ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan say gunmen have killed one police officer and wounded another during an overnight search operation for suspects linked to the torching of nearly a dozen schools in the country’s north.
Sanaullah Abbasi, police chief in Gilgit-Baltistan, said Sunday that one suspect was killed in the gunbattle and another 17 have been arrested in the ongoing operation.
Suspected militants set fire to 11 girls’ or co-ed schools on Friday. Faizullah Faraq, a government spokesman, said the schools would be restored before classes resume in the last week of August.
Pakistan has struggled to combat religious extremism in the nearly two decades since the September 11 attacks and the US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan. In recent years militant groups have regularly attacked security forces and religious minorities.
Pakistani policeman killed in raid linked to torched schools
Pakistani policeman killed in raid linked to torched schools
- One suspect was killed in the gunbattle and another 17 have been arrested in the ongoing operation, says police chief in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Suspected militants set fire to 11 girls’ or co-ed schools on Friday
Pakistan Navy launches fourth Hangor-class submarine ‘Ghazi’ in China
- As per Islamabad’s agreement with Beijing, four of eight submarines will be built in China and the rest in Pakistan
- Navy says all four submarines under construction in China undergoing sea trials, in final stages of being handed over
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy announced on Wednesday it has launched the fourth Hangor-class submarine named “Ghazi” at a Chinese shipyard in Wuhan, saying the development will help maintain peace in the region.
Pakistan’s government signed an agreement with China for the acquisition of eight Hangor-class submarines, the navy said in its press release. Under the contract, four submarines are being built in China while the remaining four will be constructed in Pakistan by the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Ltd. company.
“With the launching of GHAZI, Pakistan Navy has achieved another significant milestone where all four submarines under construction in China are now undergoing rigorous sea trials and are in the final stages of being handed over to Pakistan,” the navy said.
It further said that these submarines will be fitted with advanced weapons and sensors capable of engaging targets at standoff ranges.
“Hangor-class submarines will be pivotal in maintaining peace and stability in the region,” the navy added.
Pakistan’s agreement with China is set to strengthen its naval defenses, especially as ties with arch-rival India remain tense.
India and Pakistan were involved in a four-day military confrontation in May this year before Washington intervened and brokered a ceasefire. Four days of confrontation saw the two countries pound each other with fighter jets, exchange artillery fire, missiles and drone strikes before peace prevailed.
Pakistan’s air force used Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets in May to shoot down an Indian Air Force Rafale aircraft, made by France.
The altercation between the nuclear-armed neighbors surprised many in the military community and raised questions over the superiority of Western hardware over Chinese alternatives.
Islamabad has long been Beijing’s top arms customer, and over the 2020-2024 period bought over 60 percent of China’s weapons exports, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
