ISLAMABAD: The outgoing US ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, met with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday.
Qureshi underscored the importance of longstanding relations with the US and said he looks forward to welcoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan.
Qureshi told Hale “that his interactions with the US leadership would be based on honesty and sincerity so as to develop a sustained partnership in the interest of both countries,” the statement said.
He thanked Hale for his services in Pakistan and congratulated him on in his next assignment as undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department.
“Ambassador Hale thanked the Foreign Minister and said that there was great interest in the Prime Minister’s reform agenda in the United States, a readiness to turn the page, and this was the objective of Secretary Pompeo’s visit to Pakistan,” the statement said.
“Ambassador Hale acknowledged (the) Foreign Minister’s role in shepherding bilateral relations in his earlier tenure and thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the cordiality and cooperation extended to him during his assignment in Pakistan.”
Bajwa thanked Hale for his services in Pakistan and acknowledged his contributions toward bilateral relations, said the Pakistani military’s media wing, adding that Hale thanked Bajwa for the Pakistani Army’s contributions to regional peace and stability.
Outgoing US envoy meets with PM, FM, army chief
Outgoing US envoy meets with PM, FM, army chief
- Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi underscored the importance of longstanding relations with the US and said he looks forward to welcoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad
- Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan
Five cops killed as gunmen ambush police van in northwestern Pakistan
- Over a dozen “well-armed terrorists” ambushed police van in northwestern Karak district, say police
- Pakistan’s northwestern KP province has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent months
PESHAWAR: Five cops were killed when a group of “terrorists” ambushed a police van in Pakistan’s northwestern Karak district on Tuesday, a police official confirmed.
Karak police spokesperson Shaukat Khan said a heavy police reinforcement has been dispatched to the site of the attack in the district’s Gurguri area to collect evidence.
“Over a dozen well-armed terrorists ambushed a police mobile van in the jurisdiction of Gurguri police station, an inaccessible area of the district, leaving five policemen martyred,” Khan told Arab News.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, similar attacks on police and security forces have been claimed in the past by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban.
Khan identified the slain police officers as Shahid Iqbal, Arif, Sami Ullah, Safdar and the driver named Muhammad Ibrar.
“Evidence has been collected from the crime scene and a comprehensive search operation is now underway to apprehend the perpetrators,” Khan said.
The Gurguri region is home to a large gas field, where exploration activities take place regularly. This often necessitates heightened security measures by law enforcement personnel.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant activities, particularly in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, in recent months.
Earlier this month, one police constable was killed while five others were injured in a suicide blast that targeted a police vehicle in the Lakki Marwat district.
Similarly, three police personnel were killed in November when militants attacked a checkpost in Hangu city.
Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan for facilitating cross-border attacks against its security forces and turning a blind eye to the TTP’s activities on its soil.
Afghanistan rejects the allegations and says it cannot be held responsible for Islamabad’s security lapses.
