ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, on Saturday visited the PAF Training Airbase Mianwali, where he lauded security personnel for thwarting a militant attack that killed nine attackers, the PAF said.
The training base of the PAF came under attack in the wee hours of Saturday, according to the Pakistani military. Three of the attackers were killed while entering the base, whereas six others were eliminated in a combing and clearance operation.
The military said “no damage” had been done to any functional operational assets at the airfield.
During the visit, the air chief commended the on-duty security personnel for their unwavering professionalism and neutralizing the intruders in the minimum possible time.
“Chief of the Air Staff interacted with the base personnel, expressed his utmost appreciation for their exceptional commitment in putting service before self and reiterated the required level of readiness of each & every person in the Pakistan Air Force to counter any malicious intent of hostile elements & terrorist outfits,” the PAF said in a statement.
“He also thanked the joint operations team comprising Zarar Company of Pakistan Army and civil LEAs (law enforcement agencies) for their timely support to counter the infiltration most optimally.”
The air chief said the security scenario demanded unwavering vigilance and commitment of the Pakistani forces and they were resolute to counter any threat to the nation.
“The visit of Chief of the Air Staff serves as a strong message of solidarity and reassurance to the entire Pakistan Air Force personnel, inspiring them to remain steadfast in their duty to protect the nation,” the PAF said.
The assault came a day after three separate attacks killed 21 people, including 15 security personnel, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces that border Afghanistan.
The South Asian country has been witnessing an uptick in militant attacks, particularly after the Pakistan Taliban called off their fragile truce with the government in November 2022, with a majority of these incidents targeting the two provinces along the Afghan border.
Pakistan last month asked all illegal immigrants, mostly Afghan nationals, to leave the country by November 1, saying they were involved in attacks, smuggling and other offenses.
The expulsion order followed suicide bombings in Pakistan this year that the government said involved Afghan nationals, though it did not provide any evidence.
The South Asian country has since set up tens of holding centers to speed up the repatriation process as authorities continue to arrest illegal immigrants in nationwide sweeps.
Pakistan Air Force chief lauds security personnel for thwarting attack on training airbase
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Pakistan Air Force chief lauds security personnel for thwarting attack on training airbase
- Nine militants had stormed the PAF Training Airbase Mianwali in wee hours of Saturday
- None of PAF operational assets were damaged in the operation that killed all attackers
Pakistan throws weight behind full UN membership for Palestine, urges Security Council action
- UNGA last week overwhelmingly backed Palestinian bid to become full member by recognizing it was qualified to join
- Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip
KARACHI: Pakistan has expressed support for a “historic” call by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to admit the state of Palestine as a full member, the Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad said on Friday, urging the UN Security Council to decide the matter “favorably.”
The UNGA last week overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it was qualified to join and recommending the UNSC “reconsider the matter favorably.” The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member — a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state — after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.
“Pakistan supports the historic call made by the UN general assembly made at the 10th emergency session to admit the state of Palestine as a full member,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters at a weekly press briefing.
“The resolution determined that the state of Palestine is qualified for membership of the UN and recommended the security council to decide the matter favorably.”
Baloch said the UNSC had been provided another opportunity to lift its objections to the admission of Palestine to the UN and “restore the credibility of the assurances that have been given in support of the two-state solution.”
The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers illegal.
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people, mostly civilians after the war broke on Oct 7 when Hamas fighters stormed across the border into Israel.
Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on internationally agreed parameters and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Suspected militants bomb second girls school in a month in northwest Pakistan
- The attack damaged part of the facility in South Waziristan, however, no one was injured in its wake
- Though nobody claimed responsibility for the bombing, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban
PESHAWAR: Suspected militants blew up another school for girls in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police and residents said on Friday.
The attack happened in the South Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan. It was the second one this month after another school was badly damaged in the region, according to district police Spokesman Habib Islam.
The overnight attack damaged one room of the facility, however, no one was hurt in its wake.
“A loud bang was heard in the night and police found early morning that a newly built girls’ school in Karikot, a village close to district headquarters of Wana City, was damaged in the explosion,” Islam told Arab News.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for bombing the school, but suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have targeted girls’ schools in the province in the past.
A police officer from Wana said the management of the damaged school had received several threats in the past.
Jalal Wazir, general secretary of the Wana Welfare Association, regretted the bombing and said education was of “paramount importance” to beat illiteracy in the region.
“We can’t compete in today’s world if our girls are left uneducated,” Wazir said. “We will work to promote women education because if you educate a single girl, you educate an entire family.”
On May 9, unidentified militants had blown up a girls’ school on the outskirts of Miran Shah city in the neighboring North Waziristan district, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to direct authorities to immediately rebuild the damaged facility.
In May last year, two girls’ schools were blown up in the Mir Ali area of the North Waziristan district.
Pakistan witnessed multiple attacks on girls’ schools until 2019, especially in the Swat Valley and elsewhere in the northwest where the Pakistani Taliban long controlled the former tribal regions. In 2012, the insurgents attacked Malala Yousafzai, a teenage student and advocate for the education of girls who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Pakistan says will accelerate progress on major connectivity projects with China
- The understanding to this effect was reached during Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to China
- The visit comes amid Pakistan’s push for foreign investment, with Islamabad seeing flurry of high-level exchanges
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and China have resolved to accelerate progress on major connectivity projects and strengthen cooperation in multiple fields, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Friday, amid an increase in bilateral engagements with longtime ally Beijing to boost foreign investment in Pakistan.
The understanding to this effect was reached during Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s ongoing visit to China, where he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other top officials.
