ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces carried out an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan district, the army’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement on Saturday, killing five militants involved in violent activities and other crimes in the area.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since the beginning of the year which has been claimed by various proscribed entities including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) whose leadership is said to have taken sanctuary in neighboring Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, the top army generals decided in a huddle to deal with such militant factions and their facilitators with the “full might of the state” to restore peace in the country.
“On 29th December 2023, Security Forces conducted an Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) in area of Mir Ali, North Waziristan District, on reported presence of terrorists,” the ISPR said in its statement, adding that five militants, including their leader, were killed after intense exchange of fire.
“The terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and target killings of innocent civilians,” it added. “Weapons and ammunition were also recovered during the operation.”
The ISPR informed it had launched a “sanitization operation” to eliminate any other militant hiding in the area.
Pakistan has repeatedly requested Afghanistan not to allow armed factions like the TTP to use its territory to launch attacks in the neighborhood.
Officials in Islamabad also launched a deportation drive toward the end of the year to send all “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghan nationals, to their country for security reasons.
Army says five militants killed in intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwest
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Army says five militants killed in intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwest
- The militants were suspected of launching attacks on security forces along with extortion and target killings
- Pakistan’s top army generals vowed to deal with militant factions with ‘full might of the state’ earlier this week
Pakistan party calls Sindh resolution against new provinces ‘unconstitutional’
- The development follows calls to separate Karachi from Sindh amid governance concerns intensified by a deadly mall fire last month
- Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan calls for a referendum in urban areas of Sindh for the establishment of a new administrative unit
ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) political party on Sunday criticized the Sindh provincial government for adopting a resolution in the provincial assembly against the creation of new provinces, describing it as “illegal, unconstitutional.”
The resolution was adopted on Saturday after fresh demands by the MQM-P and other voices to grant Karachi a provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by a deadly mall fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city that is home to more than 20 million, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Speaking at a press conference, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the Constitution of Pakistan provided procedure for establishing new provinces, but a province had “carried itself as if it were a separate country,” referring to Saturday’s resolution.
“Anything in contrast with the constitution cannot be adopted. This is illegal, unconstitutional, undemocratic,” he said, calling for a referendum in urban areas of Sindh for the establishment of a new administrative unit in the region.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had tabled the resolution in the assembly on Saturday, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM-P member, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News on Saturday. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
