ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, the leader of a prominent Pakistani religious party, on Sunday met the Afghan deputy prime minister, Maulana Abdul Kabeer, in Kabul where he arrived to hold talks on the regional situation, his party said, amid strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021. A surge in suicide blasts and militant attacks in Pakistan’s western provinces bordering Afghanistan have frustrated Islamabad, which has asked Kabul to rein in the Pakistani Taliban it says are using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban reject Pakistan’s accusations.
Relations between both countries soured further in November when Pakistan deported thousands of Afghan migrants, saying it was taking action against “illegal immigrants” in the country, and blamed Afghan nationals for the surge in suicide attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan condemned the move and asked Pakistan not to deport Afghan refugees.
Rehman’s political party, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI), is known for its staunch advocacy of Islamic laws and values. The party wields considerable influence in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, while its leader enjoys close ties with the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.
“Soon after arriving in Kabul, JUI chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman held meeting with Afghan interim government’s deputy prime minister Maulana Abdul Kabeer while Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Ameer Khan Muttaqi, Maulvi Abdul Lateef Mansoor and others were also present in the meeting, discussing regional security situation,” JUI Spokesman Aslam Ghauri told Arab News.
The JUI earlier said on X that Rehman was traveling with a “high-level” delegation, including party leaders Maulana Abdul Wasay, Maulana Salahuddin, Maulana Jamaluddin and Maulana Saleemuddin Shamzai.
Prior to that, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Rehman would visit Kabul for talks.
Last month, a top Afghan interior ministry official disclosed that his government had arrested around 40 Pakistani Taliban militants over the past year. The Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan against both civilians and security forces over the past decade-and-a-half, seeking to impose their own brand of strict Islamic law.
“There is a possibility that this (TTP) issue will come in for discussion,” Rehman told reporters on Saturday evening. “We will use our relations for the well-being of both countries. And I have plans to meet him (Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban).”
Rehman said he had wanted to visit Kabul because of the success achieved by the Taliban in their war against the US-led coalition forces after 20 years. He said it was binding on him to visit the country and congratulate the Taliban on their victory.
“I’m going in the capacity of the head of the JUI, but we have to keep both countries’ interests and reconciliation in mind,” he said. “Keeping in view these all, we have taken our rulers and our foreign office in confidence [about the visit].”
He said Pakistan’s foreign office had briefed him about Pakistan’s stance and demands regarding Afghanistan this week.
“We have relations with them (Afghan Taliban) and we have to exploit those ties for the well-being of both countries,” Rehman said. “We will put our government’s stance before them (Afghan Taliban).”
The Pakistani political leader said he wanted the visit to be “result-oriented,” adding that its outcome would depend on both countries’ intentions to pursue peace.
About the Taliban’s restrictions on girls’ education in the country, Rehman said every state tackled its affairs when it came to security, trade, economy, culture, and social reforms.
“Let them (Afghan Taliban) create an environment. No doubt, the Taliban have had a central role for years in Afghanistan and they better know how to go with the world,” he said.
Pakistan religious party chief meets Afghan deputy PM in Kabul on visit to discuss regional issues
https://arab.news/m7acn
Pakistan religious party chief meets Afghan deputy PM in Kabul on visit to discuss regional issues
- The visit comes amid strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan following a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan’s western regions
- Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman says he has taken the Pakistani government and the foreign office into confidence about his visit to Afghanistan
In historic development, Pakistan Army promotes first Christian female officer to brigadier
- Helen Mary Roberts of Army Medical Corps is the first Christian female officer to have reached the rank in 76 years
- Last year, the army chief commended the role played by the country’s Christian community in Pakistan’s development
ISLAMABAD: The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), confirmed on Saturday the army had promoted the first Christian female officer to the rank of brigadier in Pakistan while responding to an Arab News query.
Brig. Helen Mary Roberts is affiliated with the Army Medical Corps and has made history as the first female army officer from a religious minority to reach this rank in the country’s 76-year history.
Women have been integral to the medical corps for decades and have more recently begun to join combat divisions as soldiers. Other members of minority religious communities have also joined the Pakistan military and risen to prominent positions.
“She is the first female officer from a minority community to achieve this rank,” ISPR said in a brief response confirming Brig. Roberts’ promotion.
