PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a senior army officer and two of his brothers in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said on Thursday.
One of the three brothers is a lieutenant colonel in army, another is serving as an assistant commissioner at a Cantonment Board and the third is an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), according to senior police officer Aziz-ur-Rehman.
The three brothers arrived in their ancestral village of Khadrkhel in Kulachi — a restive town on the periphery of the Dera Ismail Khan district — a day ago for the funeral of their father and were receiving people coming to offer their condolences at a mosque when they were kidnapped.
“At around 6pm yesterday (Wednesday), around 12 to 15 armed suspected militants on motorbikes forced their way inside the mosque and kidnapped the three brothers,” Rehman told Arab News.
There was no clue of where the kidnappers fled, but a vast track of nearby mountains leads to the volatile South Waziristan tribal district, according to the police official. A manhunt is ongoing to locate the kidnappers and rescue the abductees.
Rehman said the abducted officers had not informed the police prior to their arrival in the restive region.
No group has claimed the kidnapping, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have intensified their activities in the region in recent months.
This month, two policemen were killed when a convoy of judges came under attack in the region, according to police. In February, 10 policemen were killed and six others injured in an attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan.
In April last year, Judge Shakirullah Marwat was abducted by unidentified kidnappers near a village at the junction of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts, but was recovered after a few days.
Pakistan has faced deadly attacks by the TTP since an uneasy, months-long truce with the group collapsed in November 2022.
Islamabad blames the latest surge in violence on neighboring Afghanistan, saying Pakistani Taliban militants have taken refuge there and run camps to train insurgents to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad and it does not allow militants to operate on its territory.
Gunmen kidnap senior army officer, two brothers in Pakistan’s restive northwest — police
https://arab.news/5pahv
Gunmen kidnap senior army officer, two brothers in Pakistan’s restive northwest — police
- The brothers were visiting their ancestral village in the Dera Ismail Khan district for the funeral of their father
- No group has claimed the kidnapping, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants
Pakistan clears global crypto exchanges Binance, HTX under new regulatory framework
- NOCs allow Binance, HTX to conduct engagement activities within Pakistan, says regulator PVARA
- Says move allows entities to open subsidiaries in Pakistan but doesn’t constitute as operating license
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) announced on Friday that it has granted no objection certificates (NOCs) to global crypto exchanges Binance and HTX, the latest in a series of moves by Islamabad to regulate its fast-growing virtual assets market.
PVARA said the NOCs were granted following a review process it conducted with public sector stakeholders which focused on governance structures, compliance frameworks, risk management controls and alignment with Pakistan’s emerging regulatory requirements for virtual asset activities.
Pakistan has been moving to regulate its fast-growing crypto and digital assets market by bringing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under a formal licensing regime. Officials say the push is aimed at curbing illicit transactions, improving oversight and encouraging innovation in blockchain-based financial services.
“The introduction of this structured NOC framework demonstrates Pakistan’s commitment to responsible innovation and financial discipline,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb was quoted as saying in a press release issued by PVARA.
The regulatory authority said the NOCs allow Binance and HTX to conduct preparatory and engagement activities within Pakistan under “defined regulatory oversight,” clarifying that it does not constitute a “full operating license.”
The NOCs allow Binance and HTX to begin registration on the FMU goAML, Pakistan’s anti–money laundering reporting platform, as reporting entries. It also allows them to engage with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) regulator to incorporate their subsidiaries in the country.
HTX and Binance can also prepare and submit their full VASP license applications once licensing regulations are promulgated and provide anti-money laundering (AML) registered services after the completion of their goAML registration.
“PVARA will continue to engage with domestic and international stakeholders as it advances subsequent phases of its regulatory framework,” the authority said.
“Additional guidance regarding licensing standards, compliance obligations and supervisory expectations for virtual asset service providers will be issued in due course.”
Chairman PVARA Bilal Bin Saqib said issuing the NOCs marks the first step toward a fully licensed and regulated environment for digital assets in Pakistan.
“By adopting a phased and internationally aligned approach, Pakistan is ensuring that only well-governed, fully compliant global platforms progress toward full licensing,” Saqib was quoted as saying by PVARA.
According to PVARA, Pakistan already ranks at number three in crypto adoption and is home to an estimated 30 to 40 million users.
It said industry-wide assessments estimate that annual digital asset trading activity linked to Pakistan exceeds $300 billion.
The development takes place days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met a delegation of Binance in Islamabad, led by its CEO Richard Teng, to discuss regulating digital assets in Pakistan.
