Islamabad | Pakistan

An Islamabad district and sessions court rejected on Thursday an application submitted by lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, seeking her acquittal in a controversial social media posts case. Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, who was presiding over the proceedings, also rejected an application moved by Mazari and her husband, co-accused Hadi Ali Chattha, challenging the appointment of a counsel by the state to represent them in the case registered with the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Both of them have been accused of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. At the hearing today, Mazari and Chattha, along with lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat, Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) President Naeem Ali Gujjar, Islamabad Bar Council member Raja Aleem Abbasi and other legal representatives, appeared before the court. The court’s previous orders were read out...

Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day maiden state visit. The Kyrgyz president and his high-level delegation comprising senior cabinet ministers, top officials and prominent business leaders landed at Nur Khan Airbase, where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari received them. State-run Radio Pakistan reported that a 21-gun salute was presented in honour of the visiting dignitary while children, dressed in traditional attire, offered him a bouquet. PM Shehbaz later said in a post on X the visit was the first by a Kyrgyz president in 20 years. “This long-awaited visit marks a significant moment in our enduring brotherhood. “I look forward to a meaningful and forward-looking engagement. Pakistan and Kyrgyz Republic are poised for a bright future together.” A press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier said the invitation for the visit was extended to the Kyrgyzstan president by PM Shehbaz. Separately, Deputy PM and Foreign Mini...

At least seven people were injured in an explosion, caused by a gas leak, within the premises of Islamabad’s National University of Modern Languages (Numl) on Tuesday, according to the police. Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IG) Ali Nasir Rizvi, speaking to the media, said the explosion occurred around 4pm and was caused by a gas leak ignited by a short circuit. “When summer ends, the university turns off its gas connection. They turned it on at 3:30pm, but there was an accumulation of gas and a short circuit somewhere,“ the IG said. “A gas leakage caused the explosion.” The IG outlined that the explosion occurred in a prayer room, which was near a clerk’s office. He stated that seven people were caught in the explosion. “Five students were there with a clerk and a junior assistant,” IG Rizvi explained. “The clerk sustained 60-65 per cent burn injuries, the clerical assistant was burned and the students suffered minor burn injuries. Seven people are under treatment; of those, six are out of danger as p...

Pak-EPA enforcement team inspects a vehicle for smoke emission under the ongoing vehicular emission testing drive in Islamabad on Sunday. — White Star ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency on Sunday warned owners of smoke-emitting vehicles of stringent action across the federal capital. It said any vehicle found releasing excessive emissions will face strict punitive measures. In a statement, Pak-EPA Director General Nazia Zaib Ali said the agency had intensified its enforcement operations as part of ongoing efforts to curb vehicular pollution, which she described as a major contributor to deteriorating air quality and recurring smog episodes in Islamabad. She said enforcement teams were carrying out regular inspections on major roads, intersections and high-traffic corridors to identify vehicles emitting excessive smoke. Violators would face on-the-spot fines, confiscation of vehicles, or both, depending on the severity of the offence, she added. Ms Nazia reminded the public that driving a ve...

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Saturday completed the examination of prosecution witnesses in the controversial social media post case against lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha. The case against Imaan and Hadi was registered on the accusations of attempts to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. During the previous hearing, Imaan and Chattha had objected after the apparent vanishing act of the court-appointed lawyer representing them in the case and the appointment of a new counsel. Two days prior, the counsel appointed by the court had refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. The hearing today — held amid tense exchanges between police officials and lawyers — resumed with the state counsel continuing the witness examination process, where f...

After paying a visit to the Islamabad airport on Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that no passenger in possession of “genuine and complete documents” should be barred from travelling abroad. The development comes as over the past few months, numerous incidents have been reported of travellers being offloaded from flights at various airports, despite possessing valid travel documents. The actions came after a crack down on migrant smuggling after last year’s Greece boat tragedy that claimed several Pakistani lives. In a post on X, Naqvi said he visited Islamabad airport and met “passengers travelling abroad to hear their concerns directly”. “Ordered a strict crackdown against visa agents exploiting innocent people. Took serious notice of a passenger’s November 7, complaint about low staffing at immigration and directed an immediate inquiry with a review of CCTV footage,” he said. “No passenger with genuine and complete documents should ever be stopped from travelling but those attempting to travel...

