Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: An investigation by Amnesty International into an airstrike on an Iranian school – which claimed the lives of about 168 people, mostly children – has blamed the US for the deliberate, deadly attack and urged the authorities to ensure a transparent and thorough investigation to ensure accountability. In an in-depth report, the rights watchdog revealed that the US violated international humanitarian law by failing to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm and sought accountability for the perpetrators. It said the school building was directly struck, alongside 12 other structures in an adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound, with guided weapons, adding that this showed that US forces did not take precautions to avoid civilian harm. “The fact that the school building was directly targeted and was previously part of the IRGC compound raises concerns that US forces may have relied on outdated intelligence and failed in their obligation to do everything feasible to verif...

BEIJING/PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD: Pakistani forces targeted the Afghan Taliban’s military installations on Monday night, security sources said, as Islamabad pressed on with Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. The operation was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Security sources said that during the strikes on Monday night, Pakistani forces destroyed the technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage at two locations in Kabul. In the Afghan province of Nangarhar, the sources said, Pakistani forces targeted Afghan Taliban’s military installations at four spots. Logistics, ammunition and technical infrastructure adjacent to these installations were also destroyed, the sources added. They further said a drone assembly workshop, “headquarters from where drones were sent” and weapon stocks were also destroyed in Nangarhar and Kabul. According to the sources, drones were prepared at those workshops using parts made in India and Israel. In updates...

A rebuttal by the Senate Secretariat on reports of the purchase of a luxury vehicle for Senate Chairperson Yousaf Raza Gilani further confused the matter on Monday, essentially confirming the purchase and reiterating the details reported in this connection. The rebuttal was issued after it was reported that a vehicle worth Rs90 million was bought for Gilani from the Senate’s budget. The reports also quoted Gilani as explaining that the car was ordered in May last year, “using savings from the Senate’s budget of the previous year”. These details were also confirmed in the Senate’s rebuttal, which, however, did not mention the cost of the car. The rebuttal said: “The attention of the Senate Secretariat has been drawn to certain media reports regarding the purchase of a vehicle (Land Cruiser) for the honourable Senate chairman.” “These reports are misleading, factually incorrect, and appear to be based on incomplete information and mala fide intentions,” it said, without specifying which information was incorrec...

Several US allies rebuffed Donald Trump’s call on Monday to send warships to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the US president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support. The US-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight, largely shutting the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20pc of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, raising energy prices and fears of inflation. Israel said on Monday it had drawn up detailed plans for at least three more weeks of war as it pounded sites across Iran overnight, while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates. A number of US partners, including Germany, Spain and Italy, said they had no immediate plans to send ships to help reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut with drones and naval mines. “We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union, or Nato required under the Basic Law,” Germ...

ISLAMABAD - The centre and the provincial government on Monday agreed to deploy newly restructured Federal Constabulary in Balochistan to restore peace in the troubled region.

Islamabad - Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach during the ongoing tensions in the Middle East has drawn appreciation from Iran, highlighting Islamabad’s attempt to maintain a balanced foreign policy in a highly sensitive regional environment.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - An accountability court in Lahore on Monday approved the closure of the National Accountability Bureau inquiry into Chaudhry Sugar Mills against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and her father, former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said adequate stocks of petroleum products are available in the country due to the government’s timely decisions.

As gravediggers prepared new burial plots for those killed in the US-Israeli attack on Iran, Marzia Razaei wept for her son Arfan Shamei, who died in a blast at a military training camp days before he was due home on leave. The war that began on February 28 with a blitz of air strikes on Tehran and other cities has killed more than 1,300 Iranians so far, according to Iranian officials, and plunged the Middle East into crisis. Marzia Rezaei reacts while standing near the grave of her son, Erfan, who was killed in strikes, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, in Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2026. — Reuters Tears streamed down Razaei’s face and she stared vacantly, hugging a large portrait of Shamei, 23, her voice breaking with grief as she recalled her last conversation with him when they discussed his coming trip back home to his family. “I hadn’t seen him for two months,” she said, adding that his last day before heading home was meant to have been Monday, the day Reuters met her....

