PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying security forces in a former stronghold of local militants in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing four, police said.
The attack happened in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The area served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban until a few years ago, when the army said it cleared the region of insurgents. But the violence has continued there.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack.
Senior police officer Abdul Samad Khan said two police officers and two soldiers were killed in the attack. He said troops launched a search operation in the region to find those who orchestrated the attack.
Khan refused to speculate on who could be behind the attack.
But suspicion fell on Pakistan’s own Taliban who have been emboldened by the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where thousands of Pakistani militants are still believed to be hiding.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) internationally recognized border known as the Durand Line, which was drawn in the 19th century when the British dominated South Asia. Kabul has never recognized the boundary.
Before the the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan often accused each other of turning a blind eye to militants operating along the porous frontier.
Bomb hits security vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing four
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Bomb hits security vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing four
- The attack happened in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan
- There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack, though suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban based in Afghanistan
Pakistan’s national airline says it will vigorously contest plane impoundment in Malaysia
- The incident happened after a leasing firm reached out to a court in Kuala Lumpur and said PIA owed it $4.5 million
- The same plane was impounded by the Malaysian authorities in January 2021, though it was released after two weeks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Tuesday its legal team would forcefully present its case to a court in Kuala Lumpur after one of its passenger planes was impounded by the Malaysian authorities after a leasing company said PIA owed it $4.5 million.
The country’s national airline has been grappling with financial losses, mismanagement, and operational challenges in recent years. It has also been burdened by a high debt load, inefficiencies, and corruption allegations, resulting in an overall decline in its financial performance.
“A leasing company approached a local Malaysian court seeking impounding on claims that PIA owns $4.5 million to them,” said Abdullah H. Khan, a spokesperson for the airlines. “However, the actual payable amount was $1.8 million, and that too had already been paid to them. It is our stance that the claim submitted to seek impounding was incorrect and PIA has engaged its legal team in Kuala Lumpur to rigorously contest the matter in the court of law.”
It is pertinent to mention that the same PIA commercial plane, a Boeing 777, was also impounded in Malaysia in January 2021, though it was allowed to return to Pakistan after approximately two weeks.
Khan mentioned that PIA purchased the airliner last year, noting that the leasing company only owned one of the engines mounted on the plane.
He also stated that PIA had arranged for the repatriation of passengers who had booked themselves on the impounded plane, ensuring their travel on another aircraft.
Italy ends search after Feb 26 migrant shipwreck that killed Pakistanis among 94 people
- The wooden migrant boat had set off from Western Turkey with around 180 people aboard
- Italian authorities, however, say they would reactivate the search if any bodies were sighted
ROME: Italian authorities on Tuesday said they were ending the search for bodies after a deadly shipwreck on Feb. 26 off the southern town of Cutro that claimed at least 94 lives.
The wooden migrant boat had set off from Western Turkey with around 180 people aboard, but smashed apart in stormy weather off the shore of Calabria in Italy's southern toe.
Eighty people survived the disaster, suggesting around six people might still be missing.
The government provincial office in the nearby city of Crotone said it was shutting down a search coordination centre, but would reactivate the unit if any more bodies were sighted.
It said 48 of the recovered bodies were flown to Afghanistan for burial. Other bodies were repatriated to Tunisia, Iran, Palestine and Pakistan, while some were buried in Finland, Germany and Italy.
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
- 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
- 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.
