ISLAMABAD: Islamabad district officials and a local politician played a key role in convincing the family of Ateeq Baig, who was killed by a US diplomat in a road accident, to pardon the driver and accept compensation.
“I was requested by the district administration to convince the family to make the settlement,” Hajji Mehrban, a local government councilor and distant relative of the victim’s family, told Arab News.
He said the district administration had told him and the victim’s family that as the US military attaché, Col. Joseph Emanuel Hall, had diplomatic immunity, it would be “impossible” for the government to hold him in Pakistan for long.
“The district administration has promised to pay compensation to the family once they submit a pardon statement to the court,” he said, adding that Islamic law also allows blood money, or financial compensation, to be paid to a victim’s family in murder cases.
“I think the family (of the deceased) has made a wise decision,” he said.
Mehrban also played a key role in organizing protests against the US in Islamabad after the accident and taking the case to the Islamabad High Court over the government’s failure to investigate the US diplomat.
Following the court’s directives, the government placed Col. Hall on a “blacklist,” barring him from leaving Pakistan until the case had been investigated.
The US embassy, however, confirmed on Monday evening that Col. Hall had left for the US on a special plane after the government removed his name from the list.
Muteeb Baig, brother of the deceased, also confirmed to Arab News that the family had pardoned the US diplomat on “the district administration’s request.”
He said the administration’s officials had promised to pay the family compensation after the pardon statement was submitted in court.
“I have discussed with my lawyer about the pardon statement and we will submit it in the court soon,” he said.
Baig added that the US embassy had not contacted his family after the accident, adding that no one had offered them blood money on behalf of the US.
“We have pardoned him (Col. Hall) and hope that the district administration will keep its word on monetary compensation,” he said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Dr. Mohammed Faisal, said that the US had assured Pakistan that it would investigate to Col. Hall in the US over his involvement in the fatal accident.
“Pakistan has shared the available evidence with US officials,” he said.
When asked about blood money, he said that the Foreign Office had no details on the financial compensation paid to the victim’s family.
US embassy spokesperson, Richard Snelsire, also said he had no knowledge of any settlement between the US and the family of Atiq Baig.
“I am unaware of the US paying any money to the family of the deceased,” he told Arab News.
Islamabad administration brokered deal to let US diplomat fly home
Islamabad administration brokered deal to let US diplomat fly home
- The victim’s family told it would be “impossible” for the Pakistan government to hold the killer for long
- The US embassy in Islamabad has expressed ignorance about payment of blood money in the case
Pakistani fighter jet crashes in Jalalabad, pilot captured: Afghan military, police
- Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday
- Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar
JALALABAD: A Pakistani jet has crashed in Jalalabad city and the pilot captured alive, the Afghan military and police said Saturday, with residents telling AFP the man parachuted from the plane before being detained.
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces "and the pilot was captured alive".
The AFP journalist heard a jet overhead before blasts from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday, following overnight clashes as the international community expressed increasing concern about the conflict and called for urgent talks.
Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar, in one of the deepest Pakistani incursions into its western neighbor in years, officials said.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, who it claims are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.
The fighting has raised the risk of a protracted conflict along the rugged 2,600-kilometer frontier.
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace late on Friday as Afghanistan said its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan about reducing tensions and keeping diplomatic channels open.
The European Union called for both sides to de-escalate and engage in dialogue, while the United Nations urged an immediate end to hostilities.
Russia urged both sides to halt the clashes and return to talks, while China said it was deeply concerned and ready to help ease tensions.
The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks by the Taliban, a State Department spokesperson said.
Border fighting continues
Exchanges of fire continued along the border overnight.
Pakistani security sources said an operation dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed multiple Taliban posts and camps in several sectors. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Both sides have reported heavy losses with conflicting tolls that Reuters could not verify. Pakistan said 12 of its soldiers and 274 Taliban were killed while the Taliban said 13 of its fighters and 55 Pakistani soldiers died.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said 19 civilians were killed and 26 wounded in Khost and Paktika. Reuters could not verify the claim.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said “our cup of patience has overflowed” and described the fighting as “open war,” warning that Pakistan would respond to further attacks.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a speech in Khost province that the conflict “will be very costly,” and that Afghan forces had not deployed broadly beyond those already engaged.
He said the Taliban had defeated “the world, not through technology, but through unity and solidarity,” and through “great patience and perseverance,” rather than superior military power.
Pakistan’s military capabilities far exceed those of Afghanistan, with a standing army of hundreds of thousands and a modern air force.
In stark contrast, the Taliban lacks a conventional air force and relies largely on light weaponry and ground forces.
However, the Islamist group is battle-hardened after two decades of insurgency against US-led forces before returning to power in 2021.
