Pakistani PM's aide visits UAE embassy in display of solidarity after Houthi attack 

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide on the Middle East Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi speaks to UAE's envoy to Islamabad Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi in Islamabad on January 18, 2022. (UAE Embassy Pakistan)
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Updated 18 January 2022
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Pakistani PM's aide visits UAE embassy in display of solidarity after Houthi attack 

  • Tahir Ashrafi says they consider security and stability of UAE as Pakistan's security and stability 
  • UAE ambassador offers condolences over the death of a Pakistani in Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide on the Middle East Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi on Tuesday visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) embassy in Islamabad to express solidarity with the brotherly country a day after a drone attack on its capital, Abu Dhabi, by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia.

Houthi rebels on Monday attacked the Emirati capital with missiles and drones, setting off explosions in fuel trucks that killed three people, including a Pakistani national, and injured six others, and causing a fire close to the Abu Dhabi airport.

“The UAE is Pakistan's strongest friend and brother. [We] consider the security and stability of the UAE as Pakistan's security and stability,” Ashrafi told UAE Ambassador Hamad Obaid Al-Zaabi.

“No force can weaken Pakistan-UAE relations,” the Pakistani PM's aide said.

Ambassador Al-Zaabi conveyed condolences from the UAE leadership over the killing of the Pakistani national, who was working for the Emirati oil giant, ADNOC.

“The injured are being fully treated and the UAE foreign ministry is in touch with the Pakistani embassy,” the UAE ambassador was quoted as saying in a statement issued from the office of the Pakistani PM's aide.

Ambassador Al-Zaabi thanked Pakistan for its solidarity and cooperation with the UAE.

Besides being a brotherly country, the UAE is also Pakistan’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and a major source of investment in the South Asian country.

Around 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates in the UAE contributed remittances of more than $6 billion in the last financial year.


Pakistan’s Balochistan establishes threat assessment center amid surge in militant attacks

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Pakistan’s Balochistan establishes threat assessment center amid surge in militant attacks

  • Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center brings police, CTD, intelligence agencies together on one platform, says official
  • Says center helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, organized crime and enables action against unregulated communication networks

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said on Monday amid a surge in militant attacks recently. 

Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on social media platform X that the Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center (PIFTAC Balochistan) brings police, the counter-terrorism department (CTD), intelligence agencies and civil administration together on one platform for real-time information sharing and joint analysis. 

“PIFTAC strengthens early warning and prevention against terrorism, helps disrupt terror financing, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime, and enables coordinated action against illegal spectrum and unregulated communication networks,” he wrote.

“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur.”

https://x.com/beyondfiles/status/2010444397163532547

The development takes place amid a steep rise in combat-related deaths in Pakistan during 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.

These deaths included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the local think tank said. 

Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry last week highlighted Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in 2025, saying that security forces had conducted 75,175 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) and killed 2,597 militants last year. He also said Pakistan reported 5,397 “terrorism incidents” last year. 

Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) to operate from its soil, charges Kabul has repeatedly denied.

Islamabad also accuses India of backing these militant groups against Pakistan. New Delhi rejects the allegations.