Transporters in northwest Pakistan strike over killing of nine people in attack on passenger bus

Transporters have blocked the road in Skardu after a passenger bus was targeted by unidentified militants in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan on December 3, 2023. (Photo courtesy: GB Tourist Police)
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Updated 03 December 2023
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Transporters in northwest Pakistan strike over killing of nine people in attack on passenger bus

  • The attack took place near the Chilas town of Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region
  • Pakistani Taliban distance themselves from the attack, no other group claims responsibility

KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Transporters across Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region on Sunday observed a wheel-jam strike after a passenger bus was targeted by unidentified militants near the Chilas town, killing nine people and injuring 25 others a day earlier. 
Chilas, a rugged, mountainous town, lies in GB’s Diamer district, which has been a site of militant attacks, including some claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. In 2018, militants torched 13 girls’ schools in the district, while in 2012, unidentified gunmen killed nine passengers and torched six buses in the region. 
However, the Pakistani Taliban distanced themselves from Saturday’s attack, while no group immediately claimed responsibility for targeting the passenger bus that was en route to Rawalpindi from Gilgit. Officials said they were investigating the attack. 
“All transporters are on strike today after this tragic incident in all districts of Gilgit-Baltistan,” Ashraf Al-Hussaini, president of the GB transporters association, told Arab News. 
“This is not the first incident in this region. We had to face such incidents in the past as well in which many people were killed.” 




Law enforcement officers stand next to a damaged bus that came under attack by unidentified militants in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan on December 2, 2023. (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Pamir Times)

He urged the government to increase patrolling of law enforcement agencies and set up security check-posts along a section of the Karakoram Highway passing through the district. 
Hussaini said their strike was only for Sunday and they would announce their next move soon. 
GB Information Minister Iman Shah said law enforcement authorities were investigating the attack and trying to ascertain the motive behind it. 
“Treatment of the injured people is ongoing and bodies of the deceased are being shifted to their native towns and villages,” Shah told Arab News over the phone. “No one has yet claimed the responsibility for the attack.” 
Diamer Superintendent of Police (SP) Sheheryar Khan said unidentified militants opened fire on the bus in the Chilas-Hudur region at around 6:30pm on Saturday. 
Arif Ahmed, the Diamer deputy commissioner, said some of the passengers hailed from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces. 
“Two Pakistan Army soldiers were among the people martyred in the attack,” he told reporters. 
In a text message to Arab News, the Pakistani Taliban distanced themselves from the attack. 
“Tehreek-e-Taliban has nothing to do with the firing incident on a bus in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chilas area,” said Muhammad Khurasani, a spokesperson for the group.


Two customs officials, traders’ representative kidnapped in Pakistan’s volatile northwest — official

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Two customs officials, traders’ representative kidnapped in Pakistan’s volatile northwest — official

  • Unidentified men kidnapped Customs Superintendent Nisar Abbasi, Inspector Khushal and Saif-ur-Rehman from South Waziristan district
  • Islamabad blames a surge in militant activities in Pakistan’s northwest on groups operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegation

ISLAMABAD: Unidentified men on Thursday kidnapped two Pakistan Customs officials and president of a local chambers of commerce and industry in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a senior administration official said.
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the state broke down in November 2022.
The TTP and other militant groups have frequently targeted security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Unidentified suspects kidnapped Pakistan Customs Superintendent Nisar Abbasi, Inspector Khushal and traders’ representative Saif-ur-Rehman from the South Waziristan district, according to Deputy Commissioner Nasir Khan.
“Customs officers and the [Waziristan] Chambers of Commerce president were kidnapped in Sholam area on their return from Angor Adda,” Khan said.
“The district administration and police have kicked off an investigation.”
While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
Recently, Khan said, unidentified suspects also kidnapped Dr. Nauman, who worked with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), from Azam Warsak area of the restive district, which borders Afghanistan.
On Jan. 9, the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up their attacks in KP, kidnapped more than a dozen workers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which is responsible for nuclear energy projects, from the volatile Lakki Marwat district, according to Lakki Marwat police spokesperson Shahid Marwat.
Eight of the abductees were released shortly after the kidnapping, while the militants released one more and body of another hostage on Jan. 25. The fate of the remaining captives remains unknown.
Islamabad has frequently blamed the surge in militant activities on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.


President Erdogan gifts Turkish Togg electric car to Pakistani PM

Updated 35 min 10 sec ago
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President Erdogan gifts Turkish Togg electric car to Pakistani PM

  • Turkish president gifts Sharif T10X model SUV of Togg, Turkiye’s first homegrown electric vehicle
  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan also gifted Indonesian counterpart, Malaysian premier Togg cars this week

ISLAMABAD: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gifted a model of the Turkish homegrown electric vehicle Togg to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his two-day visit to Islamabad this week. 

Erdogan gifted Sharif the T10X model Togg SUV, with a video clip showing both leaders examining the SUV’s black exterior. Sharif can be seen in the video, sitting behind the wheel with Erdogan beside him in the passenger seat as the Pakistani premier drove it. 

Later, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari drove Erdogan and her father, President Asif Ali Zardari, in a Togg SUV as media persons watched. 

“I thank my dear brother President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and my respected sister Madam Emine Erdogan, for honoring us with their gracious presence and for bringing along a high-powered delegation from Turkiye,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X on Thursday after the Turkish president departed. 

Pakistan was Erdogan’s third stop in his three-nation Asia tour this week. In his first two stops in Malaysia and Indonesia, Erdogan gifted a similar model of the electric vehicle to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. 

Pakistan and Türkiye signed 24 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on Thursday as Erdogan arrived in the country to discuss how to boost trade and economic ties between the two nations. 

Erdogan said he had also held extensive discussions with the Pakistani prime minister on bilateral, regional and global issues.


