KARACHI: Pakistani police said on Tuesday they had arrested a militant allegedly linked to the Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade, the fourth such arrest since last December and part of what investigators say is sustained action against the outfit.
The Zainabiyoun Brigade was placed on the US Treasury’s financial blacklist in January 2019 and is believed to have sent young members of the Pakistani Shiite community to fight in Syria.
A handout issued by the counterterrorism department (CTD) on Tuesday said Syed Zakir Raza alias Nadeem was arrested in a “joint operation” by the Sindh counterterrorism police and a federal intelligence agency. He is allegedly the close associate of another Zainabiyoun Brigade-linked militant, Abbas Jafri, who was arrested last week.
According to an official handout from last week, Jafri, was trained in 2014 and, among other skills, taught to perform intelligence operations and provide medical services.
“The arrested terrorist specialized in automatic weapons and received training from a neighboring country,” the handout added, referring to Iran.
Earlier in December, CTD said it had arrested two members of the Zainabiyoun Brigade from the Qur’angi area of Karachi in connection with a string of killings over the last six years.
Tehran has not responded to the CTD’s claims.
On November 27, 2020, an AP report said a group of Pakistanis was among 19 pro-Iran militia fighters killed in eastern Syria.
Last March, a senior official told Arab News up to 50 Pakistani fighters were killed by the Turkish army and Syrian forces in a major rebel stronghold in the northwest of the country.
Pakistan arrests fourth militant linked to Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade
https://arab.news/9fdks
Pakistan arrests fourth militant linked to Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade
- Syed Zakir Raza alias Nadeem was arrested in joint operation by Sindh counterterrorism police and a federal intelligence agency
- He is allegedly a close associate of another Zainabiyoun Brigade-linked militant Abbas Jafri who was arrested last week
Pakistan to export halal meat worth $14.5 million to Tajikistan
- Effective trade facilitation can increase bilateral Pakistan-Tajikistan trade to $300 million, says state media
- PM Shehbaz Sharif approved Pakistan’s halal meat policy earlier this month in bid to boost meat exports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will export 143,000 tons of halal meat to Tajikistan worth $14.5 million in the near future, state media reported on Tuesday amid Islamabad’s efforts to bolster trade with Central Asian countries.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, earlier this month, approved Pakistan’s halal meat policy that aims to boost Islamabad’s meat exports to Muslim states.
In a high-level meeting on Dec. 24, Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain said Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Gulf countries are ready to import Pakistani fresh meat and rice. The minister said Tajikistan has expressed the demand to import nearly 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan.
“According to details, Pakistan will export one hundred and forty-three thousand tons of halal meat to Tajikistan, valued at 14.5 million dollars,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
It did not, however, specify a timeline as to when Islamabad planned to export the halal meat items to the Central Asian nation.
The state media said that effective trade facilitation will increase bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan to $300 million, strengthening regional economic integration.
Pakistan has recently attempted to increase its halal meat exports to other Muslim countries such as Malaysia. Both countries announced they had agreed to a $200 million halal meat trade quota during Sharif’s visit to Malaysia in October.
A 2024 report by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) mentioned that the country exported meat worth $512 million in 2024, which included beef, mutton and poultry.
According to the PBS, the UAE remained Pakistan’s top meat export market in 2024 with exports to the Gulf nation reaching $201 million. Meanwhile, meat exports to Saudi Arabia recorded a growth of 65.1 percent last year valued at $141 million.
