Islamabad | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD/LAH­ORE: A court in Islamabad on Saturday acquitted several senior PTI leaders, including its chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, in two protest-related cases from last year, while in Lahore, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was granted post-arrest bail in a May 9, 2023, riots case. Islamabad Judicial Mag­istrate Shahzad Ah­med anno­unced the verdict after reserving it earlier in the day, accepting the acquittal applications filed in case numbers 425 and 498 registered with the Karachi Company Police Station. The protest in question was organised on April 26, 2024, and moved from the office of PTI leader Shoaib Shaheen towards the Karachi Com­pany, reportedly in violation of Section 144 and other legal provisions. During the proceedings, PTI leaders Shoaib Shaheen and Muhammad Ali Bukhari appeared before the court, while exemption pleas on behalf of Barrister Gohar and Omar Ayub were submitted and duly accepted. The defence counsel argued that the case had ...

An Islamabad court on Friday extended the physical remand of the main suspect in the murder case of social media influencer Sana Yousaf for another three days. Islamabad Police had arrested Umar Hayat, the main suspect in the 17-year-old’s murder, on June 3, nearly a day after she was gunned down in her house in the federal capital. Police had claimed the man murdered Sana because she repeatedly refused his advances. Hayat was presented before the court of Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Hafeez upon the completion of his four-day physical remand. His 14-day judicial remand at the Adiala Jail for his identification parade had already been completed, with the victim’s mother and aunt identifying him. Deputy district public prosecutors (DDPPs) Adnan Ali and Raja Naveed Hussain, along with Investigation Officer (IO) Mazhar Bashir Khan, appeared on behalf of the state before Magistrate Hafeez. Hussain informed the judge that the vehicle used by the suspect had been recovered, while his phone was yet to be taken into ...

ISLAMABAD: As part of a broader vision to enhance regional integration and connectivity, Uzbekistan Airways, the national carrier of the Republic of Uzbekistan, will launch direct flights between Tashkent and Islamabad beginning June 14, 2025. In a statement issued here on Thursday, the Uzbek embassy in Islamabad said that operating every Saturday, the new route underscored the shared commitment of Uzbekistan and Pakistan to strengthen their long-standing partnership and deepen cooperation across multiple sectors. This direct link marked a strategic advancement in bilateral relations and aligned with the broader goals of the Central and South Asia connectivity initiative. In addition to the new Islamabad route, Uzbekistan Airways currently operates biweekly direct flights to Lahore on Wednesdays and Fridays. These connections were helping expand the airline’s regional footprint, linking Pakistan’s major cities not only with Uzbekistan, but also with the wider Central Asian region and beyond. “Together, these ...

ISLAMABAD: TikToker Sana Yousuf was shot dead in Islamabad on Monday by an unknown assailant allegedly on a personal dispute, ARY News reported citing police. The incident was reported within the jurisdiction of Sumbal Police Station. According to initial reports. The victim, identified as Sana Yousuf from Chitral, was fatally shot by a man outside […]

Human rights defenders Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar were released following a short detention in Islamabad on Friday, a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) activist told Dawn.com. The HRCP earlier condemned the “arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders Tahira Abdullah and Samina Omar in Islamabad” in a post on X. According to the post, the pair was taken into custody outside the National Press Club ahead of a protest in solidarity with the people of Gaza. “Given that neither of them was part of any public gathering at the time, their actions in no way constitute a violation of Section 144 as the police have alleged,” the statement said. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period. The statement said the commission was “concerned to learn that [the women] are allegedly not being given access to their legal counsel”. “Both Ms Abdullah and Ms Omar must be released ...

• Gusty winds disturb life in twin cities • One killed, 10 injured in Attock; three injured in Rawalpindi, residents forced to take steps to protect their vehicles and other property ISLAMABAD: As windstorms have become rampant in the federal capital, the district administration has decided to remove billboards in the city to avoid the risk of accidents. On Tuesday, a billboard fixed at the National Press Club (NPC) fell down due to a windstorm. Moreover, a number of trees were broken and several fiberglass shades on terraces and rooftops dislodged and fell onto the roads. Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon directed that all billboards within the limits of the federal capital be removed. It is worth mentioning that in urban areas, there are only two locations — NPC and Srinagar Highway (near G-13) - where billboards have been displayed. However, there are a number of billboards in the rural areas of the city which are also under the administrative control of the deputy commissioner. Meanwhile, af...

