80th Independence Day. Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were in attendance and stood for the national anthem, played by a military band. Other distinguished military officers and senior officials attended the ceremony. (From L-R) Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attend the inauguration ceremony of the Yadgar-i-Fatah monument in Islamabad on August 13, 2026. — Screengrab via YouTube/...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Wednesday reaffirmed its commit­ment to dialogue and diplomacy to promote peace and stability in the Gulf and Middle East, as the Foreign Of­fice said Islamabad was maintaining sustained engagement with the parties amid continuing regional tensions.

• Mohsin Naqvi meets Pezeshkian and Araghchi in Tehran • Khawaja Asif says warring sides nearing ‘some sort of an arrangement’ • Tehran sees Islamabad MoU as ‘only legitimate framework’ for resolution of wider war • Trump rails against ‘devious Iranian negotiators’ ISLAMABAD: Interior Mini­ster Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran on Tuesday to follow up on the stalled Islamabad Memor­andum of Understanding (MoU), as Islamabad seeks to revive its mediation efforts between Iran and the United States. Naqvi, who arrived in Tehran earlier in the day, was received by his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni, and later held talks with Araghchi. The two interior ministers are also expected to hold detailed bilateral discussions during the visit. A diplomatic source told Dawn from Tehran that the principal objective of Naqvi’s visit was to follow up on the Islamabad MoU and Pakistan’s mediation bet­­w­een Iran and the US, which has remai­ned largely dorman...

ISLAMABAD - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has said PTI’s political leadership and the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) alliance are on board with the September 27 long march towards Islamabad.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday said PTI’s political leadership and its ally, the Tehreek Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP), were on board with the call for a long march to Islamabad on September 27. Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, CM Afridi said, “The PTI’s political leadership across the country and its ally, the TTAP, are all on board with the long march, and they collectively agreed on September 27 as the date for it.” Responding to a question about Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan’s reservations over the date, he said she was a “non-political individual” and would agree to the date once the PTI apprised her of all the facts and figures. CM Afridi also denied allegations by a PTI member currently residing outside Pakistan that he had met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi before finalising the date for the long march. “That allegation was rubbish. At the time of the alleged meeting, I was at KP House in Islamabad, contrary to the claim that I had met him in Peshawar,” he...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast more rainfall in Punjab and Islamabad on Thursday, as flood-affected areas in the country's north continue to grapple with widespread damage caused by recent downpours.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has announced that a pilot project to establish a Law Enforcement Investigation Centre on the model of China will be launched in Islamabad to improve the country's criminal justice system.

• PTI holds protests, rallies countrywide to mark third anniversary of Imran Khan’s arrest • Party claims one MNA, four MPAs, several workers arrested in Lahore • Police use teargas, baton-charge Karachi protesters; 10 workers detained PESHAWAR / LAHORE / KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The opposition PTI marked the third anniversary of party founder Imran Khan’s arrest on Wednesday with protests and rallies across the country, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi warned of a march on Islama­bad next month, while police action and arrests were repor­ted from Lahore and Karachi. In a fiery speech at a large rally organised to mark three years of Imran Khan’s imprisonment, CM Afridi warned that the PTI would march towards Islamabad on Sept 27 if the cases of Mr Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were not heard on merit and restrictions on their meetings with lawyers, family members and political leaders were not lifted. A large number of people from across the province atten­ded the gathering, which was also ad...

WASHINGTON: Pakistan on Wednesday informed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that multiple terrorist groups continued to operate from safe havens inside Afghanistan, posing a growing threat to regional security. Speaking at a UNSC briefing on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad also highlighted Islamabad’s concerns over Jammu and Kashmir, as the Council met on the seventh anniversary of India’s August 5, 2019, decision to revoke the region’s special constitutional status. Ahmad described the measures imposed on that day as a new phase of repression against the Kashmiri people and accused India of committing what he called “state terrorism” in the disputed territory. He said the international community must show “zero tolerance” for such actions and should not allow counterterrorism efforts to be used as a pretext to suppress what Pakistan describes as legitimate struggles for self-determinat...

All foreign media personnel will now require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MOIB) to travel to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi for news coverage, according to recently issued guidelines. The new Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines, 2026, outline requirements for the registration and accreditation of “foreign media houses, organisations and outlets working in Pakistan and all eligible journalists, media owners, media professionals, sources, freelancers, sponsors, fixers, attached persons, assignees etc, of Pakistan working or contributing for them”. All foreign media personnel already accredited or registered with the MOIB’s External Publicity (EP) Wing will require a mandatory NOC from the wing for movement to any city except Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, in order to produce “news content, story, video, film, documentary or social media content” for official use. For leisure trips to Abbottabad and Murree, a NOC may be granted by the EP Wi...

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has handed over former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and other suspects to police on a three-day physical remand in a case registered in connection with a protest. The police produced the former senator and another person named Daniyal before Duty Judge Rukhsanda Shaheen in the ATC. During the hearing, the prosecution requested a 30-day physical remand of the suspects, stating that the police needed to recover a vehicle and weapons allegedly connected with the case. After hearing the arguments, the court granted the police three-day physical remand of Mushtaq and the other suspects and directed that they be produced before the court again upon completion of the remand period. The first information report (FIR) was registered at Islamabad’s Shalimar Police Station on July 31, on the complaint of Sub-inspector Ghulam Murtaza. The FIR said Mushtaq and dozens of others had led a crowd of about 400-500 people and gathered in the capital’s F-10. It accused the former senator of...