ISLAMABAD: Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, the PM’s special envoy to the Middle East, on Monday reiterated that Pakistan “can never have” relations with Israel as it continued its war on Gaza and heavy fighting erupted around a hospital in the north of the enclave where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks.
Israel has launched a war on Gaza since Oct. 7 after Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. Israel retaliated by enforcing a strict blockade of the enclave, and carrying out airstrikes and ground attacks that Palestinian officials say have killed around 13,000 people, including at least 5,500 children.
Entire generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip have been killed, from great-grandparents to infants only weeks old. Attacks are occurring at a scale never seen in years of conflict, with Israel hitting schools, hospitals, residential areas, mosques and churches, even striking areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces ordered civilians to flee.
“Pakistan has no relations with Israel and can never have any relations,” Ashrafi told reporters at a media briefing.
The PM’s special representative also addressed social media reports that Pakistan was supplying 155mm shells to Israel in its war on Gaza and a British Air Force plane had allegedly traveled from Bahrain to Pakistan’s Nur Khan base in Rawalpindi and then proceeded to a base in Cyprus via Oman.
“Selling ammunition to Israel is a distant prospect for Pakistan, a country that has not engaged in any form of trade, not even selling an empty bottle,” Ashrafi said.
“Pakistan has sent two consignments of relief goods to Palestine through Egypt and steps are being taken to double aid to the Palestinians on the instructions of the prime minister,” he added.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for “deliberately” targeting mosques, churches and schools sheltering civilians who had been rendered homeless because of Israel’s destruction of their homes.
“Israel is deliberately making Gaza uninhabitable for its civilian population. Backers of Israel must stop Israel from implementing its plans,” the Pakistani foreign office said last week, calling Israel’s attacks “war crimes” and the “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
Pakistan ‘can never have’ relations with Israel, PM’s special envoy says
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Pakistan ‘can never have’ relations with Israel, PM’s special envoy says
- Rejects social media reports Pakistan was supplying 155mm shells to Israel
- Pakistan has repeatedly called for Israel to be held accountable for “war crimes”
Pakistan seizes over 21,000 rounds of ammunition at Afghan border crossing
- Customs officials intercept arms shipment at Torkham amid heightened border security
- Seizure comes amid an ongoing border closure after Pakistan-Afghanistan skirmishes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities said on Tuesday they seized more than 21,000 rounds of arms and ammunition at the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan amid persistent security challenges along the volatile frontier separating the two countries.
The seizure was made during routine cargo screening at the customs station in Torkham, where officials flagged a suspicious vehicle, bearing registration number TAH-027, which arrived from Afghanistan and was shifted to a terminal for scanning, according to a statement from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
A subsequent physical inspection uncovered submachine-gun bullets and rifle cartridges concealed in the vehicle, the statement added.
“Pakistan Customs authorities at Torkham foiled a major attempt to smuggle arms and ammunition into Pakistan, seizing over 21,000 rounds of SMG and rifle cartridges along with other arms,” the FBR said.
“This incident is being treated as a deliberate and organized attempt to undermine public safety and national security,” it continued, adding that a criminal case had been registered and further legal proceedings were underway.
Authorities said customs officials were coordinating with other law enforcement agencies to investigate the attempted smuggling, without providing details on the origin or intended destination of the weapons.
The seizure comes amid strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the two neighbors having witnessed border closures and security clashes along their frontier last year, disrupting trade and movement and prompting heightened scrutiny of cross-border traffic.
Torkham is one of the busiest crossings between the two countries and a key transit point for commercial goods.
Pakistan’s revenue authorities said they remained committed to curbing smuggling and safeguarding national revenue.
