ISLAMABAD: The Hajj application season for Pakistani pilgrims is going to start in the last week of February, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said on Friday.
“The applications will be accepted in all branches of major banks in Pakistan, most likely from Feb. 24,” the ministry’s spokesman Imran Siddiqui told Arab News in Islamabad, adding that 179,210 pilgrims are set to perform the Hajj this year.
“This year a total of 179,210 pilgrim quota has been allotted by the Saudi government for Pakistan but we have applied for a further increase of 20,000,” he said.
From the current quota of 179,210, around 107,000 pilgrims (60 percent) will perform the pilgrimage under a government scheme, while the rest will go on private terms, Siddiqui said. He added that no special quota has been allotted to any minister or politician.
The government has succeeded in keeping Hajj expenditures under half a million rupees, and it will be “only Rs53,000 more than last year,” he said.
“The Hajj package through the government scheme would be Rs490,000 for pilgrims from northern regions and 480,000 rupees from southern regions of the country.”
“The increase in the Hajj package was mainly due to a surge in airline fares of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Saudi Airline, depreciation of Pakistani currency and extra arrangements in Mina. The Saudi government levied an additional fee of 300 riyals for each Hajj visa and 110 riyals for mandatory health insurance for all international pilgrims,” Siddiqui said.
Earlier on Friday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza, announced that the government has designated the Hajj complex in Rawalpindi to quarantine persons arriving to the Islamabad airport from China, if they are suspected of having contracted the new coronavirus.
Hajj application in Pakistan to start last week of February
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Hajj application in Pakistan to start last week of February
- Under current quota, 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims will perform Hajj this year
- Religious Affairs Ministry filed request to Saudi authorities to allow 20,000 more
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.
