ISLAMABAD: Pakistan released 30 Indian prisoners from jail as a humanitarian gesture and handed them over to the Indian authorities, on Monday, at Wagah Border near Lahore.
“The Government of Pakistan has decided to release 30 Indian prisoners, including 27 fishermen. This is a humanitarian gesture to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day on Aug. 14,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan maintains a “consistent policy of not politicizing humanitarian issues,” added the foreign ministry.
“It is our hope that the Indian side will also reciprocate in a similar manner,” the statement said.
Pakistan and India frequently arrest fishermen as there is no clear demarcation of the maritime border in the Arabian Sea and most of the fishermen do not have boats equipped with the technology to know their precise location.
Pakistan releases 30 Indian prisoners in Independence Day spirit
Pakistan releases 30 Indian prisoners in Independence Day spirit
- The prisoners, including 27 fishermen, were released as a humanitarian gesture to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day on Aug. 14
- Pakistan and India frequently arrest fishermen as there is no clear demarcation of the maritime border in the Arabian Sea
Suicide bomber kills seven, injures 25 at wedding ceremony in northwest Pakistan
- The attack targeted home of pro-government community leader
- No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest among guests at a wedding ceremony in northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding 25 others, police said.
The attack took place at the home of Noor Alam Mehsud, a pro-government community leader in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said local police chief Adnan Khan. He said officers transported the dead and injured to a hospital, where some of the wounded were listed in critical condition.
Witnesses said guests, were attending the ceremony, with some dancing to the beat of drums, when the bomber struck.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who are also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP and which has carried out numerous attacks in the country in recent years. The group is separate from but is seen as an ally of the Afghan Taliban.
TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban retuned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021 when US and NATO troops left the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover there.
