ISLAMABAD: Shaken by multiple militant attacks, Pakistani authorities have locked down the capital in a major security move as senior officials from several nations arrive for an Asian security group meeting.
A three-day holiday started Monday in normally bustling Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi. The government deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to pass through. Some doctors asked police to remove barricades so they could go to hospitals but were instead asked to take longer routes.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Tuesday with leaders and officials attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.
The main event of the meeting is on Wednesday, when leaders and officials discuss how to boost security cooperation and economic ties. The group was founded in 2001 by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. Other members include Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Militants in recent weeks have killed dozens of people in multiple attacks in restive northwestern and southwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Security experts say militants have limited capacity to strike in Islamabad.
Pakistan often blames the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, who have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, for the violence. Afghanistan’s Taliban government says it does not allow anyone to use its soil for attacks against any country.
Two Chinese engineers were killed on Oct. 6 in a suicide bombing outside the airport in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province. A separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
In the past, Pakistanis used to line up along the main roads to welcome any dignitaries visiting the country, but authorities said they had to take harsh security measures this time because of fears of militant attacks. Only state media are allowed to cover the meetings.
Among those attending are Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and the prime ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia.
Although Jaishankar is visiting the country for the first time in more than a decade, he is not expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with Pakistani officials.
The two South Asian neighbors have a history of bitter relations, and former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also did not hold any bilateral meetings with Indian officials when he visited New Delhi last year to attend an SCO summit.
Chinese Premier Li met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday, according to a government statement. It said they reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation in areas such as the economy, investment and regional connectivity, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Chinese infrastructure project under construction in Pakistan.
Zardari offered his condolences over the killing of the two Chinese engineers. He said the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship were trying to undermine bilateral relations by targeting Chinese citizens and attempting to disrupt CPEC projects, the statement said.
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Violence-hit Pakistan locks down the capital for an Asian security meeting
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Violence-hit Pakistan locks down the capital for an Asian security meeting
- The government deployed troops and blocked key roads, making it difficult even for ambulances to pass through
- Some doctors asked police to remove barricades so they could go to hospitals but were instead asked to take longer routes
Filipino typhoon survivors sue Shell over climate change
LONDON: Survivors of a deadly 2021 typhoon in the Philippines have filed a lawsuit against British oil giant Shell, seeking financial compensation for climate-related devastation, three NGOs supporting them said Thursday.
Typhoon Rai struck the southern and central regions of the Philippines in December 2021, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that killed over 400 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
The lawsuit on behalf of 103 survivors argues Shell’s carbon emissions contributed to climate change, impacting Philippine communities.
Trixy Elle, a plaintiff from a fishing community whose home and four boats were swept away in the typhoon, told AFP the lawsuit was about getting justice.
“Island residents like us contribute only a small percentage of pollution. But who gets the short stick? The poor like us,” said the 34-year-old, who is still paying off high-interest loans she needed to rebuild.
“I am not speaking only for my community but for all Filipinos who experience the effects of climate crises,” Elle said, adding that her now 13-year-old son still suffers from trauma caused by the storm.
In a joint statement, the NGOs backing the suit said it represents “a decisive step to hold oil giant Shell accountable for the deaths, injuries and destruction left by the climate-fueled storm.”
While typhoons are a regular weather pattern in Southeast Asia, scientists have long warned that climate change is making storms more intense because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and warmer seas can turbocharge the systems.
In Manila on Thursday, Greenpeace climate campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin called the lawsuit a “test case to hold the corporations accountable.”
The suit will be the “first time claimants in the Global South are bringing action related to significant personal injury and property damage... caused through the alleged acts of common measures in the Global North,” added UK-based lawyer Joe Snape via videolink.
- Lost ‘everything’ -
Plaintiff Rickcel Inting, a fisherman, told AFP his family had lost “everything in an instant” when Typhoon Rai slammed into Bohol province, surviving only because they lashed themselves to a thick column on their rooftop.
“Shell caused what we have suffered because of its actions, causing pollution and harming the environment... they owe poor individuals like us,” said the 46-year-old, adding he had never been able to afford to replace his lost fishing boats.
