50 Pakistani fighters killed in Turkish strikes in Syria — Pakistan officials

A screengrab taken from a video released by the Turkish Defence Ministry on March 1, 2020 shows an airstrike by the Turkish military on Syrian regime positions. (Handout/Turkish Defence Ministry via AFP)
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Updated 07 March 2020

50 Pakistani fighters killed in Turkish strikes in Syria — Pakistan officials

  • The deceased likely belong to Zainebiyoun Brigade, a militant group comprising Pakistani Shias fighting in Syria and Iran
  • Iranian news agency said 21 members of Fatemiyoun and Zainebiyoun brigades killed in recent military action

KARACHI: Up to 50 Pakistani fighters have been killed in military action by the Turkish army and Syrian regime forces in Syria’s last major rebel stronghold in the northwest of the country, officials told Arab News this week.
Fighting has escalated dramatically in recent days in Idlib in northwest Syria, where Turkey has sent thousands of troops and military vehicles in the last month to counter Syrian government forces’ advances in the last remaining bastion held by rebels. On the opposite side in Syria’s nine-year conflict is Russia, which supports President Bashar Assad and has also carried out airstrikes in recent days.
On Thursday, Turkey and Russia agreed to a cease-fire deal after talks in Moscow to contain a conflict that has displaced nearly a million people in three months.
“The number of those [Pakistanis] killed is more than 50,” an official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the issue.
Another government official confirmed that 50 Pakistanis had been killed.




A poster showing 47 Pakistani militiamen associated with Zainebiyoun Brigade is being shared by Zainebiyoun on its Facebook page on March 1, 2020 with an Urdu caption that reads “today is Shabb-e-Jumma (Night of Juma) Surah Fateh for the martyrs of Zainebiyoun). (Photo courtesy: Zainebiyoun/Facebook)

Pakistan’s foreign office did not respond to Arab News queries when contacted to comment on this news.
The deceased likely belong to Zainebiyoun Brigade, a militant group that was placed on the US Treasury’s financial blacklist in January 2019 and comprises Pakistani Shias fighting in Syria and Iran.
According to media reports, Zainebiyoun Brigade has over 800 Pakistanis fighting in Syria. The group’s fighters are allegedly trained by Iran’s Quds Force, the military unit responsible for projecting Iran’s influence via proxies across the Middle East.
“Following the clashes in Syria’s Idlib [region], 21 members of Fatemiyoun and Zainebiyoun brigades were martyred,” Iran’s Hawzah News Agency reported on Sunday, adding that 18 of the deceased belonged to the Zainebiyoun Brigade.
“This is not the first incident where Pakistanis have been killed in Syria,” Pakistani security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana said, adding that Pakistani militants fighting for both Daesh and Assad’s forces, had been killed in Syria in the past. He said many Pakistanis had also been arrested upon their return from Syria but could not provide an exact number of fatalities.




Coffin of Naver Khan, a Pakistani militiaman of Zainebiyoun Brigade, is being taken for funeral at Qom city of Iran on March 1, 2020. (Photo courtesy: IRIB News)

Defense analyst Brig. (R) Mahmood Shah said a small number of Sunni militants had also gone to Syria to join Daesh.
“People from the Shia community have religious affinity with Iran, Iraq and Syria and sacred places over there, so their number may be high,” Shah told Arab News. “With war intensifying in the coming days, more deaths [of Pakistanis] are expected.
Last month, Pakistani police claimed to have arrested an important member of the Zainebiyoun brigade from the port city of Karachi.


Top Punjab police official denies mistreatment of ex-PM Khan’s female party supporters in prison

Updated 12 sec ago

Top Punjab police official denies mistreatment of ex-PM Khan’s female party supporters in prison

  • Punjab Inspector General Police Usman Anwar criticizes individuals for ‘lying about their own state institutions’
  • Khan accused the government of mistreating female PTI supporters who were taken into custody after his arrest

ISLAMABAD: The top Punjab police official on Tuesday denied any mistreatment of female prisoners belonging to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, stating that only women police employees were allowed to interrogate them.

The statement was issued after Khan accused the government of mistreating female PTI supporters who were taken into custody by law enforcement agencies in the wake of violent protests that followed his arrest on corruption charges on May 9.

Several social media users also raised similar concerns, attempting to depict police high-handedness by sharing graphic images.

In response to the allegations, Punjab Inspector General Police Usman Anwar criticized individuals for “lying about their own state institutions.”

He presented images that had been circulated on various social media platforms, maintaining that they had been doctored.

