ISLAMABAD: Joining hands with the Saudi initiative to ensure high quality and efficient services in providing Zamzam water to Hajj pilgrims, Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said Thursday that “aviation division has inculcated five major airports in the country to store Zamzam water for Hajj pilgrims this year.”
The initiative is “as per the instructions of the Ministry of Religious Affairs to the Islamabad International Airport,” Sarwar told Arab News.
Ample space had been allocated at the airports for storage of the holy water which would be brought from Saudi Arabia and distributed among pilgrims upon their return from Hajj this year, he said.
“Pakistan government intends to make Saudi Arabia’s Road to Makkah project a success,” added the minister referring to the grand Saudi initiative aimed at facilitating Hajj pilgrims from across the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Zamazema Office has launched “Al-Zamzami Al Sagheer” initiative, sponsored by the undersecretary of the Saudi Hajj Ministry for Religious Affairs, Hussein Al-Sharif, and directly supervised by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
The Spokesperson of the Al-Zamazema office, Amir bin Faisal Obaid, said that the initiative aims to provide Zamzam water to pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia aims to provide the pilgrims with high quality and efficient services,” a statement by the Al-Zamazema office said.
The efforts are in line with the current developments taking place in the Kingdom under King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad, the statement added.
Zamzam water comes from the Zamzam well located in the Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and is considered holy in the Islamic faith taken to be a miraculously generated source of water from God.
Pakistan joins Saudi’s Zamzam initiative launched for Hajj pilgrims
Pakistan joins Saudi’s Zamzam initiative launched for Hajj pilgrims
- Five major airports in Pakistan will store Zamzam water to be distributed among returning pilgrims
- Saudi Arabia launched “Al-Zamzami Al Sagheer” initiative to provide holy water to pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom
Peace can only prevail if Afghanistan renounces support for ‘terrorism’— Pakistan defense chief
- Pakistan’s chief of defense forces visits South Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan
- Pakistan says has killed 481 Afghan Taliban operatives since clashes began last Thursday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said on Wednesday that peace with Afghanistan can only prevail if Kabul renounces support for “terrorism” and “terrorist” organizations, the military’s media wing said as the two countries remain locked in conflict.
Fighting between the two neighbors, the worst in decades, broke out last Thursday night after Afghan forces attacked Pakistan’s military installations along their shared border. Afghanistan said its attacks were in response to earlier airstrikes by Pakistan against alleged militant hideouts in its country.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of sheltering militant outfits such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its soil who have launched attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent years. Kabul denies the allegations.
Munir visited Wana town in Pakistan’s South Waziristan district to review the security situation and troops’ operational preparedness at the Afghan border, the Pakistani military’s media wing said in a statement.
“The Field Marshal reiterated that peace could only prevail between both sides if the Afghan Taliban renounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organizations,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The military chief said the use of Afghan soil by militant outfits to launch attacks against Pakistan was unacceptable, vowing that “all necessary measures” would be taken to neutralize cross-border threats.
During the visit, Munir was briefed by military commanders about ongoing intelligence-based operations and measures being taken by the military to manage the border with Afghanistan.
He was also briefed about “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq” or “Wrath for the Truth,” the name Pakistan has given to its military operation against Afghan forces, the ISPR said.
The Pakistani military chief spoke to troops deployed in the area, praising their vigilance, professional conduct and high morale, the ISPR said.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the military has killed 481 Taliban operatives, injured more than 690 and destroyed 226 Afghan checkposts since clashes began.
Arab News has been unable to verify claims by both sides about the damages they claim to have inflicted on each other.
Afghanistan has signaled it is open for dialogue but Pakistan rejected the offer, saying it would continue its military operations till its objectives were achieved.
Since the conflict began, diplomatic efforts have intensified with several countries, including global bodies such as the European Union and United Nations, urging restraint and calling for talks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Ankara would help reinstate a ceasefire, the Turkish Presidency said on Tuesday, as other countries that had offered to mediate have since been hit by the conflict in the Gulf.