The lawsuit marks the latest step in a wider international movement to assign responsibility to major companies for climate damage.
A German court in May ruled that firms could, in principle, be held responsible for harm caused by their emissions, fueling hopes that other countries would follow suit.
Shell dismissed the lawsuit as “a baseless claim,” with a spokesperson saying “it will not help tackle climate change or reduce emissions.”
“The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true,” the firm added.
- Oil profits -
The claimants are seeking financial compensation for “lives lost, injuries sustained and homes destroyed,” NGOs supporting the lawsuit said.
Shell, along with many rival energy giants, has scaled back various climate objectives to focus more on oil and gas in order to raise profits.
The United Nations in 2022 said destruction caused by Typhoon Rai was “badly underestimated” in initial assessments, tripling the number of people “seriously affected” to nine million.
The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impact of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.
The UK lawsuit follows a historic climate ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in July, which declared states had an obligation under international law to address the threat of climate change.
ICJ advisory opinions are not legally enforceable but are seen as highly authoritative in steering national courts, legislation and corporate behavior around the globe.
Typhoon Rai struck the southern and central regions of the Philippines in December 2021, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that killed over 400 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
The lawsuit on behalf of 103 survivors argues Shell’s carbon emissions contributed to climate change, impacting Philippine communities.
Trixy Elle, a plaintiff from a fishing community whose home and four boats were swept away in the typhoon, told AFP the lawsuit was about getting justice.
“Island residents like us contribute only a small percentage of pollution. But who gets the short stick? The poor like us,” said the 34-year-old, who is still paying off high-interest loans she needed to rebuild.
“I am not speaking only for my community but for all Filipinos who experience the effects of climate crises,” Elle said, adding that her now 13-year-old son still suffers from trauma caused by the storm.
In a joint statement, the NGOs backing the suit said it represents “a decisive step to hold oil giant Shell accountable for the deaths, injuries and destruction left by the climate-fueled storm.”
While typhoons are a regular weather pattern in Southeast Asia, scientists have long warned that climate change is making storms more intense because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and warmer seas can turbocharge the systems.
In Manila on Thursday, Greenpeace climate campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin called the lawsuit a “test case to hold the corporations accountable.”
The suit will be the “first time claimants in the Global South are bringing action related to significant personal injury and property damage... caused through the alleged acts of common measures in the Global North,” added UK-based lawyer Joe Snape via videolink.
- Lost ‘everything’ -
Plaintiff Rickcel Inting, a fisherman, told AFP his family had lost “everything in an instant” when Typhoon Rai slammed into Bohol province, surviving only because they lashed themselves to a thick column on their rooftop.
“Shell caused what we have suffered because of its actions, causing pollution and harming the environment... they owe poor individuals like us,” said the 46-year-old, adding he had never been able to afford to replace his lost fishing boats.
The lawsuit marks the latest step in a wider international movement to assign responsibility to major companies for climate damage.
A German court in May ruled that firms could, in principle, be held responsible for harm caused by their emissions, fueling hopes that other countries would follow suit.
Shell dismissed the lawsuit as “a baseless claim,” with a spokesperson saying “it will not help tackle climate change or reduce emissions.”
“The suggestion that Shell had unique knowledge about climate change is simply not true,” the firm added.
- Oil profits -
The claimants are seeking financial compensation for “lives lost, injuries sustained and homes destroyed,” NGOs supporting the lawsuit said.
Shell, along with many rival energy giants, has scaled back various climate objectives to focus more on oil and gas in order to raise profits.
The United Nations in 2022 said destruction caused by Typhoon Rai was “badly underestimated” in initial assessments, tripling the number of people “seriously affected” to nine million.
The Philippines — ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impact of climate change — is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.
The UK lawsuit follows a historic climate ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in July, which declared states had an obligation under international law to address the threat of climate change.
ICJ advisory opinions are not legally enforceable but are seen as highly authoritative in steering national courts, legislation and corporate behavior around the globe.
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