Pakistan’s Punjab bans washing cars at home in bid to conserve water

Updated 13 February 2025
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Pakistan’s Punjab bans washing cars at home in bid to conserve water

  • Pakistan high court last Friday issued directives to ban washing cars at homes in Punjab
  • Punjab Environment Agency says will impose fine of Rs10,000 [$35.57] on violators 

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province on Thursday banned washing cars at home, saying that it would impose a fine of Rs10,000 [$35.75] on violators as it seeks to implement a high court’s earlier directive to conserve water. 

The Environmental Protection Agency Punjab issued the directives in compliance with an order by the Lahore High Court (LHC) last Friday banning the washing of cars at home and directed authorities to consider imposing a fine of $35.57 on violators. 

The high court also directed that filling stations without water treatment plants should be sealed with an initial warning, followed by a fine of Rs100,000 [$357.50]. 

The directives came after the court heard several petitions related to ineffective measures by officials against smog, local media reports said. 

“Ban on the use of water for washing of cars and use of hose pipes in the houses,” a notification from the EPA said. “Anyone found in violation of these directions will be imposed a fine of Rs.10,000.”

The provincial agency also banned oil washing of vehicles, and ordered immediate closure of all illegal/unapproved car wash and service stations in the province in compliance with the court’s orders. 

“Mandatory installation of carwash wastewater recycling system and U-Channels at all Car wash Stations by 28th February, 2025,” the notification said.

“In case the petrol pumps are found to be lacking in their obligations in this regard, fine of Rs. 100,000/- shall be imposed on the defaulting petrol pumps, in addition to sealing of car wash area.”

The notification cited an earlier warning by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in which it had highlighted that Punjab had experienced 42 percent below normal rainfall from Sept. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025. 

The PMD had said that Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab were the most affected provinces where rainfall deficits of 52 percent, 45 percent, and 42 percent, respectively, have been recorded.

Water-stressed Pakistan has a population of 241.49 million people with a growth rate of 2.55 percent. Linked to that, per capita water availability has been on a downward trend for decades. 
In 1947, when Pakistan was created, the figure stood at about 5,000 cubic meters per person, according to the World Bank. Today it is 1,000 cubic meters. 
It will decline further with the population expected to double in the next 50 years, climate change experts say, pointing out that Pakistan needs intervention on a range of water-related issues: from the impact of climate change to hydropower, from transboundary water-sharing to irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, and from drinking water to sanitation.


Army says 13 militants killed in counterterrorism operations in northwestern Pakistan

Updated 13 February 2025
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Army says 13 militants killed in counterterrorism operations in northwestern Pakistan

  • Pakistan Army says militants killed in operations in Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan, Khyber and Lakki Marwat districts
  • Pakistan has seen a surge in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between TTP and the state broke down in November 2022

ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 13 militants in five separate counterterrorism operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province this week, Pakistan army’s media wing said on Thursday, vowing to eliminate militancy from the country. 

Security forces conducted five different operations between Feb. 12-13, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, with the first one taking place in Dera Ismail Khan district in which five militants were killed. 

In North Waziristan district, another five militants were killed in two separate gunbattles while two other militants were killed in Lakki Marwat district. In the last operation, one militant was killed in the Khyber district. 

“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as killing of innocent civilians,” the ISPR said, referring to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants. 

The army said it was launching sanitization operations to eliminate other militants found in the area.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the ISPR said. 

Pakistan has seen a surge in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between TTP and the state broke down in November 2022. The militants have stepped up attacks against police and security forces in recent months, with the military reporting deaths of 383 soldiers and 925 militants in various clashes in the country in 2024.

The Pakistani Taliban have frequently targeted security forces and police convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in the region.

Islamabad has frequently blamed the surge in militancy on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. 

Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.


Pakistan army chief denies receiving much-publicized letters from ex-PM Imran Khan 

Updated 13 February 2025
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Pakistan army chief denies receiving much-publicized letters from ex-PM Imran Khan 

  • Khan says he wrote two open letters to army chief this month on alleged rigging, rights abuses in Pakistan
  • General Asim Munir says would dispatch any letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif if he did receive it

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir has denied receiving any letters from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, state-run media reported on Thursday, saying he would dispatch it to PM Shehbaz Sharif if he did receive it. 

Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, said this month he had written two open letters to Munir this month highlighting the alleged shrinking space for democracy in the country due to rights abuses and “rigging” in last year’s election. 

The former prime minister was ousted from power in April 2022 via a parliamentary vote after falling out with Pakistan’s powerful army generals. Khan blames the military for colluding with his political rivals to orchestrate his ouster, a charge the military denies and reiterates that it does not interfere in political matters. 

Munir was speaking to reporters informally at a luncheon hosted for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Islamabad on Thursday when he spoke about Khan’s letters. 

“The Army Chief said he has not received any letter from anyone,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. “However, if it is received, he would dispatch it to the Prime Minister.”

In Khan’s first letter to Munir this month, he called for a reevaluation of current political policies, alleging that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was being targeted by the state.

Tensions between the PTI and the army have remained at fever-pitch especially after Khan’s brief arrest on May 9, 2023, in a land graft case that sparked countrywide protests. 

Angry supporters carrying the PTI’s flags attacked and ransacked military installations in an unprecedented backlash against the army. 

The military has called the day of the protests a “Black Day” and vowed to punish those involved. Since then, at least 5,000 of Khan’s supporters have been arrested, and dozens of his top party leaders have defected after they faced increasing pressure from the military establishment to do so, according to his supporters. The army denies the allegations. 

Thousands of Khan supporters marched toward Islamabad in November 2024 to demand his release from prison. The government says four troops were killed in the ensuing clashes by Khan supporters, a charge the PTI denies and says its loyalists were instead shot and killed.