ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has accepted Pakistan’s request to allocate equal quota for private Hajj tour operators for the upcoming pilgrimage and allow them to serve 500 pilgrims instead of 2,000, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The decision will enable 905 Pakistani Hajj companies to continue their operations by forming 180 unified groups.
Pakistan plans to send 179,210 pilgrims to the kingdom for Hajj next year, with 89,605 traveling under the government scheme while an equal number opting for private tour operators to fulfill the annual religious ritual.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan to decrease the number of Hajj group organizers from 905 to 46, each one managing 2,000 pilgrims to ensure smooth operations of the pilgrimage. The decision had caused concerns among owners of these companies.
“Responding to the Pakistani government’s request, Saudi Arabia has reduced the group size for private Hajj operators to 500 from 2,000,” Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, the prime minister’s special envoy to the Middle East, told reporters in a media briefing in Islamabad along with representatives of the Hajj Organizers Association of Pakistan.
“This will allow all 905 Pakistani private Hajj companies to operate by forming 180 unified groups,” he continued, adding that none of these firms was going to shut down.
Ashrafi expressed gratitude to the Saudi authorities for easing restrictions on Pakistani private Hajj operators.
He said the religious affairs ministry, in collaboration with the private Hajj operators, had initiated an awareness campaign about the annual spiritual journey.
“Due to a reduction in the value of the dollar, the government scheme’s Hajj cost has been reduced by Rs100,000, and we anticipate similar reductions from the private sector,” he added.
The prime minister’s adviser said private Hajj operators had set up a complaint cell in accordance with the government’s instructions to address issues faced by pilgrims on private scheme.
Speaking to Arab News, religious affairs ministry spokesperson Muhammad Umer Butt said only 41,000 applications had so far been received under the government and the sponsorship schemes.
The sponsorship scheme allows overseas Pakistanis to apply for Hajj or sponsor someone in Pakistan by covering the journey’s expenses in US dollars.
Saudi Arabia addresses concerns of Pakistani Hajj operators by easing private quota
https://arab.news/wr2na
Saudi Arabia addresses concerns of Pakistani Hajj operators by easing private quota
- Pakistani private Hajj operators will form 180 unified groups to serve 500 pilgrims, instead of 2,000
- Religious affairs ministry says only 41,000 Hajj applications have been received for government scheme
Pakistan says it is targeting militant infrastructure in Afghanistan as Kabul threatens to hit Islamabad
- Ata Tarar says Pakistan is carrying out ‘precise intelligence-based operations’ to avoid civilian casualties
- Afghan defense minister says the underlying dispute between the two sides is over the ‘Durand Line’ border
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Saturday it was conducting intelligence-based operations against militant infrastructure inside Afghanistan while attempting to avoid civilian casualties, as a senior Afghan Taliban official warned Kabul could retaliate by targeting Islamabad if Pakistani forces struck the Afghan capital.
The escalating rhetoric comes as cross-border fighting between the two neighbors intensifies following clashes that began last month when Afghan forces launched attacks on Pakistani military installations along the frontier. Kabul said the assault was retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes targeting what Islamabad called militant camps inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said last week the situation had effectively become “open war” between the two countries.
“Pakistan is only targeting terrorist infrastructures and support system with precise intelligence based operations ensuring no collateral damage takes place,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said in a statement.
He challenged the recent claims made by an Afghan defense ministry spokesperson earlier this week who said his country was making significant battlefield gains against Pakistan including the killing of 109 soldiers and the capture or destruction of 14 military posts in large scale attacks.
“These so called attacks by Afghan Taliban in coordination with FAK [Fitna Al Khawarij] Terrorists once again confirm the nexus of Afghan Taliban regime and multiple terrorist organizations operating from within their territory,” Tarar continued. “All such attempts are responded to, immediately and effectively with severe retributive punishment that is swift, precise and effective.”
“The imaginary numbers being floated by Afghan Taliban regime are however not worth any serious comment,” he added.
Tarar said Pakistan’s military campaign — described as Operation Ghazb Lil Haq — had inflicted heavy losses on Afghan Taliban forces.
According to figures shared by the minister, 527 Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 755 injured since the clashes began, while 237 check posts were destroyed and 38 captured and destroyed. He said 205 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were destroyed and 62 locations across Afghanistan had been targeted by air strikes.
Arab News could not independently verify the claims made by either side.
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
Earlier this week, the United Nations raised concern over the toll of the escalating conflict on civilians.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that 56 Afghan civilians — nearly half of them children — had been killed since hostilities between Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified.
However, Tarar questioned the UN findings, saying its assertions appeared to rely heavily on information provided by Taliban authorities and did not adequately reflect independently verified intelligence.
“Pakistan categorically reiterates that all counter-terrorism operations conducted by its security forces are carried out with the highest degree of precision, professionalism, and responsibility,” he said.
Islamabad has long accused the Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan soil, a charge Kabul denies.
“Operations are meticulously planned so that civilian areas remain completely safe,” the minister said. “The locations targeted are remote terrorist hideouts and facilities far removed from populated zones, including sensitive areas such as Kabul’s Green Zone.”
AFGHAN WARNING
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob issued a warning to Pakistan in remarks circulated by Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews.
“If Kabul lacks peace, there will be no peace in Islamabad. If Kabul is attacked, Islamabad will be attacked,” Yaqoob said in a promotional clip of an interview shared on social media.
Yaqoob rejected Pakistan’s justification that the presence of the TTP in Afghanistan warranted military action and suggested the underlying dispute was over the contested “Durand Line” border between the two countries.
So far, there has been no official response from Pakistan to Yaqoob’s remarks.
