ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday constituted an inquiry committee to establish what led to the mob attacks on its students in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, as over 4,000 Pakistani nationals were brought back from the Central Asian state.
Dar visited Bishkek on Tuesday to address the concerns of young students from his country enrolled in various educational institutions who witnessed the mob violence last week.
According to some media reports, the situation went out of hand in Bishkek last Friday after videos of a brawl between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students went viral on social media, prompting groups of local residents to target university hostels and private lodgings of international students, including those from Pakistan.
Official figures shared by the Pakistan embassy in Kyrgyzstan reveal nearly 10,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in the Central Asian country, with about 6,000 in Bishkek. The frenzied violence forced them to confine themselves for several hours in their rooms without food and drinking water, prompting many of them to make evacuation requests online.
“The additional secretary administration of the foreign ministry, Muhammad Saleem, will head a fact-finding committee to look into the incident, including the reason for such developments and subsequent reaction of the Pakistani mission and the government,” Dar told the media in a news briefing.
He said the committee would coordinate with the Kyrgyz authorities to review all the findings and developments in Bishkek and submit its report within two weeks.
The deputy prime minister informed a total of 4,036 students had returned from Bishkek by last night.
“To date, 3,233 students have returned on commercial flights, while 513 have benefitted from special flights arranged by the federal government,” he added. “The special flights arranged by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government have also brought back 290 students.”
Dar said during his meeting with the Kyrgyz deputy PM, he inquired about the fate of the perpetrators of the violence and was told that the administration in Bishkek had zero tolerance in such matters.
“My counterpart told me that the Kyrgyz President had publicly announced that action would be taken [against those involved in the mob violence],” he added. “Many people have already been arrested by law enforcement agencies.”
Asked about the future of the returning students, he informed he had called for a meeting of the all stakeholders on Friday to look into the possibility of accommodating them in the Pakistani medical institutions.
Dar said he also found out that nearly 1,100 workers from Pakistan residing in Kyrgyzstan were being pursued for deportation by the government due to their illegal stay.
“I requested the Kyrgyz deputy prime minister to legalize them instead of deporting them and he agreed by saying that he would seek approval from the National Security Committee and Ministry of Immigration to make that possible,” he continued.
Dar said he had instructed the foreign secretary and the country’s diplomatic mission in Bishkek to pursue the issue until its implementation.
“This will benefit around 1,100 families in Pakistan,” he added.
Pakistan forms committee to probe Kyrgyzstan mob attacks, says over 4,000 students evacuated
https://arab.news/rkv3t
Pakistan forms committee to probe Kyrgyzstan mob attacks, says over 4,000 students evacuated
- Ishaq Dar says the inquiry committee will coordinate with the Kyrgyz authorities and submit report in two weeks
- Deputy PM says he asked his Kyrgyz counterpart to legalize 1,100 Pakistani workers being pursued for deportation
Pakistan’s PIA to resume London flights from Mar. 29 after six-year gap
- Newly privatized airline says will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London
- PIA is already operating three fllights per week to British city Manchester, says airline
ISLAMABAD: The newly privatized Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will operate direct flights to London starting Mar. 29, 2026, after six years, its spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.
The PIA resumed its flight operations to the UK in October this year with its inaugural flight to Manchester. The airline is currently operating three weekly flights to the British city.
Britain lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July, nearly half a decade after grounding them following a 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. The disaster was followed by claims of irregularities in pilot licensing, which led to bans in the US, UK and the European Union.
“Pakistan International Airlines has announced the expansion of its operations in the United Kingdom with the resumption of flights to London,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“Starting Mar. 29, PIA will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London.”
The airline said that the London flights will be operated from Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4, which it said is recognized as one of its most modern terminals.
“London was PIA’s very first international destination and remains one of its most important and attractive routes,” the spokesperson said.
Pakistan’s government succeeded in its frequent efforts to privatize the airline this month after a consortium, led by Arif Habib Group, on Dec. 23 secured a 75 percent stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) after several rounds of bidding, valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale marked Pakistan’s most aggressive attempt in decades to reform the debt-ridden national airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in financial losses. The government said it would end decades of state-funded bailouts and help revive the airline.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News this week, the airline’s new owner Arif Habib said he plans to renovate PIA planes, improve maintenance and flight schedule, and bring in new aircraft to revive the carrier.
Habib said he sees the region comprising the UK, the US and Canada as a “lucrative market” for the airline’s business.
“There we can increase the frequency of the flight,” he said. “We will also try to run flights to Canada from Karachi, Lahore, and I think it’s already in Islamabad.”
