KARACHI: Security across Pakistan was beefed up on Tuesday as Ashura is observed around the country, with thousands of extra security personnel protecting mourners and almost all cellular services suspended in major cities where the processions are passing through.
Ashura is the 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar, where Shia Muslims pay homage to Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
For the purpose, and to prevent any untoward incidents in areas that have witnessed sectarian violence in the past, authorities have tightened security in several parts of Karachi, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, and the Khurram tribal district with additional personnel deployed in major metro cities.
“In Sindh, including its capital Karachi, 71,485 policemen, including 6,539 officers are performing duties with the help of 31 armored vehicles, 1,824 police vans and 1,938 motorcycles to protect mourning gatherings and processions,” Sohail Ahmed, a police spokesperson, told Arab News.
Ahmed said 156 policewomen were also on duty for Ashura day.
In the past, militant and other attacks on the mass gatherings every year, especially in Karachi, triggered serious sectarian tensions. In December 2009, a huge bomb ripped through a Shia procession moving along a marked route in the city with dozens killed and scores injured, despite the presence of thousands of security forces who had been on high alert.
Until 2013, mourners and processions were frequently attacked on the occasion in Karachi by proscribed groups, and despite an improvement in the law and order situation in recent years, police and Rangers claimed on Tuesday to have taken all-out measures to ensure security for the main procession to be taken out in the city.
“Around 10,500 personnel, including 5,500 in Karachi, are being deployed across Sindh,” a spokesperson of the military rangers told Arab News, and said aerial surveillance had also been added to arrangements, to ensure that security was foolproof.
Pillion riding has been proscribed and special rooms set up to monitor the procession through close-circuit cameras installed at sensitive points in Karachi.
In the eastern city of Lahore, 8,000 police personnel are on duty guarding the main procession and smaller gatherings. The city of Quetta, in the southwestern province of Balochistan, which was the site of a major Ashura militant attack in 2004, has 5,500 security personnel deployed to maintain order alongside the paramilitary forces of the Frontier Corps.
Security beefed up in major Pakistani cities for Ashura
Security beefed up in major Pakistani cities for Ashura
- Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in south eastern Sindh province
- Muharram processions were frequently attacked in the past, but a crackdown against militants improved law and order
Pakistan’s Sharif congratulates Bangladesh PM hopeful on ‘resounding victory’ in election
- At 60, BNP’s Tarique Rahman is preparing to take charge of Bangladesh, driven by what he calls an ambition to ‘do better’
- The election comes nearly a year and half after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in a deadly uprising in the South Asian nation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated Tarique Rahman on the “resounding victory” of his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in parliamentary elections, saying that he looked forward to working closely with the new Bangladeshi leadership.
A year and a half after the deadly uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s iron-fisted regime, the BNP said they had a won a “sweeping victory” in parliamentary elections held on Thursday.
Final results are still to come, but the United States was swift to offer its congratulations to Rahman and the BNP for an “historic victory,” its embassy in Dhaka said.
At 60, BNP leader Rahman is preparing to take charge of the South Asian nation of 170 million people, driven by what he calls an ambition to “do better.”
“I extend my warmest felicitations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading the BNP to a resounding victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh,” Sharif said on X.
“I also congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of the elections.”
Sharif’s statement also comes amid Islamabad’s efforts to rebuild relations with Bangladesh, amid a thaw in relations between the two countries. Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country until Bangladesh’s secession following a bloody civil war in 1971, an event that long cast a shadow over bilateral ties.
Both countries have moved closer since August 2024, following the ouster of Hasina who was considered an India ally. While Pakistan-Bangladesh ties warm up, relations between Dhaka and New Delhi remain strained over India’s decision to grant asylum to Hasina.
“I look forward to working closely with the new Bangladesh leadership to further strengthen our historic, brotherly multifaceted bilateral relations and advance our shared goals of peace, stability, and development in South Asia and beyond,” Sharif said.
