Pakistan

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Ringleader arrested; three customs inspectors named as facilitators

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Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Saturday held the PTI responsible for the resurgence in terrorism in the country, while the party slammed the minister for choosing to do so with a “hateful rhyme”. The minister made the remarks while addressing a press conference alongside religious scholars in Lahore to show solidarity and unity after the suicide attack at an imambargah in Islamabad on Friday. Asked by a reporter whether the blast was a “failure of security agencies”, Tarar asserted, “No, not at all.” He went on to stress that Pakistan’s security institutions were hailed as examples internationally, recalling the recovery of abducted passengers “with minimal damages” during the deadly Jaffar Express attack. The minister also brought up the Pak-India conflict in May 2025, when “the enemy was brought to its knees, sought mediation and said ‘I’m sorry’”. He said that while a terrorist attack on the outskirts of Islamabad in the presence of the Safe City system and with “security agencies having entire ap...

ANP's Aimal highlights 'dire situation' in Tirah Valley

Law Minister Aftab Alam strongly criticised the ruling in social media post

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ISLAMABAD: Lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse Hadi Ali Chattha on Saturday challenged their conviction in the controversial social media posts case by filing separate criminal appeals in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The appeals sought to have the trial court’s January 24 verdict — which handed the couple a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges — declared null and void. In their appeals, the appellants contended that the impugned judgment was passed in blatant violation of settled legal principles and mandatory procedural requirements. They argued that the trial court proceeded to pronounce the verdict despite the fact that an application seeking transfer of the case was pending adjudication before the IHC, rendering the decision unlawful and without jurisdiction. According to the appeals, once a transfer application was filed and pending before a superior court, the trial court was barred from proceeding further in the matter. The appellants maintained that any judgment delivered unde...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that four facilitators of the suicide attack on an imambargah in Islamabad, including the “main mastermind”, had been arrested during raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He made the remarks while speaking to the media in Islamabad. In his media talk, the interior minister said that operations were underway throughout last night to trace those behind the attack. Making special mention of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the KP police for their joint efforts, he said, “All those people linked to this, and the mastermind, at around 3am, all of them were apprehended.” He lauded all “agencies”, saying that this incident was a “test case”. “After the blast, raids were carried out in Nowshera and Peshawar, in which four facilitators were caught. And their mastermind, who is an Afghan, was also caught,” he said. He said that an assistant sub-inspector of KP police was martyred during the raids, while others were injured. “But the main mastermind is linked to Daesh an...

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Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday congratulated the nation on Pakistan’s victory against the Netherlands in their opening match of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.

ISLAMABAD: The death toll from the Islamabad imambargah attack rose to 36 on Saturday, according to hospital officials. The attack occurred at Imambargah Qasr-i-Khadijatul Kubra in the Tarlai area on the city’s outskirts during Friday prayers. Over 160 others were injured, with the death toll expected to rise. “A 21-year-old man who was brought from the imambargah has died,” Dr Aneeza Jalil, a spokesperson at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), confirmed to Dawn. “The number of deaths has reached 33, and nine patients are in very serious condition,” she added. She recalled that 149 injured and 28 bodies were brought to Pims on Friday following the attack. Separately, HBS Hospital’s Dr Riaz Janjua confirmed to Dawn that three deaths from the attack were reported at his hospital. Great progress in probe: info minister Information Minister Attaullah Tarar held a press conference in Lahore with various religious scholars, including Allama Muhammad Hussain Akbar. “There has been progress to a great ...

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Saturday said PTI’s memorandum — requesting immediate jail visitation rights for party founder Imran Khan with his family, doctors, lawyers and friends — had been conveyed to the “relevant executive authorities” for appropriate consideration in accordance with law. On Friday, the party members and parliamentarians, led by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, had submitted the memorandum to the SC registrar. The party had regretted in the memorandum to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi that Imran’s access to his family and lawyers was again denied on Tuesday, the day fixed by the court for meetings with his relatives and counsels. In a press release issued on Saturday, the SC said that on January 30, the KP chief minister and PTI lawmakers gathered in front of the SC to convey their concerns about access to Imran. “The registrar engaged with their representatives and assured that the concerns would be brought into the notice of the chief justice,” it said. It went on to s...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast rain, wind, and thunderstorms, along with snowfall over hilly areas, across Balochistan and the upper parts of the country from the night of February 08 to February 10, as a westerly wave is expected to enter western regions and move northward.