Pakistan

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a meeting to review the pace of construction and rehabilitation work on 460 roads across the province.

• Ali Zafar says such a gesture of political unity will strengthen Pakistan’s case globally • Irfan Siddiqui calls Pahalgam attack ‘false-flag operation’ • Senators warn New Delhi against changes to Indus treaty ISLAMABAD: The main opposition, PTI, has demanded the release of its incarcerated leader Imran Khan so he can participate in national deliberations on escalating tensions with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack. The party also called for an immediate multi-party conference (MPC), with Mr Khan in attendance. The demands were made in the Senate on Monday, as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle slammed India for suspending the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and fanning war hysteria following the April 22 attack. Senator Ali Zafar, PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, said political differences should be set aside for an issue of national importance. He noted that a multi-party conference was the only “correct thing to do in the present circumstances”. If Mr Khan is allowed to attend such a meeti...

SRINAGAR: India should not do anything to alienate Kashmiris in its hunt for people who killed 26 people in Pahalgam last week, especially as residents of the India-held state have staged protests against that attack, chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday. The Indian authorities have demolished nine homes belonging to the families of suspected assailants as part of a crackdown after the April 22 killings of tourists. “We should not do anything to alienate the people after their spontaneous reaction (against the attack),” Omar Abdullah said at a session of the legislative assembly in Srinagar. “Guns can only control militancy, not finish it. It will only end when the people are with us. It seems people are now reaching that stage.” Some Kashmir residents have spoken out against the move by the authorities to destroy homes, like that of Rifat Sheikh. On Monday, she stood next to her razed kitchen, assessing the damage caused by explosives used by police to demolish the house. Police say her brother Asif i...

Islamabad - Following successful engagements by the security forces in North Waziristan District (NWD) from April 25 to 27, during which 54 Khwarij were sent to hell; on night between April 27 and 28, a deliberate sanitisation operation was conducted in surrounding areas of Hassan Khel, NWD, along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border.

ISLAMABAD: Despite regional tensions following the Pahalgam attack, delegates from around 45 countries have arrived in Islamabad to participate in the Digital Foreign Direct Investment (DFDI) conference, which is set to begin on Tuesday (today). Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja expressed confidence that despite threats from India, the event would be a success. “The participants include delegations from China, Russia, the United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, and even from South America,” she said. Over 75 foreign investors and CEOs of more than 50 global companies are expected to attend the landmark event, the minister added. Shaza Fatima also revealed that websites of some ministries had come under cyberattacks from India, but all attempts were thwarted. “The cybersecurity systems in Pakistan are among the best in the world, comparable to even those in Britain and the United States,” she said. Over 100 Pakistani IT firms to showcase products Highlighting the country’s expanding digital ...

Hajj flight operation to transport intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia commenced today with PIA flight PK-713 departing from Islamabad International Airport for Madinah this morning.

• Justice Sattar summons registrar, questions acting CJ’s move to merge cases • Justice Dogar-led bench sets aside contempt notices, asks how judge can pass order in case he’s not hearing ISLAMABAD: Ten­sions within the Islam­abad High Court (IHC) escalated sharply on Monday, as two separate but interlinked proceedings exposed a deepening ‘institutional rift’ over judicial authority, procedural conduct and internal accountability. Earlier in the day, Justice Babar Sattar issued a strongly worded order criticising the registrar office for not listing a case related to the removal of the former director general of Malir Development Authority from the no-fly list. The judge issued the contempt notices to the heads of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Immi­gration and Passport. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Sardar Moha­mmad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Mohammad Asif has already suspended the contempt notices after the penalised government officials filed an intra-court appeal. The b...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui on Monday issued a stern warning to India over any attempts to block or divert Pakistan’s river waters, declaring that “Pakistan is not the Babri Mosque that your goons can demolish.

ISLAMABAD - An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Monday extended the bail of former first lady Bushra Bibi, the wife of the PTI founder Imran Khan, in two cases registered in connection with the November 26 protest.

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on Monday requested more time from the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench hearing cases concerning the military trials of civilians to present government’s stance on granting appeal rights to those convicted for their alleged involvement in the May 9, 2023 arson attacks. Headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, a seven-judge constitutional bench had fixed Monday’s hearing for the AGP to apprise the court about government’s plan to provide right to appeal to the May 9 convicts, after Additional Attorney General (AAG) Chaudhry Aamir Rehman at the previous hearing had informed the bench that the AGP was busy in deliberations with stakeholders, which may take another couple of days. The bench had taken up a set of 38 intra-court appeals (ICAs) moved by the federal government, provincial governments, Shuhada Forum Balochistan and others against the October 2023 judgement. Attorney general cites canals controversy, regional tensions as reasons for delay T...

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday emphasised that the implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty was crucial for regional stability, vowing Pakistan would take all necessary measures to ensure its full enforcement. “The treaty is critical to regional stability and its sanctity must be preserved,” Mr Dar said while speaking at a high-level meeting convened to strategize Pakistan’s response to India’s suspension of the decades-old accord. The meeting was attended by Law and Justice Minister Azam Nazir Tarrar, Attorney General Mansoor Awan, senior officials, technical experts, and former foreign secretaries. On Monday, Mr Dar condemned India’s move as a “unilateral and illegal” action that contravenes international law, established norms of inter-state relations, and the treaty’s provisions. He warned that India’s attempts to “weaponise water” posed a serious threat to the region’s peace and stability. “The waters of the Indus River System remain a lifeline for Pakistan’s 2...

QUETTA: A driver lost his life, while around 60 people sustained injuries, including 20 with critical wounds, after a fuel truck exploded in Noshki, some 160km west of the provincial capital, on Monday. The truck was one of the vehicles that supplied Iranian petrol brought over by Zambad vehicles to local shops. The injured also included police personnel and several children. Officials said the truck was parked in the main bus and truck stand, when the driver discovered a leak in its fuel tank. After trying unsuccessfully to stop the leakage, the driver moved the truck away from a densely populated area towards an open space. The fuel tank was being welded when a fire broke out, leading to a big explosion that damaged a fire tender and injured several people gathered at the scene. “As a result of the huge fire, the driver was burnt to death on the spot, while over 60 people present at the site received burns,” Noshki Deputy Commissi­oner Amjad Somroo said while talking to the media after the incident. The inj...

Vehari - In line with the vision of IG Punjab Dr Usman Anwar, the Punjab Police continues its rapid pace of departmental promotions.

ISLAMABAD - Secretary Defence of Sri Lanka Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd) along with delegation including Commander Sri Lankan Navy Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda called on Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif here on Monday.

The Hajj Flight Operation to airlift intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia is commencing from tomorrow.

At least seven people were killed and 15 injured in a blast in Wana, South Waziristan on Monday, according to the deputy commissioner.

Pakistan's security forces have killed 17 terrorists belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a follow-up action on the Pak-Afghan border, the military's media wing said on Monday. This brings the total number of TTP militants killed in security operations over the past three days to 71, according to the latest update from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The operation, conducted in the Hasan Khel area and surrounding regions near the Afghan border, resulted in the elimination of the militants and the recovery of a significant cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives. The security forces managed to neutralize the TTP militants, further diminishing the terrorist network’s presence in the region, ISPR added. The ISPR confirmed that a major blow was struck to the TTP on the previous day as well, with 54 militants neutralized in an operation on the Pak-Afghan border. This latest follow-up action is part of a sustained military effort to secure the border and combat the rising threat of ter...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that reorganizing the National Police Academy (NPA) to meet international standards is a top government priority.

Indian propaganda about release of additional water into the Jhelum River has been exposed.

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