Pakistan

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Huzaifa Rehman said on Tuesday that the Centre has asked the Punjab government to arrange a meeting between KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI founder Imran Khan to facilitate the formation of the provincial cabinet. Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the May 9 protests. The PTI has regularly raised concerns about the lack of access to the party founder and how family, friends and party leaders are hindered from meeting him. Afridi, who was elected as the provincial chief minister last week, was denied a meeting with Imran during a visit to the prison on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, he said he would announce his cabinet after consulting Imran and seeking his input. He claimed he had officially notified the Punjab government and the federal government of his plan to visit Adiala, but received no response, adding that Prim...

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Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Monday criticised newly elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, accusing the provincial government of undermining counter-terrorism efforts for political point scoring. The PTI, which has been in power in KP since 2013, opposes military operations, which tribal people also resist as they often lead to displacements. The remarks come a day after the KP CM blamed the federal government’s “flawed policy” for the resurgence of terrorism in KP, during his first official high-level meeting since assuming office on October 15, after the former CM Ali Amin Gandapur resigned earlier this month on the directions of party chairman Imran Khan. View this post on Instagram He alleged that the federal government was neither giving KP funds allocated under the country’s ongoing war against terrorism, nor “other Constitutional rights”. He also criticised the Centre for providing KP Police “defective and old” armoured vehicles and asked that the vehicles be reca...

Supreme Court’s Senior Puisne Judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar have said that changes recently made to the Code of Conduct for superior court judges will restrict judicial freedom and create avenues for internal and external control, it emerged on Tuesday. On October 18, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) approved far-reaching amendments to the Code of Conduct, barring superior court judges from engaging in public controversy or media interaction, particularly on political questions, and introducing new restrictions on social and diplomatic activity. Chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the meeting was attended virtually by Justices Shah and Akhtar. Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Aalia Neelum and her Islamabad counterpart Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar attended in person. In the latest letter penned to the SJC chair and its members, Justices Shah and Akhtar said they had submitted their unsigned written comments at the start of the meeting in a letter d...

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held a meeting with Pakistan’s senior religious leader Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman and other prominent Sunni scholars to discuss recent developments and address issues raised by the clerical community.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has said that Indian-sponsored proxies, identified as Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan, are spreading anti-people and anti-development propaganda to destabilize Pakistan.

India restored its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday following warming ties between the two nations. India had closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized power following the withdrawal of US-led Nato forces in 2021, but opened a small mission a year later to facilitate trade, medical support, and humanitarian aid. About a dozen countries, including China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye have embassies operating in Kabul, although Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration. “In keeping with the decision announced during the recent visit of the Afghan FM to India, the government is restoring the status of the technical mission of India in Kabul to that of embassy of India in Afghanistan with immediate effect,” said a press release issued today by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. It added the decision underscored India’s resolve to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in all spheres of mutual interest. The MEA elaborated tha...

Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of imposing Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), saying that although the constitution allows it, the federal government has no intention of taking that route.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday reiterated that any violation of Pakistan’s territorial integrity would be met with a ’firm and decisive response The army chief’s affirmation came in the wake of a border conflict with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as long-simmering tensions over cross-border terrorism boiled over into outright fighting, along with charged statements from India’s civil-military leadership. The military’s top brass had warned India earlier this month that any “imaginary new normal” its leadership might be entertaining about bilateral dynamics would be met with a “new normal of swift retributive response”. A press release issued from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) today said the army chief interacted with participants of the 17th National Workshop Balochistan at the General Headquarters. “The COAS reiterated that while Pakistan seeks regional peace and stability, any violation of its territorial integrity, direct or indirect, will be met with a ...

A combination of threats, from shrinking habitats and increased human-animal conflict to poaching and environmental degradation, has accelerated the decline of Pakistan’s bear population over the past decade, according to local wildlife experts. Although no comprehensive scientific surveys have been conducted to determine the exact numbers of bears in the country, experts estimate a 20-30 per cent decline in their population over the past 10 years. Muhammad Kabir, head of the Wildlife Ecology Lab at the University of Haripur, said that while a few regions in Pakistan still have healthy bear populations, the overall trend remains worrying. “So much so, bears have become locally extinct from several areas, where they once were believed to have been in ‘good numbers’,” Kabir told Anadolu. Pakistan is home to two species of bears — the Himalayan brown bear and the Asiatic black bear. The black bear is further divided into two subspecies — the Himalayan black bear (U. t. laniger), found in the temperate forests of...

The Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission on Tuesday froze the regional government’s financial and administrative powers, citing ‘growing public concern’ over pre-poll manipulation, ahead of the assembly’s term ending next month A notification issued by the commission today said the assembly’s tenure was to expire on November 24 and it was the commission’s constitutional duty to organise and conduct general elections and local government elections in GB, along with making all necessary arrangements to ensure that they were conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, while safeguarding the process from corrupt practices. “The general public has expressed genuine concerns about appointments, upgradations, and transfers of government officers and officials across various departments during this sensitive pre-election period. These actions have given rise to apprehensions that they may be politically motivated, potentially weakening public trust in the fairness and integrity of the election proc...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has, for the first time, publicly confirmed that Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan earlier this month targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Kabul and other cities.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday extended his heartfelt congratulations to Ms Sanae Takaichi on her election as Prime Minister of Japan.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari claimed on Tuesday that three civilians were killed during the operation in Muridke that dispersed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protesters. The TLP, which began a protest march in Lahore earlier this month, was planning to reach Islamabad and stage a demonstration in support of Gaza and Palestine outside the US embassy. The march and sit-in, which reached Muridke, quickly turned into violent clashes between protesters and police before the protesters were dispersed, leading to a crackdown on the party and its supporters. Addressing a press conference in Lahore today, the Punjab information minister said “false stories” were being perpetuated about the operation in Muridke. “Three civilians were martyred in Muridke. These were people who were passing by or standing off to the side,” she said, adding that 48 civilians and 110 police officers were also injured. Eighteen out of 110 have sustained firearm injuries, she said. The minister also said that police vans had b...