Beijing has been one of Islamabad’s most reliable foreign partners in recent years and has invested over $65 billion in energy and infrastructure projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The project, part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea via a network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports in Pakistan, and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
“The two sides will work together to forge an upgraded version of CPEC by jointly building a growth corridor, a livelihood enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor by aligning them with Pakistan’s development framework and priorities,” said Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a Pakistan foreign office spokeswoman, while briefing reporters on Dar’s visit.
“Together we will accelerate progress on major connectivity projects, including upgradation of ML-1 (Main Line-1), the Gwadar port, realignment of KKH (Karakoram Highway) phase-2, strengthen cooperation in agriculture, industrial parks, mining and information technology.”
The $6.8 billion ML-1 project is aimed at upgrading and dualizing the 1,872-kilometer existing railway track from the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi till Peshawar in the country’s northwest, while the port in Pakistan’s southwestern Gwadar city lies at the heart of CPEC.
Dar’s visit comes amid Pakistan’s recent push for foreign investment, with Islamabad seeing a flurry of high-level exchanges from diplomats and business delegations in recent weeks from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Azerbaijan, Qatar and other countries.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said the premier had invited a Chinese research and investment firm, MCC Tongsin Resources, to invest in Pakistan’s mining sector and assured it of “maximum facilitation.” The statement came after Sharif’s meeting with a delegation of MCC Tongsin Resources, led by Chairman Wang Jaichen, in the federal capital of Islamabad.
“The government is taking steps on priority basis to increase foreign investment in the country,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office. “In order to increase the exports of Pakistan, investment for the extraction of minerals, their processing and export will be fully facilitated.”
Sharif has vowed to rid the country of its chronic macroeconomic crisis through foreign investment and efficient handling of the economy.
Pakistani Hajj pilgrims to leave for Makkah today from Madinah via 11 caravans
- Over 20,000 Pakistani pilgrims have so far arrived in Madinah under the government scheme
- Eleven caravans carrying 2,177 Pakistani pilgrims will leave for Makkah after Friday prayers
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain on Friday visited the office of the National Adillah Establishment in Madinah to discuss travel arrangements for over 2,000 Pakistani pilgrims who will leave for Makkah today ahead of the Hajj pilgrimage, APP reported.
The National Adillah Establishment is the Saudi agency in charge of coordinating all pilgrim activities in Madinah, including passport collection, departure of pilgrims from Madinah to Makkah, visit to Riazul Jannah, accommodation and transport facilities. As part of the Hajj 2024 policy, there is an agreement on arrangements and requirements of Hujjaj between the National Adillah Establishment and the Office of Pilgrim’s Affairs Pakistan (OPAP).
Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims this year, of which 63,805 people will perform the pilgrimage under the government scheme while the rest will use private tour operators. This year’s Hajj is expected to run from June 14-19.
Pakistani pilgrims have been arriving in Madinah since May 9 when pre-Hajj flight operations were launched. Over 20,000 Pakistani pilgrims have so far arrived in Madinah under the government scheme. Eleven caravans carrying 2,177 Pakistani pilgrims who stayed eight days in Madinah will leave today, Friday, for Makkah after Friday prayers, Radio Pakistan reported.
In his meeting with Adillah officials, Salik discussed Hajj-related matters “particularly the departure of ‘advanced caravans’ of Pakistani pilgrims today from Madinah to Makkah.”
“This year’s pilgrimage will be one of the best experiences, better management-wise,” Pakistan’s APP news agency quoted the CEO of Adillah, Esam Damyati, as telling Salik.
Salik thanked Damyati for extending all possible assistance and cooperation to the Religious Affairs Ministry and Pakistan Hajj Mission in its Hajj operation.
“Salik said the digitization of Hajj related services by the Saudi authorities had really worked in improving the Hajj arrangements,” APP said. “He appreciated the Saudi government for taking a number of innovative measures like formation of new companies, increasing number of Hajj welfare staff both male and female and use of latest technology.”
Adillah’s Head of Investment Management Ahmed Hammad said the company was keen to explore ways to enhance investment in Hajj-related matters with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Pakistan Hajj Mission.
X ban enters fourth month in Pakistan
- Pakistan has long struggled to regulate social media through different legislations, prompting critics to accuse it of trying to quell dissent
- The Government of Pakistan must ‘uphold the right to freedom of expression,’ restore access to X immediately, Amnesty International says
ISLAMABAD: X remained restricted in Pakistan on Friday as a ban on the social media platform entered fourth month, according to netizens.
Authorities have blocked X, formerly known as Twitter, since Feb. 17 after protests swept the country over allegations of vote rigging in a general election.
Digital rights activists and rights groups have described the shutdown, either partial or full, as a “violation” of civil liberties in the South Asian nation of more than 241 million.
“This ban continues at a time when the government has announced legislative proposals to further restrict digital freedoms,” Amnesty International, a global human rights watchdog, said on X.
Pakistani authorities have long struggled to regulate social media content through different legislations, prompting critics to accuse them of trying to quell dissent. Earlier this month, the government notified a National Cybercrimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to probe electronic crimes, making digital rights activists describe it as yet another official attempt to stifle criticism online.
The NCCIA was approved by the caretaker government of Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar last year to take over cybercrime investigations from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
While the government says the move was meant to protect digital rights of millions of users, encourage responsible Internet use and prevent hate speech and disinformation, digital rights activists say successive governments have drafted new laws or amended old ones to curb online dissent and file criminal charges against journalists and activists to restrict freedom of speech and expression.
“The Government of Pakistan must uphold the right to freedom of expression and restore access to the platform [X] immediately,” Amnesty International added.
