ISLAMABAD: A group of Syrians left their country in 2011 to escape the complex civil war in their homeland and found themselves in Pakistan while searching for relative peace.
It was not easy for them to settle down in a foreign land. Yet, they managed to thrive on the deeply disruptive phase of their lives.
Struggling to earn a living, Hussam Hag Kasem, 28, met an established Afghan refugee, Saleem Shah Hashmi, in Islamabad who provided him a small space to set up a food joint and encouraged him to introduce authentic Arab cuisine in the country’s federal capital.
Kasem also introduced his friend, Abu Amir, 32, to Hashmi.
The interaction among the three men resulted in the founding of two food joints – Kasem’s “The Syrian Guys” and Amir’s “Syrian Tastes” – in the central marketplace of Islamabad’s F10 residential sector.
While customers took time to notice the two eateries among thousands of kiosks selling street food in the city, the breakthrough arrived when Abu Amir, aka Adnan, caught the media’s eye this October while preparing Syrian delicacies in his Arab clothing.
Within a matter of hours, mainstream and social media propelled him to celebrity status, making him attract previously unprecedented number of customers.
The rest, as they say, is history: The two eateries serving the Syrian food became culinary sensations, drawing foodies from across the country and beyond.
In this video, Arab News features the success story of the two Syrians and documents how their efforts to turn their life around bore fruit.
Syrian food joints attract customers from across Pakistan
Syrian food joints attract customers from across Pakistan
- Syrian shawarma and shish taouk are two most liked Arab street foods among Pakistanis
- Customers wait for hours to taste Syrian delicacies
Pakistan vaccinates over 44.6 million in final anti-polio drive of 2025
- Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases so far this year, underscoring fragile progress against virus
- Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has vaccinated 44.6 million children against poliovirus in the last nationwide immunization campaign of the year, health authorities said on Monday.
The seven-day anti-polio campaign was launched on Dec. 15, targeting children under the age of five. It was conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), which oversees eradication efforts.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where transmission of the wild poliovirus has never been interrupted, posing a risk to global eradication efforts. The virus, which can cause irreversible paralysis, has no cure and can only be prevented through repeated oral vaccination.
“The final National Polio Eradication Campaign of 2025 has been successfully concluded,” the EOC said in a statement. “During the national polio campaign, vaccination of more than 44.6 million children was successfully completed.”
Giving a breakdown of the numbers, the EOC said approximately 22.9 million children have received polio drops in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, around 10.6 million in Sindh, more than 7.1 million in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and more than 2.54 million children in Balochistan.
In Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, over 450,000 children received polio drops while in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, approximately 274,000 children have been vaccinated, the NEOC said.
In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, over 714,000 children received polio drops.
Pakistan has reported 30 polio cases so far in 2025, underscoring the fragility of progress against the virus. The country recorded 74 cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023, reflecting setbacks linked to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and access challenges in high-risk areas.
Health officials say insecurity remains a major obstacle. Polio workers and their security escorts have repeatedly been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, complicating efforts to reach every child.
A gun attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Bajaur district on Dec. 16 left one police constableand a civilian dead.
Natural disasters, including flooding, have also disrupted vaccination campaigns in recent years.
“Polio workers and security personnel who served during the national campaign are the true heroes of the nation,” the EOC said.
