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Imran Khan takes a bow ... and sparks a nationwide row

In this file photo, Pakistani cricketer-turned-opposition leader and head of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, speaks during an interview with AFP at his home in Islamabad on Feb. 5, 2018. (AFP)
Updated 30 June 2018
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Imran Khan takes a bow ... and sparks a nationwide row

  • Social media erupted in cries of blasphemy but defendants claimed his sign of respect was being misrepresented
  • Khan spoke out and clarified his actions, denying he was prostrating
Updated 30 June 2018
Sabah Bano Malik

ISLAMABAD: Election time is here and PTI’s Imran Khan recently got himself into gear with a visit to the shrine of Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar, a revered Sufi saint. The visit went in a few moments to a full-on news and social media meltdown.
On arriving at the shrine, accompanied by wife Bushra Maneka and a few PTI members, the chairman appeared to prostrate in front of the doors to the shrine. Sajda in Islamic tradition and prayers is reserved only for Allah, and only in the direction of the Ka’aba with nothing obstructing the path.
The action led to a media firestorm that played out across television channels and sparked heated exchanges across social media, leading to the man himself explaining his actions while being interviewed by Dunya News.

“You can’t be Muslim without believing in Allah and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This was not prostration, it was done in respect of Baba Fareed who was a great Sufi saint,” said Khan.
Some took him for his word and others were shocked and expressed disbelief at the videos. Many said this was meant to distract from his politics, while others blamed his conservative wife for her influence.

Topics: Pakistan Imran Khan politics Islam Muslim blasphemy international news latest news in english

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Four people, including two policemen, killed in twin blasts in northwest Pakistan

Updated 07 March 2026
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Four people, including two policemen, killed in twin blasts in northwest Pakistan

  • Attack on police van in South Waziristan and motorbike-mounted IED in Lakki Marwat hits KP province
  • Violence comes amid a surge in militancy and cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan
Updated 07 March 2026
NAIMAT KHAN

ISLAMABAD: At least four people, including two policemen, were killed and about 20 others wounded in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in a region grappling with militant violence.

One explosion targeted a police patrol van in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, while another blast caused by explosives mounted on a motorbike struck a market area in Lakki Marwat district, according to police officials and preliminary reports.

The incidents come amid rising militant violence in Pakistan’s northwest, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan, straining relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul, with both sides engaged in a military conflict since last month.

“The control room received information in the evening about a bomb blast targeting a police van in Wana Bazaar,” a police official in the area, who did not want to be named, confirmed while speaking to Arab News over the phone.

He confirmed two deaths in the incident while saying more than 25 people had been injured.

The official said rescue teams responded promptly and shifted three seriously injured people to a nearby hospital in Wana.

In another incident during the day in Lakki Marwat, an improvised explosive device attached to a motorbike exploded near shops.

“Two people have been killed and about 10 have been injured in an IED blast in Lakki Marwat,” Raza Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Bannu, told Arab News.

“The deceased are identified as Shoaib Ur Rehman and Furqan Ullah,” he added. “Shoaib, the owner of the shop, was the brother of the Lakki peace committee head.”

Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attacks and expressed grief over the incidents.

“I strongly condemn the blast near a police patrolling vehicle in Wana Bazaar,” Naqvi said in a statement, confirming the killing of four people, including two police personnel.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are on the front line in the war against terrorism,” he said, noting the force had made “unforgettable sacrifices” in the fight against militant groups.

Militant violence has surged in Pakistan’s border regions in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory — a charge Kabul denies — as cross-border tensions between the two neighbors have escalated.
 

Topics: Terrorism in Pakistan Twin blasts in Northern Pakistan attack in south Waziristan

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