WASHINGTON: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for three months, with all 15 members — including Pakistan — voting in favour. The mandate will now run from March 16 to June 17, marking a departure from UNAMA’s customary one-year renewal amid differences among council members over the duration of the extension. Explaining its vote, Islamabad said it supported the extension because UNAMA played a vital role in promoting “peace, security and stability in Afghanistan,” warning that the country faces an “exponential rise in the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.” Ambassador Usman Jadoon, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, stated: “Pakistan supports UNAMA in promoting peace, security and stability in Afghanistan which confronts multiple challenges, particularly the increasing threat of terrorism, human rights, narcotics and diminishing humanitarian ...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday thanked the government and people of Pakistan for extending their “strong solidarity and support” with Iran and its people who he said were facing aggression from the United States and Israel. In a post in Urdu on X, Araghchi said: “On this blessed, divine, and spiritual day and hour, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for their strong expression of solidarity and support with the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the aggression by America and the Zionist regime.” Araghchi added that Iran stood with “steadfastness and perseverance in defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, with complete reliance on Allah Almighty”. His post comes amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The strikes also assassinated Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In retaliatory strikes, Iran has targeted US assets and bases in Gulf...

RAHIM YAR KHAN: At least seven women died and several others were injured on Monday when the roof of a shop collapsed in Rahim Yar Khan’s Chak 123-P Tibba locality. A statement issued by the district administration said the incident occurred at 10:39am when beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) had gathered at the grocery store that housed a retailer for BISP payments. The statement confirmed that seven women lost their lives in the incident and several others had been injured. The death toll was also confirmed by Rescue 1122, which said 75 people had been injured in the incident. The district administration’s statement quoted Divisional Commissioner Musarrat Jabeen as stating that an investigation was being conducted, and if it was found that the roof collapsed due to anyone’s negligence, strict legal action would be taken against those responsible. The statement also said that an investigation committee had been constituted, which was led by the additional deputy commissioner (general...

Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, made a “direct appeal” to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to allow her sons, Kasim Khan and Suleiman Khan, to meet their incarcerated father. 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. Jemima said in a post on X: “My sons Sulaiman and Kasim Khan applied for visas in January (again… ) to allow them to visit their father, Imran Khan, in Pakistan. The Pakistan consulate states that online visa processing normally takes 7–10 working days. It has now been 60 days.” She said the delay in the issuance of visas was despite Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly “promising that they (Kasim and Suleiman) could safely travel there to see their father after four years”. She added that PM’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, had made a similar commitment. “Meanwhile, they (Kasim and Suleiman) are not allowed to spea...

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to review the latest regional developments.

KARACHI: The country’s current account has recorded a surplus of $479 million in February, leading to a substantial decrease in the current account deficit for the ongoing fiscal year. According to details shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday, the country’s current account has posted a surplus in the first two months of the calendar year 2026, after recording a deficit of $244m in December 2025. In the first two quarters of FY26, the current account was in deficit against a $1.9 billion surplus recorded in FY25. The current account deficit — which has been a long-standing issue facing Pakistan’s economy — has been addressed by a significant reduction in imports, which has resulted in a surplus. But, low imports have affected the gross domestic product (GDP) growth as it hardly reached 3 per cent in FY25. In the first quarter of FY26, from July to Sept 2025, the current account deficit was $737m, while in the second quarter, from October to December 2025, the deficit was recorded at $458m. But,...

Iran won't submit to 'lawless aggression' Saudi source rubbishes NYT report of encouraging prolonged war More st

FM Araghchi hails Islamabad's support as Tehran vows to defend sovereignty

Court formally closes Chaudhry Sugar Mills case

Senate panel warned of gas shortage after April 14

Precision strikes target Taliban depot in Kabul