Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day

The photo posted on September 7, 2024, shows a reception held at Pakistan’ embassy in Saudi Arabia to mark the country’s Defense Day. (Photo courtesy: @PakinSaudiArab)
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Updated 07 September 2024
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Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day

  • Pakistan celebrates annual Defense Day on Sept. 6 to honor soldiers who fought 1965 war against India
  • The reception was attended by Saudi dignitaries as well as officials from Diplomatic, Military Corps

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’ embassy in Saudi Arabia has held a reception in Riyadh to mark the country’s Defense Day, the embassy said on Saturday.
The South Asian country celebrates its Defense Day each year on September 6 to honor the soldiers who fought against India in the 1965 war.
“Dignitaries from Saudi Arabia and friends from Diplomatic and Military Corps widely attended the event,” the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh said on X.


Pakistan on Friday inducted two new warships, Babur and Hunain, into its naval fleet, as the nation marked its Defense Day.
Hunain is a multipurpose medium-sized offshore patrol vessel, equipped with state-of-the-art electronic warfare, anti-ship and anti-air warfare weapons, sensors, and self-protection and terminal defense system. The Babur-class corvette is a subclass of the Turkish MILGEM project. The corvette class is heavier and larger than the Turkish Ada-class corvette and also equipped with vertical launch systems.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf termed the induction of these ships a “major milestone in capacity building of PN [Pakistan Navy] Fleet,” Pakistan Navy said in a statement.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi hosted a reception to mark Defense Day aboard Pakistan Navy Ship Shamsheer at the Cruise Terminal, Mina Zayed Port, the mission said in a statement.
Pakistan’s envoy to the UAE, Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, along with Commodore Shahid Wasif SI (M), Mission Commander of the Pakistan Navy, welcomed chief guest General Salem Saeed Al Jabri, UAE’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Military and Security Affairs, and Brig. Abdullah Al Mohairbi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Navy, at the reception, which was attended by members of the diplomatic corps and officials of the UAE government.

 


Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six

Updated 24 January 2026
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Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six

  • Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
  • Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces

PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.

The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.

“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”

“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.

Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”

The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.

Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.

Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.

Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.