Muslim-majority Pakistan has strived for religious inclusivity in recent years amid continuing social challenges for minority communities.
Last year, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir commended the role played by the country’s Christian community in its development during a Christmas celebration at Christ Church in Rawalpindi.
He praised their contributions to promoting quality education, health care and philanthropy, as well as their notable contributions to national defense.
Vietnamese ambassador’s wife found safe in Islamabad hours after being reported missing
- The envoy’s wife left for a parlor at around 11 AM and left her phone behind, making her lose contact with family
- Police say they traced her through safe city cameras while she was at the Megazone Entertainment Hub in F-9 Park
ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan’s federal capital on Saturday traced the wife of the Vietnamese ambassador to the country with the help of safe city cameras and cellular technology, hours after she was reported missing by her husband in Islamabad.
The ambassador’s spouse had left her residence at around 11 AM to visit a parlor, leaving her phone and purse at home, which made her lose contact with her family, the police said.
Soon after the incident was reported, Inspector General of Islamabad Police Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi visited the residence of Ambassador Nguyen Tien Phong along with senior officials from his department and constituted seven different teams to locate the envoy’s spouse.
“The ambassador’s spouse was traced while she was at the Megazone Entertainment Hub in F-9 Park with the help of safe city cameras and cellular technology,” Taqi Jawad, a police spokesperson, told Arab News.
“She was sitting there calm and cool when the police team along with her husband approached her,” he said. “They spoke to each other in the Vietnamese language for a minute and left for their home happily.”
Some media organizations also reported the ambassador’s wife was upset with her husband and had left her residence to go for swimming and bowling.
However, Jawad said she had lost contact with the envoy and her family, creating fears that she had gone missing.
“She is reunited with her family while the ambassador thanked the police for their efforts to trace her,” he added.
Pakistan’s religious affairs minister directs Hajj staff to enhance pilgrim guidance in Saudi Arabia
Pakistan’s religious affairs minister directs Hajj staff to enhance pilgrim guidance in Saudi Arabia
- Chaudhry Salik Hussain emphasizes effective communication, seeking deployment of guides fluent in various dialects
- He asks Hajj welfare crew to perform their responsibilities with devotion, calling it a ‘sacred duty’ to serve pilgrims
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain instructed the country’s Hajj welfare staff in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to proactively guide pilgrims in various Pakistani languages, ensuring that these religious devotees can perform their spiritual journey as conveniently as possible.
Hussain issued this instruction during an orientation session held by Pakistan’s Hajj mission in the kingdom to familiarize support staff in Makkah with the pilgrims’ needs.
According to official statistics, Pakistan has decided to employ 550 individuals to assist pilgrims during this year’s Hajj, not including the doctors and paramedics providing medical facilities to Pakistani pilgrims in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
The minister emphasized the need for effective communication, asking the Hajj mission to deploy guides fluent in different Pakistani dialects at the Grand Mosque and other sacred places.
“This move will enhance the experience of pilgrims and help them navigate the area with comfort, given Pakistan’s multicultural nature and linguistic diversity,” he said.
He urged the Hajj mission to ensure the pilgrims were provided with the best possible facilities and services during their stay in the kingdom and to show greater compassion and empathy toward them.
He also instructed the guides to be deployed at bus stations to facilitate pilgrims’ commutes from one point to another.
Hussain further asked the Hajj welfare crew to perform their responsibilities with devotion, highlighting that serving the pilgrims was a “sacred duty.”
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and requires every adult Muslim to undertake the journey to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able.
Pakistan has a quota of 179,210 pilgrims. The annual Islamic pilgrimage is expected to take place from June 14 to June 19 this year.
Pakistan and UK agree to enhance counterterrorism cooperation, strengthen immigration control
- The understanding to this effect was reached during Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s visit to UK
- Both sides this week signed a Letter of Intent to combat illegal migration and drug-prevention
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) have agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of counter-terrorism, organized crime and prevention of illegal immigration, the Pakistani interior ministry said on Saturday.
The understanding to this effect was reached during Naqvi’s visit to the UK, where he visited the National Crime Agency (NCA), Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and National Situation Center in London.
The Pakistani interior minister held meetings with NCA Director-General James Babbage, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Director-General Jonathan Allen, according to the Pakistani interior ministry.