“The state is responsible, and the country knows what to do,” he said during a news conference in Lahore. “We are going to protect our institutions and installations, but we are not going to compromise on human rights, and we will adhere to whatever is written in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.”

Addressing the condition of the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, he added, “There are lady doctors, female gynecologists, and psychologists in the jail. There are 150 cameras installed [at the facility]. The portion for women is completely separate.”

The IG police stated that only female officials were allowed to interrogate women inmates.

The caretaker administration of the Punjab province recently formed a committee that included SSP Investigation Dr. Anoosh Masood and Lahore Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider to visit the jail and assess the treatment of PTI prisoners.

The two officials interacted with PTI supporters at the prison and reported that they were being treated well.

They also affirmed that no male staff member at the jail was allowed to enter the section designated for female inmates.


Global Islamic finance company AAOIFI to work with Pakistan to develop Shariah-compliant capital market

Updated 44 min 49 sec ago

Global Islamic finance company AAOIFI to work with Pakistan to develop Shariah-compliant capital market

  • Development comes day after Pakistan organized an inaugural Islamic Capital Markets Conference
  • The country has second-largest Muslim population in the world with very low banking penetration

ISLAMABAD: A leading Bahrain-based international non-profit, aimed at developing the global Islamic finance industry, has showed interest in enhancing collaboration with Pakistan on promoting the Islamic capital market in the South Asian country, the Pakistani finance ministry said on Tuesday, a day after the inaugural Islamic Capital Markets (ICM) Conference in Islamabad.

The conference was jointly organized by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the Bahraini firm responsible for the development and issuance of standards in the areas of Shariah, accounting, auditing, ethics and governance for international Islamic finance globally.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, who is the chairman of the AAOIFI Board of Trustees, held a meeting with Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Pakistani capital and exchanged views with him on mutual collaboration in the field of Islamic finance.

The two figures discussed "enhancing mutual collaboration with Pakistan in social welfare, business & financial sectors," the Pakistani finance ministry said in a statement.

"And promoting Islamic finance industry and capital market in Pakistan."

Pakistan has the second-largest Muslim population in the world with very low banking penetration. The government seeks to increase financial inclusion through promoting Islamic finance, as part of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. Only 21 percent of the adult population had a bank account in 2017, with 13 percent of adults citing religious reasons for not having them, according to the World Bank.

The SECP and AAOIFI also signed an agreement at the conference for joint cooperation in areas of “common interest” that would support the development of the Islamic banking and finance industry.

In 2021, the government set a target of increasing the share of Shariah-compliant instruments in government securities to at least 10 percent by the end of 2022-2023. There are 22 Islamic banking institutions currently operating across the country.

The assets of Pakistan’s Islamic banking industry had posted a year-on-year growth of 29 percent in fiscal year 2022, Dar said as he addressed the ICM Conference on Monday.


Ex-PM Khan sends defamation notice to health minister after being accused of substance use

Updated 30 May 2023

Ex-PM Khan sends defamation notice to health minister after being accused of substance use

  • The former prime minister demands unconditional apology in 15 days while serving a Rs10 billion legal notice
  • The health minister recently shared Khan’s medical report with journalists while questioning his mental stability

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday sent a Rs10 billion ($35.05 million) legal notice to Pakistan’s health minister Abdul Qadir Patel for making “false, disparaging and malicious” allegations in a recent news conference wherein he accused the ex-premier of substance use.

Last week, the health minister publicized Khan’s confidential medical report, allegedly prepared while he was taken into custody earlier this month, saying traces of alcohol and illegal drugs were found in the former PM’s urine sample. He also rebutted that Khan had endured a fracture to his leg after an apparent assassination attempt on him last November when he received gunshot wounds while leading an anti-government rally.

The minister shared Khan’s medical report while calling it a “public document” and maintained it also raised questions about the ex-premier’s mental stability.

“We act for and on behalf of Mr. Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi … who has instructed us to serve upon you the following legal notice under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002 … on account of dissemination and circulation of wrongful, baseless, false, misleading, erroneous, malicious and defamatory information/facts made against Our Client by you vide your Press Conference, dated 26.05.2023,” said the notice Khan’s legal team sent Patel.

The presser, as per the notice, was watched in Pakistan as well as all over the world through electronic media channels, YouTube, and various other social media platforms, while its details were also published in national and international newspapers.

The notice asked the health minister to retract his statements, tender unconditional apology, accept that he had misstated information, and pay Rs10 billion for defaming the former prime minister. It asked the minister to take these actions within 15 days, warning him that Khan would otherwise initiate legal proceedings against Patel.

