Page 44 - Pakistan

Law enforcement agencies kill 10 TTP militants in Pakistan's Punjab

At least 10 militants from banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group were killed by law enforcement agencies in Punjab province of Pakistan on Thursday, police said. "A covert operation was launched in the hilly Malakhel area of Mianwali city based on intelligence reports about the presence of 10 to 15 terrorists. A fierce exchange of gunfire ensued between the police and the terrorists," a CTD spokesperson said. During the exchange, 10 terrorists were killed while all CTD and Elite Force officers and personnel remained unharmed, the spokesperson added. Punjab Inspector General of PoliceUsman Anwa praised the CTD team, the Mianwali police chief, and their forces for their significant success against the terrorists. The Punjab Police is on high alert and we will not rest until we crush the nefarious plans of these terrorists, Anwar said. The spokesperson said the terrorists were planning a large-scale sabotage in Punjab. A search operation is ongoing in the area and efforts to

Pakistan logs 40th polio case in 2024: Why it fails to curb this endemic?

An infectious disease, Polio can cause crippling paralysis among young children. It has been virtually eradicated from the world, except for Pakistan and Afghanistan

India-Pakistan reconciliation only way to stop terror attacks: PDP chief

Days after the Ganderbal terror attack, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said Jammu and Kashmir is bearing the brunt of the animosity between India and Pakistan, and reconciliation between the two is the only way to stop such incidents. Seven people a local doctor and six non-local labourers were killed and five injured when terrorists attacked their camp in Gund in Ganderbal district on Sunday. The labourers were working on a tunnel project. "The people of J&K are stuck in the animosity between the two countries. Their lives and their property are getting destroyed because the two countries are fighting each other. "J&K is bearing the brunt and the poor non-local labourers are also suffering because of that," Mehbooba told reporters after visiting the residence of Dr Shahnawaz Dar, who was killed in Sunday's attack, in Naidgam village of Budgam district. The former chief minister said Dar was serving the people and was an honourable man but suffered because of the ...

Lahore declared the world's most polluted city as smog crisis deepens

Lahore's alarming pollution crisis is primarily driven by crop residue burning and industrial emissions

Pakistan's FM Aurangzeb sees 'encouraging' reply from China debt talks

Pakistan is seeing a period of stability after securing a new $7 billion loan program from the IMF

Army launches search op along LoC following Pak drone movement in Poonch

The security forces launched a search operation in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district following a brief firing by the army troops at a suspected Pakistani drone on Tuesday, officials said. The drone, however, returned to the Pakistan side after briefly hovering over the Indian territory in Mandhar area, they said. The officials said the security forces launched a search operation in the forward area due to apprehension of any material being dropped from the drone.

Polio resurgence in Pakistan: Over 1 million children missed vaccines

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

No talks should be held with Pak till it stops terror attacks: Farooq

Former chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday lashed out at Pakistan for perpetrating terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, saying Islamabad will have to stop terror incidents here if it wants to have friendly relations with India. Abdullah said there can be no talks between New Delhi and Islamabad till the neighbouring country stops killings in Jammu and Kashmir. "I do not know what action India should take, that is the domain of the central government. It is a problem for us and we have been going through it for years now. I have been seeing it for 30 years now. I have told them many times to stop it but their thinking is like that only. "How can there be talks? You kill our innocent people and then you call for talks. First stop the killings," Abdullah said while commenting on the terror attack at a construction site in Ganderbal district on Sunday. The former chief minister said the attack was a painful incident as it led to killing of poor ..

Pak trying to kill innocent people to disrupt peace: LG on Kashmir attack

A day after seven persons were killed in a terror attack in Ganderbal, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said Pakistan was still trying to kill innocent people and disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Sinha asked the police to investigate the Ganderbal terror attack so that justice is done to the victims and their families. "Yesterday, an unfortunate incident happened in Ganderbal. I urge the police and other authorities to look into it so that justice is done to the victims and their families," Sinha said at the Police Martyrs' Day function here. On Sunday, a doctor from Kashmir and six non-local labourers were killed while five people sustained injuries in the terror attack at an under-construction tunnel at Gund in Ganderbal district. "We won't forget yesterday's dastardly attack," Sinha said. The LG said the there was still a threat from the "neighbouring country's on India. "It's still trying to kill innocent people in this region and to destabilise peace here," he ...