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday announced a public auction of six Bahria Town properties in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on June 12. The development adds on to NAB’s previous actions against property tycoon Malik Riaz, who owns Bahria Town and is an absconder in the £190 million Al Qadir Trust Case. In a notification today, NAB listed six properties of the project owned by tycoon Malik Riaz, including five in Rawalpindi and one in Islamabad. The properties were being auctioned to recover the defaulted amount of a plea bargain under Section 33E of the NAB Ordinance 1999, it added. NAB media director Birj Lal Dosani confirmed the details to Dawn.com, stating that the amount was being recovered in connection with corruption charges under a plea bargain. Earlier this year, the watchdog warned the public against investing in Bahria Town’s Dubai project and began extradition efforts for Riaz and his son. In February, NAB [filed] a reference against Riaz, ex-Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, M...

ISLAMABAD - The government has decided to launch an operation against illegal constructions in Islamabad on an immediate basis.

Locals in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali district continued their sit-in on Sunday for the seventh day, protesting against a suspected drone strike in the district — that they say is responsible for the death of four children — vowing to launch a long march to Islamabad if their demands were not met. The suspected strike took place in Mir Ali’s Hurmuz village on May 19 during the daytime, leaving four children of the same family dead and injuring five others, including a woman. The police have held talks with tribal elders, which have so far remained inconclusive. Earlier this week, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), had clarified that security forces were “falsely implicated” in the incident and that it was carried out by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to the local elders, the sit-in near the Mir Ali cantonment area continued for the seventh day as authorities allegedly blocked all network and internet systems in the district. The local elders threatened to...

Government has decided to launch operation against illegal constructions in Islamabad.

• 19 dead, over 90 injured in Punjab • Road, air travel disrupted; walls and roofs collapse, infrastructure damaged • Widespread outages reported from parts of country • Crops, power lines damaged in KP; 113 feeders trip across province ISLA­M­ABAD / LAHORE /PES­H­­­­­A­WAR: At least 19 people were killed and over 90 others injured as powerful windstorms and heavy rains battered several parts of the country on Saturday, paralysing road and air traffic, damaging infrastructure and triggering widespread power outages. Heavy rainfall accompanied by gusty winds and hail also struck Islamabad, leading to water accumulation in several low-lying areas and trees falling at multiple spots. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, strong winds and hailstorms caused extensive damage to crops and power lines but no fatalities were reported. Over 113 power feeders tripped across the province, with areas like Peshawar, Mardan, Khyber, Swabi, Swat and Abbottabad worst affected. Meanwhile, a private airline from Karachi to Lahore narrowly avo...

The fares for metro bus services in Islamabad are set to rise, with a new uniform fare of Rs100 per passenger taking effect from May 26, 2025.

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has officially announced summer vacations for all public and private schools and colleges in Islamabad, effective from June 5 to August 1, 2025.

The Foreign Office on Friday categorically rejected the “baseless, provocative, and irresponsible allegations” made by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in a heated speech accused Pakistan of carrying out terrorist attacks in his country. The military confrontation between New Delhi and Islamabad came as tensions over last month’s Pahalgam attack continued to build up, as India —without evidence — blamed Pakistan for the attack. On the night of May 6-7, India launched a series of air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, resulting in civilian casualties. Islamabad responded by downing five Indian jets. After intercepting drones sent by India and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally drop their guns and declare a ceasefire. India has since continued its aggressive posturing even as Pakistan has warned against any further military aggression and offered talks. Yesterday, the Indian premier said that Pakistan would not get water f...

A special court in Islamabad on Tuesday instructed the Adiala Jail authorities to allow PTI founder Imran Khan to hold a telephone conversation with his sons abroad and also be allowed a medical checkup by his personal physician. Last month, Special Judge Central Shahrukh Arjum­and approved two petitions filed on behalf of Imran related to the requests. The court had sought a response from Adiala authorities to provide the facilities. Today, the judge heard a request by the prison authorities against the court order and dismissed it A report to the judge from the jail superintendent on Monday had called for the court’s orders on January 10 and February 3 to be reviewed and set aside due to “being inconsistent and contrary to the basic rights and principle of recognition of the inherent dignity and equal inalienable rights of inmates”, arguing that extending the two facilities to Imran would be against the spirit of the Constitution, as well as Pakistan Prison Rules. A court order issued today, available with ...

Federal Minister Khalid Hussain Magsi inaugurated the Al-Kauthar International Hospital in Islamabad, stating that the facility will provide affordable and quality healthcare services to the public.

In light of escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, the Islamabad district administration has announced the closure of all educational institutions in the federal capital for one day.

Prime Minister of Pakistan held a meeting today with Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), Dima Al-Yahya, during her visit to Islamabad for the inaugural Foreign Direct Investment Forum in the digital sector.

A two-day Digital Foreign Direct Investment (DFDI) Forum is commencing in Islamabad on Tuesday.