DERA ISMAIL KHAN: President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday vowed to eradicate militant violence from the country after a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing four policemen and one security personnel while injuring others.
The incident occurred near Mir Ali, a settlement in the volatile North Waziristan tribal district, where security forces have conducted several intelligence-based operations, though the militants’ capacity to launch deadly attacks has not been fully degraded.
The area has frequently been targeted by the banned militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose leadership is reportedly based in neighboring Afghanistan.
“Terrorists will never succeed in their evil designs,” the president said in a statement quoted by the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan, expressing sorrow over the attack.
He condemned the incident as a “cowardly act,” paying tribute to those who lost their lives.
Speaking to Arab News, District Police Officer in North Waziristan Rohanzeb Khan confirmed the bomber used his explosive-laden car to target a checkpoint jointly manned by police and security forces.
“The attack on the security check post took place at around 12:30 PM,” Khan said over the phone. “One security official and four policemen were martyred, while five others suffered multiple injuries.”
He added that a heavy police contingent rushed to the area soon after the incident to begin the investigation.
KP has seen a surge in militant attacks since a fragile ceasefire between the government and the TTP collapsed in November 2022.
Earlier in the day, unknown militants targeted the residence of former Senator Saleh Shah in South Waziristan.
A day earlier, militants killed a 19-year-old Pakistan Military Academy cadet in his hometown of Lakki Marwat during evening prayers at a mosque.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, last year saw more suicide attacks than any since 2014, with 29 such incidents claiming 329 lives, making it Pakistan’s deadliest year in a decade.
The provincial administration of KP also condemned the Mir Ali attack.
Pakistan president vows to eradicate militancy after suicide attack kills five in northwest
https://arab.news/w8vzs
Pakistan president vows to eradicate militancy after suicide attack kills five in northwest
- The incident in Mir Ali happened as a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle in a security checkpoint
- Unknown militants also targeted the residence of a former senator in Pakistan’s South Waziristan
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