It may be recalled that Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers on the instructions of Pakistan’s anti-graft body on May 9 in a corruption reference amounting to £190 million. He remained in the custody of authorities until his arrest and detention were declared “illegal” by the country’s judiciary that ordered his release.


Pakistan’s Khan gets bail on new charge of abetting violence — lawyer

Updated 30 May 2023

Pakistan’s Khan gets bail on new charge of abetting violence — lawyer

  • Ex-PM Khan’s May 9 arrest sparked violent protests, which saw military facilities ransacked
  • Khan has appealed for talks to end Pakistan’s political crisis, a demand rejected by the government

LAHORE: Pakistani former prime minister Imran Khan was on Tuesday granted bail on a new charge of abetting violence against the military by his protesting supporters after he was arrested and detained on May 9 in a corruption case, his lawyer said.

The embattled Khan, who says the corruption charges have been concocted, is embroiled in a confrontation with the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan directly or overseen civilian governments throughout its history.

His May 9 arrest sparked widespread protests by his supporters who ransacked various military facilities, raising new worries about the stability of the nuclear-armed country as it struggles with its worst economic crisis in decades.

Khan, 70, was later freed on the orders of a court.

His lawyer, Intezar Hussain Punjotha, said an anti-terrorism court confirmed the bail on the new charge after the former premier appeared before it and submitted surety bonds.

Khan has denied the charge saying he was in detention when the violence took place.

The bail until June 2 on the new charge means he will not be detained on that charge.

The former international cricket star became prime minister in 2018 with the tacit support of the military, though both sides denied it at the time.

He later fell out with generals and was ousted as prime minister after losing a confidence vote in 2022.

Khan has since then been campaigning for a snap election, with rallies with his supporters across the country, but the prime minister who replaced him, Shahbaz Sharif, has rejected the call for an election before it is due late this year.

The turmoil has exacerbated Pakistan’s economic crisis with inflation at record highs, growth is anaemic amid fears of a sovereign default on external debts unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unlocks delayed disbursements.

Dozens of Khan’s supporters have been handed over to army authorities for trial in military courts.

A team of investigators looking into the May 9 violence summoned Khan on Tuesday for questioning but Punjotha said a member of his legal team would go instead.

Khan has appealed for talks to end the crisis. The government has rejected his call.


‘Arsonists’ don’t qualify for dialogue, Pakistani PM says on Imran Khan talks’ offer

Updated 30 May 2023

‘Arsonists’ don’t qualify for dialogue, Pakistani PM says on Imran Khan talks’ offer

  • Sharif’s rejection of talks dashed hopes of lowering of political tensions amid stalled talks with IMF as Pakistan on brink of default
  • Embattled ex-PM Khan has dialed down his anti-government rhetoric since last week and called for talks in a rare overture

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday turned down an offer of talks by former premier Imran Khan, saying “anarchists and arsonists” who attacked symbols of the state did not qualify for dialogue.

In a rare overture last week, Khan said he was forming a committee for talks with the government to end the country’s lingering political turmoil, worsened this month by violent protests following the opposition politician’s arrest in a land fraud case.

Authorities began a crackdown on close associates and supporters of Khan after his followers attacked security forces and torched government and military properties, including the home of the Corps Commander in Lahore, following Khan’s detention on corruption charges on May 9.

Troops were deployed to contain the violence, which subsided only after Khan was released on bail on May 12. Thousands of supporters of the popular opposition politician have since been arrested, including the most senior leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The government and army have said those found to be behind the violence would be tried under relevant Pakistani laws, including the Army Act. Many top Khan aides have also since announced leaving the party.

Against this background, the embattled Khan dialed down his anti-government rhetoric and called for talks.

“Dialogue is deeply embedded in the political process, which helps democracy mature & evolve. Many political & constitutional breakthroughs occurred when political leaders sat across the table to craft a consensus,” Sharif said on Twitter.

“However, there is a major difference here, the anarchists & arsonists who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the State do not qualify for a dialogue. They should rather be held to account for their militant actions.”

Sharif’s rejection of the talks’ offer dashed hopes of the lowering of political tensions amid stalled talks between the International Monetary Fund and cash-strapped Pakistan, which is currently trying to avoid a default.

Khan was ousted from the office of the PM by an alliance of opposition parties headed by Sharif in a no-confidence vote last year, and has since been calling for new elections. He alleged, without providing evidence, that Sharif, the US and the Pakistani military conspired to remove him from office — allegations they deny. Khan later backtracked saying only the military and Sharif were behind his ouster.

Under the constitution, the next vote is due in October when the parliament completes its term.