ISLAMABAD: A leading Pakistani political family has made funeral arrangements in Lahore for an elderly member who passed away in London last Sunday and whose body was brought back to Pakistan earlier today.
Begum Shamim Akhtar, whose sons Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif have spent decades in national politics, will be laid to rest after her family offers her funeral prayers on Saturday.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) founding leader and the country’s former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, prayed for the departed soul in a small congregation at a mosque in London where he currently resides after securing a medical bail and flying out of Pakistan in November 2019.
The Sharif family has been facing a slew of corruption allegations since the Panama Papers were leaked in April 2016.
The country’s top court disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office in July 2017, and he was convicted by an accountability court the next year.
His younger brother, Shehbaz, and nephew, Hamza, have also been facing corruption references and were released from prison on a five-day parole to perform Begum Akhtar’s last rites.
The elder Sharif also missed his father’s funeral in 2004 since he was denied permission to return to his country from exile in Saudi Arabia by the administration of General (r) Pervez Musharraf.
Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s mother to be laid to rest in Lahore today
https://arab.news/gybr3
Ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s mother to be laid to rest in Lahore today
- Begum Shamim Akhtar passed away in London last Sunday
- Her elder son attended her funeral prayers in a mosque in Britain before her body was flown back to Pakistan
Pakistan air chief highlights modernization as PAF marks seven years since India aerial clash
- Swift Retort was launched in 2019 after India attempted airstrikes following a Kashmir suicide bombing
- Air chief’s remarks come amid fierce clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan over cross-border militancy
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s air chief said on Friday the country’s air force had undertaken “comprehensive modernization and indigenization” in recent years, as he addressed a ceremony at Air Headquarters to mark seven years since an aerial confrontation with India.
Operation Swift Retort was launched on Feb. 27, 2019, a day after India attempted airstrikes inside Pakistan following a suicide bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary troops.
Pakistan responded with aerial strikes across the Line of Control and shot down an Indian fighter jet in a subsequent dogfight, capturing one pilot who was later returned in what Islamabad called a gesture of de-escalation.
“PAF has pursued comprehensive modernization and indigenization to transition into a Next Generation Air Force,” Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu said, according to a statement circulated by the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations.
He added that the force had recalibrated its operational doctrine and rapidly inducted advanced combat and support capabilities, including indigenously developed unmanned systems, electronic warfare, space and cyber assets, establishing what he described as a “home-grown multi-domain kill chain.”
Sidhu said Pakistan remained committed to peace but would respond decisively to violations of its sovereignty.
“Pakistan is a responsible country which desires peace with honor,” he continued.
The remarks come amid renewed security tensions on Pakistan’s western frontier.
Islamabad earlier this week launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan targeting what it described as hideouts of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militants. Afghan authorities condemned the strikes and subsequently launched their own military response that led to fierce clashes between the two sides overnight.
Pakistan has frequently accused Kabul of allowing militant groups to use Afghan territory to carry out cross-border attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces, an allegation denied by Afghan officials.
Pakistani authorities said earlier in the day small drones launched from the Afghan side were intercepted and brought down by the country’s air defense systems.
Sidhu said the PAF would continue to maintain a vigilant yet responsible defense posture to safeguard national sovereignty.
