KARACHI: Six of the 11 Iranian nationals arrested from the Turbat Airport a few days ago have been moved to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) counter-terrorism wing in Karachi for further investigations, a senior FIA official said on Thursday.
“Eleven Iranian nationals were arrested from Turbat Airport in Balochistan on their arrival from Muscat for obtaining fake Pakistani identity in cognizance of the National Database and Registration Authority’s officials,” Abdul Hafeez Jakhrani, a senior FIA official in Quetta, told Arab News.
“Five of the arrested accused persons were shifted to the provincial capital, Quetta, where a judicial magistrate remanded them into our custody whereas six have been moved to the counter-terrorism wing of the FIA in Karachi,” Jakhrani said.
The FIA official added that the arrested Iranian nationals were detained for possessing fake Pakistani identity cards and passports which they had been using to travel to the Middle East since 2014.
According to the FIA official, the passports had been issued in the Gwadar and Turbat cities of Balochistan. “Arrests in Immigration and Passport Department, and National Database and Registration Authority are expected in the aftermath of the arrest of these Iranian nationals,” DawnNews, a Pakistani News channel which broke the story first, quoted an FIA official as saying. “The number of arrested Iranian nationals is 11 and not 7 as reported,” Jakhrani told Arab News.
“Investigations are underway and anything further can be shared on the conclusion of the probe,” he said.
Last Saturday, the Foreign Office (FO) summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan and lodged a strong protest against the killing of six Pakistani soldiers along the Pakistan-Iran Border. On Friday, six Pakistani soldiers were killed when nearly 30 terrorists attacked a convoy which was on patrolling duty along the Pakistan-Iran border, a statement released by the FO read.
“In the cowardly terrorist attack, 14 other soldiers were also injured. In exchange of fire four terrorists were killed,” the statement said, adding that the government of Iran “was urged to carry out an effective operation against the terrorist group responsible for the attack on its side of the border”.
“The need for an effective border coordination mechanism to prevent such incidents in the future was also underscored,” the statement said.
Six arrested Iranians moved to Karachi as part of terror probe
Six arrested Iranians moved to Karachi as part of terror probe
- 11 of them had been arrested for possessing fake ID cards, official tells Arab News
- Pakistan had summoned Tehran’s envoy to protest against the killing of its soldiers along the border
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
