ISLAMABAD: Chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed on Friday dismissed a statement made by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during an international summit in Uzbekistan wherein he claimed that “jihadi fighters” were entering his country from Pakistan and other places in the world.
Hameed denied the allegation while talking to Geo News in Tashkent, adding it was Pakistan that faced the threat of infiltration from Afghanistan.
“We want peace in the neighboring country since a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan and other countries,” he maintained.
The ISI chief reiterated his country was not supporting any faction in Afghanistan and was interested in a negotiated settlement among all Afghan groups.
Earlier, the Afghan president claimed in his speech that Pakistan was supporting the Taliban while asking Islamabad to use its influence with the group to facilitate peace in Afghanistan.
“Intelligence estimates indicate the influx of over 10,000 jihadi fighters from Pakistan and other places in the last month as well as support from their affiliates and the transnational terrorist organizations,” Ghani told the Uzbekistan summit focusing on regional connectivity between South and Central Asia.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was also present at the gathering, told the Afghan leader it was “extremely unfair” to blame his country for what was going on in Afghanistan.
“I feel really disappointed that we have been blamed for what is going on in Afghanistan,” he said during his speech. “What is happening in Afghanistan is over two decades of conflict, deep divisions and, unfortunately, the United States seeking a military solution where there was not one.”
Khan said the best time to bring the Taliban to the table was when there were 150,000 troops in Afghanistan.
“Why is Taliban going to compromise when the exit date was given and with only a few thousand American troops left [in Afghanistan],” he asked. “Why would they [the Taliban] listen to us when they are sensing victory?“
Pakistani spy chief rejects President Ghani’s allegations its fighters infiltrating Afghanistan
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Pakistani spy chief rejects President Ghani’s allegations its fighters infiltrating Afghanistan
- Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed maintains it is his country that is facing the threat of infiltration from Afghanistan
- The ISI chief says Pakistan is not supporting any faction in Afghanistan and wants a negotiated settlement among all Afghan groups
Pakistan launches final nationwide polio drive for 2025 amid rise in global cases
- Global polio tracking data shows Pakistan accounted for 30 of the world’s 39 cases in 2025, with remainder in Afghanistan
- Health authorities urge parents to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure all children under five receive polio drops
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for 2025 from tomorrow, aiming to immunize more than 45 million children under the age of five, health authorities said on Sunday, as the country remains at the center of global efforts to eradicate the disease.
Global polio tracking data shows that 30 of the 39 confirmed wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases worldwide 2025 were reported in Pakistan, with the remainder in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023 and just one case in 2021, highlighting the volatility of eradication efforts in a country where misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and security issues have repeatedly disrupted progress.
“The final national polio campaign of 2025 will formally begin across the country from tomorrow,” Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.
“During the campaign, polio drops will be administered to more than 45 million children nationwide,” it said, adding that the seven-day drive would run from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21.
The NEOC said more than 400,000 male and female polio workers would take part in the campaign, with vaccination targets including over 23 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.6 million in Balochistan and smaller numbers in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“Protecting children from polio is a shared national responsibility,” the NEOC said. “Parents must fully cooperate with polio workers to secure the future of the nation.”
It urged families to ensure that all children under five years of age receive the required two drops of the vaccine during the campaign.
Pakistan has drastically reduced polio prevalence since the 1990s, when annual cases exceeded 20,000.
By 2018, the number had fallen to eight. But health authorities warn that without consistent access to children — particularly in high-risk and underserved regions — eradication will remain out of reach.
Violence has also hampered the program. Polio teams and their security escorts have frequently come under attack from militants in parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan.
Officials say continued security threats, along with natural disasters such as recent flooding, remain major obstacles to reaching every child.