The Russian Embassy on Friday announced that a monument to Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel to space and return, was unveiled in Islamabad’s Fatima Jinnah Park. Gagarin became the first man in space in April 1961, when he uttered the famous words “Let’s go” as his Vostok rocket blasted off from southern Kazakhstan. After a voyage lasting just 108 minutes, the 27-year-old cosmonaut ejected from his capsule and parachuted down into a field in the Saratov region of central Russia. According to a post on X, the unveiling ceremony was attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, Power Minister Awais Leghari, Russian Ambassador Albert P Khorev, Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Faisal Niaz Tirmizi and pilot-cosmonaut Elena Serova. “This is the greatest feat in our shared history. A huge number of scientists are engaged in space research. Let this work benefit all countries of the world,” the statement read, quoting Tsivilev. The post added that the unveiling was scheduled to coincide with the 10th meeting...

PAA says Islamabad go-around was routine safety protocol

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Wednesday denied media reports alleging that an accident was averted at the Islamabad airport as a foreign carrier narrowly avoided landing on a closed runway, saying that it was “standard and internationally practised safety measure”. The statement came after multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday that flight SV278 — operated by Saudia Airlines from Jeddah to Islamabad — narrowly avoided a “major disaster” as the air traffic controller timely prevented the pilot from landing the plane on the wrong runway. The flight was scheduled to arrive at the airport at 4:05pm, but landed with a delay of more than an hour at 5:13pm, according to the tracker flightradar24. In a statement issued today, the PAA said, “The recent go-around at Islamabad International Airport involving flight SV728 was a standard and internationally practised safety measure, executed precisely as per established protocols.” A go-around is a “safe, routine manoeuvre” that discontinues the landing app...

Today marks a significant milestone in Pakistan’s history — the inauguration of the Islamabad–Lahore Motorway (M-2), the country’s first-ever motorway, opened on this day in 1997 by then prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, who now serves as the Quaid of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

ISLAMABAD - Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said the November 11 suicide attack near the Islamabad district courts was planned and directed from Afghanistan, adding that security agencies arrested the key suspects within 48 hours.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud planned the November 11 suicide blast outside Islamabad’s Judicial Complex. The attack killed 12 people and injured 35 others, with the government saying days later that it had arrested four terrorists belonging to the TTP. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Tarar detailed the correspondence between these four facilitators and TTP commanders in Afghanistan. Displaying their pictures, Tarar identified them as the suicide bomber’s handler Sajidullah alias Sheena, Kamran Khan, Muhammad Zali and Shah Munir. The minister said Mehsud “planned this attack through his commander Daadullah”, whom Sajidullah met in 2023, 2024 and in August 2025 as well. He added that Daadullah and Sajidullah “remained in touch through an app”. Tarar identified Daadullah as a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur, adding that he was currently in Afghanistan. He also played a video statement of the man he ...

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday said that the November 11 suicide attack in Islamabad was orchestrated from Afghanistan by banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Noor Wali Mehsud.

Control rooms have been set up at the Election Commission headquarters in Islamabad and Lahore to monitor the by-elections in six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly constituencies on Sunday.

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Board of Investment (BOI), Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh on Thursday concluded Islamabad round of Pakistan-Australia Bilateral Investment Treaty Negotiations.

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) yesterday once again ordered to immediately conduct long pending local gov­ernment polls in Islamabad.

Pakistan and Finland conducted the 6th Round of Bilateral Political Consultations in Islamabad today.

The deputy commissioner of Islamabad has announced that the federal capital will soon begin issuing E-Tag stickers for all vehicles operating within the city.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif joined British High Commissioner Jane Marriott yesterday to celebrate the 77th birthday of King Charles III at a reception hosted by the British High Commission in Islamabad.

Four members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Fitna-al-Khawarij terrorist cell involved in the recent suicide attack at the Judicial Complex in Islamabad’s G-11 Sector have been arrested in a joint operation by the Intelligence Bureau Division and the Counter Terrorism Department.