“During the meetings, it was agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of counter-terrorism, organized crime, and cybersecurity was also discussed during the meetings,” the ministry said in a statement.
“It was agreed to enhance cooperation in areas such as drug trafficking, cybercrime, illegal immigration and anti-narcotics.”
Naqvi welcomed the UK’s cooperation in combating the challenge of cybercrime and emphasized the need to adopt a common strategy to deal with the challenge of militancy, according to the interior ministry statement.
Naqvi later visited the National Situation Center, where he was briefed how the center plays a fully active role and monitors the situation in case of a crisis.
The Pakistani interior minister is currently on an official visit to the United Kingdom. During his visit, Pakistan and the UK have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to improve coordination between their law enforcement agencies to help combat illegal migration and foster cooperation in drug-prevention. The initiative will also help improve cooperation in combating illicit financial threats and tracking crimes along air and sea borders.
The UK signed a major deal with Pakistan in 2022 under which foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK can be returned to Pakistan. Under the new plan, Pakistani nationals with no legal right to remain in the UK, including criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders, can be removed.
Pakistanis make up the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in prisons in England and Wales, totaling nearly 3 percent of the foreign national offender population.
Heatstroke cases rise in Multan as Pakistan bakes under blistering heat wave
- Doctors at Nishtar Hospital say increasing number of patients coming in with heatstroke, dehydration and diarrhea
- Pakistan saw temperatures surge past 50 degrees Celsius recently as heat wave grips Pakistan and India
ISLAMABAD: The temperature in a small, enclosed room in Multan’s Nishtar Hospital is cooler than the temperature outside as three patients infused with an intravenous drip lay on beds and a round water cooler with the words “ORS,” meaning oral rehydration solution, sits at a table in the room.
This is the scene at the heat wave “bay,” a separate unit at the largest public hospital in the city, that is dedicated to heat stroke patients. The 1000-bed hospital, which has been functioning since 1953, has allocated two rooms of its Emergency Ward for patients who come in with cases of dehydration, high blood pressure, diarrhea and other risks associated with a heat stroke.
The initiative was taken after the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) warned of multiple heat waves in the country till June. Parts of Pakistan have seen temperatures as high as 52.2 degrees Celsius (126°F) over the last week as South Asia swelters in a hot summer — a trend scientists say has been worsened by human-driven climate change.
“Definitely there are heat stroke patients coming in here at Nishtar Hospital,” Medical Superintendent Dr. Muhammad Kazim Khan told Arab News on Friday. “There are daily two to three heat stroke patients.”
The hospital has also been treating patients for dehydration, hypertension and other similar problems in recent weeks.
Khan said the hospital’s “heat stroke rooms” were equipped with central air conditioning, with patients having access to all medicines and ORS, a solution of water, salts and sugar to replenish electrolytes lost through dehydration.
In case of a heat stroke, patients spend up to eight hours at the facility before being discharged upon the physician’s advice, according to the medical superintendent.
“Otherwise, if they suffer any complications, then we shift them to a ward where after spending a day or two, they are again discharged,” he said.
Muhammad Mazhar, 50, said he sought treatment at the hospital Thursday night after suffering from diarrhea and vomiting. He was put on a drip and discharged after his condition improved, only to find the symptoms worsened on Friday.
“I came here again an hour ago and have been put on a drip again,” Mazhar told Arab News. “Right now, I am feeling better.”
Aamna Bibi, 45, was shifted to the hospital after she complained of stomach pain.
“I have been sick for the past five years,” she said. “I faint [whenever the heat gets too much] and I am also a heart patient and I also have diabetes.”
Mazhar said the weather in Multan had become “unbearable.”
“The heat in Multan is severe,” Mazhar said. “When a person goes out, it feels as if he is stepping on coals.”
Khan urged people to be careful during heat waves, advising them to avoid venturing outdoors unnecessarily and stay hydrated at all times by increasingly consuming water and juices.
Diabetes, heart diseases and respiratory illnesses, associated with heat stroke, could become “very dangerous” for patients during a heat wave, he warned.
“If we don’t get a season of rainfall and the temperature continues to remain this high, then no doubt there can be a lot of disaster,” the official said.
“And there may be chances of heat wave patients increasing.”
