Pakistan

Lack of timely medical care, staff absence suspected as cause of death

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Markets remain open till dawn; one-way traffic plans, drone monitoring in place

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Citizens find fasting and shopping easier; welcome relief after warm spells

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On what should be a time of celebration, families across Pakistan will instead be marking Eid in mourning, after their loved ones working in the Gulf were killed in the Iran conflict. At least 23 workers from countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh were killed or reported missing since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, according to an Anadolu tally. Muzaffar Ali, a 28-year-old from Sindh province, was among those killed when shrapnel from a missile struck his car in Dubai. He left behind three young children, the eldest just 7 years old. “He went to Dubai four years ago in search of a better life,” his uncle Abdul Hakim told Anadolu by phone. “He was paying off the loans he had taken from relatives for the move. The last time we spoke, he told me he had nearly paid off everything he owed. Now he could finally settle down.” “Shrapnel wounded his face. He died at the hospital,” Hakim said. “I don’t know who will feed his family. He was the breadwinner.” Ali was among three Pakistanis confir...

KHYBER: The dead body of an Afghan national, lying at Zero Point on the Torkham border for the past several days, was finally handed over to Afghan authorities by a delegation of local tribal elders on Thursday. The development comes a day after Pakistan announced that it had decided on a “temporary pause” in the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban in view of Eidul Fitr and “at the request of brotherly Islamic countries”. The dead body was spotted by locals, who had recorded videos and reported the matter to security officials. The delegation of local elders, comprising Malak Tajuddin, Mufti Ejaz, Shah Khalid, Qari Jihad Shah, Qari Nazeem Gul and Saeed Khan, visited the Torkham border to retrieve the body. Khalid, told Dawn that the delegation remained in contact with the local security officials and Afghan delegates during the last week despite the security situation. He said that their Afghan counterparts on March 13 had acknowledged that the dead man was an Afghan national and a dai...

Chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, announced that the Shawwal moon was not sighted anywhere in the country, confirming that Eid al-Fitr will be observed on Saturday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday acknowledged Turkiye’s constructive role in promoting peace efforts between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The development comes a day after Pakistan decided on a “temporary pause” in the ongoing Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against the Afghan Taliban in view of Eidul Fitr and “at the request of brotherly Islamic countries”, including Turkiye. According to a statement by the PM Office, the prime minister held a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which they exchanged views on Afghanistan. “The prime minister acknowledged Turkiye’s constructive role in promoting peace efforts between Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially in the recently announced temporary ceasefire, over the Eid days,” the statement said. During the exchange, the prime minister reiterated his strong condemnation of the ongoing escalation in the region, particularly the missile attacks on Turkiye, the statement said. “The entire Pakistani nation stood in solidarity with their Turki...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday issued a statement rejecting the comments made by Israel’s ambassador to India, calling them a “baseless characterisation”. The FO statement referred to a video clip of the Israeli ambassador circulating on social media and said: “We firmly reject this baseless characterisation. The real record of aggression and rogue conduct is evident in the illegal occupation, the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and the indictment of Israeli leadership in international courts. “Responsible states uphold international law — not deflect from it.” While the statement did not specify which clip was being referred to, it was issued after a video of Israel’s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, during an interview with Indian news anchor Arnab Goswami began circulating on social media. During the interview, Goswami asked Azar about a defence pact signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — which was signed in September 2025 and states that “any aggression against either country shall be ...

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a countrywide alert, predicting rain, thunderstorms, and snowfall in northern regions within the next 12 to 24 hours.

The federal government has appointed Ayaz Shaukat, a senior lawyer and Islamabad’s Advocate General, as the inaugural chairman of the newly created Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA).

The government appealed to the public on Thursday to adopt fuel-conservation measures to “avert the risk of petroleum products’ supply getting affected in the coming days”. The appeal was made in a handout issued after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, where fuel-conservation and austerity measures recently announced by the government were reviewed. Last week, the government announced unprecedented austerity measures to cope with the situation that emerged due to the US-Israel war on Iran, which has led to a global oil crisis affecting various countries, including Pakistan. The measures included a 50 per cent cut in fuel allowance for official vehicles and a four-day work week. It was also decided that 50pc of staff in the public sector would work from home; however, those providing essential services are exempt. The meeting held on Thursday to review the situation was briefed about the country’s fuel reserves and consumption, as well as petroleum products’ cargoes, the handout ...

On the 20th day of the US-Israel war against Iran, the conflict stood on the threshold of an all-out regional war, with strikes on energy infrastructure now defining its deadly trajectory while diplomatic efforts struggled to keep pace. The past 24 hours indicated a clear shift from a primarily military contest to one increasingly centred on economic targets. Israeli strikes on Iranian energy assets, particularly gas processing facilities linked to the South Pars field, represented an expansion of the battlefield. Though Iranian oil depots had previously been attacked by Israel and Iran had in response struck an Israeli refinery in Haifa, the scale, symbolism and strategic intent behind Israel’s South Pars operation triggered an immediate and far broader Iranian retaliation, with ballistic missile and drone strikes that set Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub ablaze, damaged Kuwait’s major refineries and hit Saudi and Bahraini energy sites. With this threshold now crossed, the conflict is now set to move into a sustai...

The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday categorically rejected the statement by US Dire­ctor of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard over Pakistan’s missile capabilities posing a threat to the country. Gabbard had listed Pakistan among states that pose a significant threat to the United States, warning US lawmakers that Islam­abad’s evolving missile capabilities could potentially put the American homeland within range. In a statement, FO spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said, “Pakistan categorically rejects the recent assertion by a United States official alleging a potential threat from Pakistan’s missile capabilities.” He highlighted that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities were exclusively defensive in nature, aimed at safeguarding national sovereignty and maintaining peace and stability in South Asia. “Its missile programme, which remains well below intercontinental range, is firmly rooted in the doctrine of credible minimum deterrence vis-à-vis India,” he said. “In contrast, India’s development of missile cap...

Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, on Thursday alleged that the government was reccomending that the former premier’s son travel to Pakistan on National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) as they would have “no British protection”. She issued the statement on the social media platform X in response to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. On Wednesday, the minister said Imran’s children were welcome to visit Pakistan on Nicops, for which no visa was required, provided they “fully comply with the laws of Pakistan during their stay”. “We all know that the reason you are refusing their visas and recommending they travel on Nicop cards (which they don’t have presently) is because that way they will have no British protection if you choose to arrest them on arrival,” Jemima said on X. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Tarar’s suggestion on We...