Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the National Disaster Management Authority to develop a coordinated programme with the provincial disaster management authorities to help prevent incidents like the recent Swat tragedy.

Pakistan witnessed a slight overall decline in militant violence during June 2025 despite several high-profile attacks, according to data released by an Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss). The monthly security assessment shows there were a total of 78 militant attacks across the country in June, resulting in at least 100 fatalities, including 53 security personnel, 39 civilians, six militants, and two members of peace committees, the organisation said in a press statement. These attacks injured 189 people, comprising 126 security personnel and 63 civilians — marking an 8 per cent decrease in attacks, a 12pc drop in fatalities, and pc increase in injuries compared to May 2025. “In response to militant activities, Pakistani security forces intensified counterterrorism operations during the month,” the statement added. According to Picss, security forces killed 71 militants, while two security personnel and two civilians also lost their lives in operations la...

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Tuesday appointed the chief justices to the four high courts, a statement issued by the Supreme Court said. Per the statement, the JCP held four consecutive meetings to make a decision related to the appointments and, by a majority of its total membership in each meeting, opted to allow the acting chief justices to continue serving the top roles. Letters were subsequently issued to the prime minister’s principal secretary, informing the government about the nominations and requesting the forwarding of the same to the president for their appointment. The letters said that Justice Sarfraz Dogar was nominated as the new chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Rozi Khan Barrech as the chief justice for the Balochistan High Court (BHC), Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah for the Peshawar High Court, and Justice Junaid Ghaffar for the Sindh High Court (SHC). Pre­sident Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday had already formally decla­red Justice Dogar the “senior-...

Pakistan has called for the internal reform of the UN’s counterterrorism architecture with a balanced and rights-based global framework. The country was appointed as the vice chair of the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee on June 4. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the appointment reaffirmed the international community’s trust in the country’s counterterrorism credentials. A press release issued today by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN said that speaking at the UN headquarters a day earlier, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that the counterterrorism architecture should be capable of addressing Prolonged conflicts, while eliminating injustice, oppression and violations of international law under the pretext of counterterrorism, and ending conditions conducive to terrorism. “We must also clearly distinguish between terrorism and the legitimate struggle against foreign occupation and the right to self-determination,” he was qu...

Pakistan women’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal took the top spot in the International Cricket Council Women’s Twenty-20 International (T20I) Bowler Rankings once again, cricket’s governing body announced on Tuesday. Sadia was pivotal to Pakistan’s win in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Lahore and was named in the team of the tournament for her nine scalps for an average of 16. “Pakistan spinner Sadia Iqbal remains at the top of the list for T20I bowlers, but it’s tight at the top with just 44 rating point separating the top 10 players,” the ICC statement said. The statement also said that England pacer Lauren Bell climbed two spots to a career-best place of fourth on the latest rankings. Today’s announcement follows her ranking in May, where she also reclaimed the top position in ICC Women’s T20I Bowler Rankings. Last year in the T20 World Cup, Sadia claimed three wickets for Pakistan as the Green Team beat Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka in their opening encounter of that tournament. O...

Sahiwal police said on Tuesday they arrested three men in separate cases over the last 24 hours for allegedly sharing hate speech, blasphemous content and sectarian material on social media. The Punjab government had ordered a crackdown on hateful content on social media alongside stringent security measures, such as army deployment, as the country gears up to observe Ashura (Muharram 10) on July 6. “All suspects were arrested following the registration of three FIRs (first information reports),” Sahiwal District Police Officer (DPO) Rana Tahir said, referring to the three men booked in the past two days. “The police are maintaining zero tolerance to such incidents,” DPO Tahir asserted. “Our message to the youth is clear: they must exercise caution while using social media, especially in ways that could hurt sectarian beliefs or sacred symbols.” The police officer stressed the urgent need to educate young people about the responsible use of social media platforms. The arrests were made under sections 295-A (d...

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit Baltistan and State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Provincial President Engineer Amir Muqam and Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi here on Tuesday discussed the prevailing political situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the disqualification reference against National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan until July 15, after his lawyer submitted a stay order issuedby the Peshawar High Court pertaining to the case.

Islamabad Police have successfully traced out several blind murder cases, including the high-profile killing of Sardar Fahim, using modern investigative techniques and swift action, State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Tuesday.

More than 14 million of the world’s most vulnerable people, a third of them small children, could die by 2030 because of the Trump administration’s dismantling of US foreign aid, research projected on Tuesday. The study in the prestigious Lancet journal was published as world and business leaders gather for a United Nations conference in Spain this week, hoping to bolster the reeling aid sector. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided over 40 per cent of global humanitarian funding until US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Two weeks later, Trump’s then-close advisor — and the world’s richest man — Elon Musk boasted of having put the agency “through the woodchipper”. The funding cuts “risk abruptly halting — and even reversing — two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations”, warned study co-author Davide Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). “For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the government is not considering any proposal to shut down or merge national institutions of academic, literary, historical, or cultural significance.

