ISLAMABAD: Around 3 a.m. each morning this week, Khurshid Alam woke up in his Pakistan home to watch survivors give testimony against the man who shot dead 51 worshippers in New Zealand mosques, including his brother, Naeem, and nephew, Talha.
Divided by thousands of miles, a seven-hour time difference and the coronavirus pandemic shutting borders, Naeem's widow, Ambreen, was among those who faced the shooter in Christchurch High Court and on Thursday heard his sentence.
White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian, was jailed for life without parole for the March 2019 attacks he launched on two Christchurch mosques while livestreaming.
"It was a very traumatic time, the last few days," Alam said from his home in Lahore in eastern Pakistan. "What we have lost cannot come back, but at least we know that justice has been given."
Alam had earlier watched the address by his sister-in-law, admiring her bravery. Alam's wife also travelled for days amid the pandemic and spent two weeks in quarantine to provide support for Ambreen, who lives in Christchurch, in court.
Many victims' families have watched from secure video links overseas and more than 50 received support to enter New Zealand, which has largely closed its borders to non-residents.
Ambreen described how her life had capsized since the moment last year, standing in a hospital in the early hours of the morning after the shooting, she realized her missing husband and 21-year old-son were not among the names hospital staff read out as injured.
"Since my husband and son passed away, I have never had a proper normal sleep," she told the court, and the gunman, on Tuesday. "I don’t think I ever will."
She also spoke of her pride in her husband, who was posthumously awarded for courage in Pakistan for charging at the gunman, buying precious time for worshippers to escape.
"Naeem died trying to save others and his act of bravery is something his sons will always feel proud for. His death was a reflection of his life," she said.
Ambreen said she felt distressed watching survivor after survivor stand up to address the shooter, but that once she had delivered her speech, she felt a surge of victory.
"It was quite a relief to express my opinion in front of him," she said. "I looked him in the eyes."
Since losing her eldest son, who had just graduated as an engineer, and her husband and "best friend," Ambreen has cared for her two surviving sons, is learning to drive, has taken her family on the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and endured New Zealand's strict weeks-long lockdown.
Throughout, she said, her anxiety grew over what would happen to the shooter.
When the sentence was finally delivered on Thursday, her family from New Zealand to Pakistan felt some solace.
"I miss them. It's a lifelong struggle for me,” she said. "But I felt like Naeem and Talha were there with me. I thought: they are waiting for justice to be done."
'I looked him in the eyes:' Pakistan family watches mosque shooter face justice in New Zealand
https://arab.news/rz723
'I looked him in the eyes:' Pakistan family watches mosque shooter face justice in New Zealand
- 29-year-old Brenton Tarrant was jailed for life without parole for the March 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks
- Widow of the Pakistani man who tried to stop the gunman says she hasn't had 'normal sleep' since the terror incident
Pakistan says it is targeting militant infrastructure in Afghanistan as Kabul threatens to hit Islamabad
- Ata Tarar says Pakistan is carrying out ‘precise intelligence-based operations’ to avoid civilian casualties
- Afghan defense minister says the underlying dispute between the two sides is over the ‘Durand Line’ border
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Saturday it was conducting intelligence-based operations against militant infrastructure inside Afghanistan while attempting to avoid civilian casualties, as a senior Afghan Taliban official warned Kabul could retaliate by targeting Islamabad if Pakistani forces struck the Afghan capital.
The escalating rhetoric comes as cross-border fighting between the two neighbors intensifies following clashes that began last month when Afghan forces launched attacks on Pakistani military installations along the frontier. Kabul said the assault was retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes targeting what Islamabad called militant camps inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said last week the situation had effectively become “open war” between the two countries.
“Pakistan is only targeting terrorist infrastructures and support system with precise intelligence based operations ensuring no collateral damage takes place,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said in a statement.
He challenged the recent claims made by an Afghan defense ministry spokesperson earlier this week who said his country was making significant battlefield gains against Pakistan including the killing of 109 soldiers and the capture or destruction of 14 military posts in large scale attacks.
“These so called attacks by Afghan Taliban in coordination with FAK [Fitna Al Khawarij] Terrorists once again confirm the nexus of Afghan Taliban regime and multiple terrorist organizations operating from within their territory,” Tarar continued. “All such attempts are responded to, immediately and effectively with severe retributive punishment that is swift, precise and effective.”
“The imaginary numbers being floated by Afghan Taliban regime are however not worth any serious comment,” he added.
Tarar said Pakistan’s military campaign — described as Operation Ghazb Lil Haq — had inflicted heavy losses on Afghan Taliban forces.
According to figures shared by the minister, 527 Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 755 injured since the clashes began, while 237 check posts were destroyed and 38 captured and destroyed. He said 205 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed and 62 locations across Afghanistan had been targeted by air strikes.
Arab News could not independently verify the claims made by either side.
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
Earlier this week, the United Nations raised concern over the toll of the escalating conflict on civilians.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that 56 Afghan civilians — nearly half of them children — had been killed since hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified.
However, Tarar questioned the UN findings, saying its assertions appeared to rely heavily on information provided by Taliban authorities and did not adequately reflect independently verified intelligence.
“Pakistan categorically reiterates that all counter-terrorism operations conducted by its security forces are carried out with the highest degree of precision, professionalism, and responsibility,” he said.
Islamabad has long accused the Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies.
“Operations are meticulously planned so that civilian areas remain completely safe,” the minister said. “The locations targeted are remote terrorist hideouts and facilities far removed from populated zones, including sensitive areas such as Kabul’s Green Zone.”
AFGHAN WARNING
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob issued a warning to Pakistan in remarks circulated by Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews.
“If Kabul lacks peace, there will be no peace in Islamabad. If Kabul is attacked, Islamabad will be attacked,” Yaqoob said in a promotional clip of an interview shared on social media.
Yaqoob rejected Pakistan’s justification that the presence of the TTP in Afghanistan warranted military action and suggested the underlying dispute was over the contested “Durand Line” border between the two countries.
So far, there has been no official response from Pakistan to Yaqoob’s remarks.
