LAHORE: While the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s health is stable for now, doctors say that they have to maintain “a very delicate balance” while treating him.
“Thankfully, today he is fine and talking normally,” Professor Dr. Fatima Khanum told Arab News over the phone, “But he is diabetic, hypertensive and has a heart disease, which are some complications.”
Dr. Khanum is a part of the 10-member medical board constituted by the Punjab government on October 23 to monitor Sharif’s health after he was rushed to the state-run Services Hospital in Lahore last week as his health deteriorated.
The three-time premier was previously in prison, serving a seven-year sentence in connection to charges of corruption. Earlier this month, he was shifted to the custody of the anti-graft body for probe into another case of alleged corruption and money laundering.
While undergoing treatment at the hospital, Sharif suffered angina pain. When the doctors gave the politician medicines for his heart, his palette count fell under 30,000, Dr. Khanum explained. “When a platelet count decreases it leads to bleeding in a patient,” the doctor said, “And that is what happened in his case. There were rashes and marks on his skin.” Platelets are cells that help with the formation of a blood clot in a body. A normal count can range from 150,000 to 400,000.
For now, the medical board has discontinued his heart medication till his platelet count increases. “We are trying to maintain a very delicate balance,” the doctor added.
The board meets every day from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and prepares an updated report of the former prime minister’s health. This morning, Dr. Adnan Khan, the personal physician of Nawaz Sharif, who is also part of the medical board, raised alarm when he tweeted that the 69-year-old Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz leader was “critically unwell, is fighting the battle for his health and life.”
Doctors maintaining a delicate balance while treating Nawaz Sharif
Doctors maintaining a delicate balance while treating Nawaz Sharif
- Nawaz Sharif is critically unwell, fighting the battle for his health and life, says his personal physician
- Three-time premier is serving a seven-year sentence in connection to charges of corruption
Pakistan says it seized 32 square kilometers inside Afghanistan as border clashes escalate
- Security official describes ‘limited tactical action’ in Gudwana after Afghan assaults
- Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering militants as UN, China and Russia urge restraint
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area inside Afghanistan following overnight fighting, a security official said on Saturday, as cross-border clashes between the two countries escalated sharply.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said troops carried out a “limited tactical action” in the Gudwana area opposite the Zhob sector along the frontier, capturing Afghan territory after responding to attacks on Pakistani positions.
“On the night of Feb. 26/27, posts opposite the Zhob sector launched anticipated physical attacks on multiple Pakistani positions,” the official said, referring to fighters linked to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, whom Islamabad identifies as Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA).
“In response to aggressive unprovoked fire and physical attacks, Pakistan security forces launched a limited tactical action on the night of Feb. 27/28 in the general area of Gudwana with a view to capture TTA Tahir Post,” he continued, adding that 32 square kilometers of Afghan territory were seized.
The official said special combat teams crossed the border after preparatory bombardment, supported by intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets providing “real-time battlefield awareness.”
He said 24 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and 37 wounded, with no Pakistani casualties reported.
The claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate confirmation from Taliban authorities in Kabul of any territorial loss in the Gudwana area.
The latest clashes erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan over the weekend, triggering retaliatory fire along the frontier and sharply escalating long-running tensions. Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering Pakistani Taliban militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation that Afghanistan denies.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday evening that 352 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 535 wounded since the latest phase of hostilities began.
Tarar said Pakistani strikes had destroyed 130 check posts, 171 tanks and armored vehicles and targeted 41 locations across Afghanistan by air. Those figures could not be independently verified.
The United Nations, as well as China and Russia, have called for restraint.
The United States said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