Vistara flight denied Afghan airspace after bomb scare, returns to Delhi

When Afghan airspace officials were notified of the 'non-specific' bomb threat, they refused permission for the Vistara flight to pass through

Pak parl passes constitutional amendment bill capping chief justice's term

Pakistan's National Assembly passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill, capping the chief justice's tenure for three years, early on Monday following an overnight debate, the country's media reported. During the voting in the 336-member National Assembly, 225 members supported the bill, the Dawn reported. The government needed 224 votes to pass the amendment. The Senate voted 65-4 on Sunday to approve the amendment with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling coalition needed the support of 64 members in the upper house of the parliament. Following its passage in both Houses of parliament, the bill will be sent to the president for his assent under Article 75 of the Constitution, according to Geo News. The bill, approved by the cabinet on Sunday with the consensus among the ruling coalition partners, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. The bill included 22 clauses of amendments. The upper house passed the bill clause-wise and all cla

Pakistan passes constitutional amendment bill to dilute power of judiciary

The Senate on Sunday passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill, capping Pakistan's Chief Justice tenure for three years, amid opposition from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party. The upper house of the parliament voted 65-4 to approve the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with the required two-thirds majority. The government needed the support of 64 members. The bill, approved by the cabinet earlier in the day with the consensus among the ruling coalition partners, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. "I... wish to introduce a bill further to amend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Constitution 26th Amendment Bill, 2024, Tarar said as he presented the bill in the upper house. "Is it opposed?" asked Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, to which he received no response from the Senate members. The bill included 22 clauses of amendments. The upper house passed the bill clause-wise and all clauses got the ..

Pakistan reports two new polio cases, total tally rises to 39 this year

Pakistan has reported 39 polio cases this year, with two fresh cases of the crippling disease being detected in the Sindh province, authorities said on Sunday. The latest cases were confirmed on Saturday in the Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts of the province, the Dawn newspaper reported. These come after four cases were reported a day earlier, jolting the country's efforts to eradicate the poliovirus. According to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication in Islamabad, the newest victims are a girl and a boy. These are the first polio cases from Mirpurkhas and Sanghar this year, the report quoted an official as saying. The prevalence of the virus had already been confirmed in the two neighbouring districts following multiple environmental samples testing positive for WPV1 since April, the official added. In ten months of the year, Pakistan has reported 39 cases of poliovirus, of which 20 were reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, five from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an

Key takeaways from Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan | India - Pakistan relation | SCO summit

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently visited Pakistan for the first time in nearly 9 years to attend the SCO meet.

Imran Khan out of race for Oxford's Chancellor due to criminal background

The Oxford University has announced that former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is not included in the list of candidates to run for the position of the varsity's chancellor, Geo News reported."More than 40 people applied and only 38 were approved. The candidates were only excluded according to the exclusion criteria of the university. 26,000 people have registered to vote in this election. Khan has been disqualified to run in the election over several factors including his conviction and political role", the varsity officials told Geo News.Prominent names in the list of people applying for the post of Chancellor included UK's former Conservative Party leader Lord William Hague; UK's former Labour politician Lord Peter Mandelson; Elish Angiolini, Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Margaret Casely-Hayford and Dominic Grieve but only Khan has been disqualified from the top five well-known figures, Geo news noted.Geo News reported that King's Counsel at UK's leading law .

MP man to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' for bail after 'Pak zindabad' slogan

The bail conditions require the accused to stand before the tricolour displayed at the station, salute it 21 times, and chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' as part of his routine

IMF urges Pakistan to invest Rs 1.2 trillion a year for climate resilience

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Pakistan to invest one per cent of its GDP annually equivalent to over Rs 1.24 trillion based on current estimates in climate resilience and adaptation reforms to prepare for recurring extreme weather events, particularly floods, a media report said on Thursday. In a special policy advisory, the IMF noted that ongoing reforms under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) including fiscal, labour market, trade, and state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms could boost Pakistan's growth by 2 per cent over five years while significantly reducing inequality, Dawn newspaper reported. The Fund also highlighted that proactive investment in climate-adaptive infrastructure could reduce the negative growth impact of a natural disaster shock by one-third while ensuring a quicker and more complete recovery. The lender noted that about 1 per cent of GDP investment in adaptation infrastructure would increase Pakistan's climate resilience and buffer climate

Lawrence Bishnoi gang member who gave contract to kill Salman Khan arrested

The accused, Sukha alias Sukhbir Balbir Singh, along with gang members, had planned to execute Bollywood actor Salman Khan's assassination using weapons from Pakistan

Jaishankar flags concerns over terrorism, extremism at SCO meet in Pakistan

In a thinly veiled message to Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said cooperation in areas like trade, energy and connectivity is unlikely to flourish if activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism. In his address at a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Jaishankar also asserted that cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality and that it should recognise the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations. The external affairs minister led the Indian delegation at the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit in Islamabad which was chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Jaishankar said trust was key for cooperation and the SCO member nations can benefit immensely if the grouping moves ahead collectively. He said cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality. "It should recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty. It must be buil

Pak PM urges members to strengthen SCO for tackling regional challenges

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday urged SCO member states to strengthen the organisation's framework for tackling multiple regional challenges and forging close cooperation. Sharif's remarks came as he addressed the opening session of the 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG) of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). "From the esteemed platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a beacon of multilateralism, I stand in the belief that we possess not only the potential but the will to forge a future that is more prosperous and secure for our people a future inclusive and reflective of shared aspirations of all member states, he said. Prime Minister Shehbaz highlighted: We are at a historic moment of transition where sweeping transformations are reshaping the global, social, political, economic, and security landscape. He reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to regional peace, stability and enhanced connectivity a