Security forces eliminated two “India-backed” terrorists after an attack on government offices in Balochistan’s Mastung district that killed a teenager and injured seven others on Tuesday. Terrorists in Balochistan, previously engaged in a low-level insurgency, have recently intensified their attacks. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) emerged as a key perpetrator of terrorist violence in Pakistan in 2024. “Two terrorists were killed while another three were injured in an intense fire exchange between the security forces and the terrorists,” Balochistan spokesperson Shahid Rind said in a statement. “Fitna al Hindustan attacked the tehsil office, government offices and a bank. A 16-year-old boy died while seven individuals were injured by the terrorists’ firing,” the statement read. The term “Fitna al Hindu­stan” is a new phrase coined by Pakistan’s military, aimed at framing India’s alleged role in terrorism as a deliberate destabilisation strategy, potentially to galvanise domestic support. “The Fr...

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that consumer price inflation rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year in June, broadly in line with the finance ministry’s projection of 3-4pc issued a day earlier. On a month-on-month basis, prices increased 0.2pc in June, reversing a 0.2pc decline in May. The data comes after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept its key interest rate unchanged at 11pc in June. The SBP said in its latest monetary policy statement that inflation was expected to show some near-term volatility but gradually stabilise within the 5-7pc target range. The figures also come weeks after the unveiling of the annual budget, which included new revenue measures and subsidy cuts as part of efforts to secure a long-term loan programme from the International Monetary Fund. Analysts have warned that higher energy and tax costs could stoke inflation in the second half of the year. The stock exchange rose 2.3pc to close at an all-time high of 128,475.7 points today, the first day of the new fiscal year...

Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina has denied accusations that she committed crimes against humanity, her state-appointed defence lawyer said on Tuesday. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government ordered a crackdown on protesters in a failed bid to cling to power. Hasina fled to India at the culmination of the student-led uprising in August and has defied orders to return to Dhaka, where her trial in absentia opened on June 1. Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina — abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder — that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. Defence lawyer Amir Hossain said Hasina has denied all charges, telling journalists that he would present “arguments to seek her discharge from these allegations”. The ousted leader’s banned Awami League, in a statement issued in London, called it a “show trial” and said that the ...

The federal government has decided to deploy Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel outside the residence of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan city due to security concerns, it emerged on Tuesday. In a letter dated June 29 to the FC commandant in Peshawar, the interior ministry issued orders to deploy “one platoon” of FC personnel at the residence of the JUI-F chief “to avoid any untoward situation”. The decision has been taken on the prime minister’s directives for security purposes and recent incidents involving the JUI-F’s chief son, Asjad Mahmood. Earlier last month, Mahmood’s vehicle was intercepted on the main highway by armed men when he was on his way from DI Khan to Lakki Marwat. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently visited Fazl’s residence in Islamabad and expressed concern over the alleged attack and attempted kidnapping of the JUI-F chief’s son, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The prime minister expressed deep concern over the assault...

Bullish momentum continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday as the market crossed the 128,000 barrier on the first day of the new fiscal year 2025-26. The KSE-100 index rose by 2,404.51 points, or 1.9 per cent, to stand at 128,031.82 points at 12:15pm, from the previous close of 125,627.31 points. It then closed at 128,199.42 points, recording a gain of 2,572.11 points, or 2.05pc, from yesterday. Yousuf M. Farooq, director of research at Chase Securities, attributed the rise to easing geopolitical tensions and the market “pricing in a gradual decline in interest rates alongside improving economic stability”. “Investors are also anticipating a strong corporate results season and are rerating the market’s price-to-earnings ratio toward more normalised levels,” the analyst said. He added that in his opinion, the market had entered phase two of the bull run, characterised by increasing public participation and a broad-based rally across a wide range of stocks. Awais Ashraf, director of research at ...

Pakistan and India have exchanged updated lists of prisoners held in each other’s custody, in accordance with the 2008 Agreement on Consular Access, which mandates the exchange of such information twice a year—on January 1 and July 1.

The price of 24 karat per tola gold increased by Rs.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday extended his gratitude to the business community and investors who are fully supporting the government in the country’s development and prosperity as the Pakistan Stock Exchange 100 Index crossing the highest level of 127,000 for the first time on the first day of the new fiscal year.

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Lahore and other parts of Punjab on Tuesday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). The earthquake was recorded at 6:39am, with the epicentre 25 kilometres south-southwest of Lahore at a depth of 14 kilometres. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) spokesperson, tremors were felt in Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Mureed and other districts of Punjab. There have been no immediate reports of casualties. The respective administrations are inspecting buildings across the province for any sign of damage. As per PDMA, the District Emergency Operation Centres across Punjab, including the Provincial Control Room of PDMA, have been placed on alert for the next 24 hours in case of any aftershocks. PDMA has advised people to report damages to the 1129 helpline. On June 30, another earthquake of 3.9 magnitude was recorded at 2:07pm, 35 kilometres west of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab at a depth of seven kilometres. The same day, Balochistan recorded...