KSrelief launches 2025 winter kits project for Pakistan

In this handout photo, released by Saudi Embassy, Pakistan’s National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain (2L) and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki handover packages during the launching ceremony of KSrelief’s 2025 winter kits project in Islamabad on January 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy: X/@KSAembassyPK)
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Updated 31 January 2025
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KSrelief launches 2025 winter kits project for Pakistan

  • 84,500 winter kits to be distributed across Pakistan as part of KSrelief annual initiative for vulnerable communities
  • In 2023 alone, KSrelief provided over 110 million meals globally, including a significant share for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Thursday launched its 2025 project to distribute winter relief kits in Pakistan, to be distributed to needy people in all four provinces of Pakistan as well as the Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir northern regions. 
As part of the program, KSrelief will distributes 84,500 shelter, NFIs (non-food items), and winter kits across Pakistan as part of its annual initiative to support vulnerable communities.
“It’s my pleasure to participate in this ceremony on behalf of my country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, said at the launch ceremony. 
“This kit will be distributed among the needy people in all four provinces of Pakistan, including Gilgit-[Baltistan] and Azad Kashmir.”




In this handout photo, released by Saudi Embassy, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki (left), Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, speaks during the launching ceremony of KSrelief’s 2025 winter kits project in Islamabad on January 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy: X/@KSAembassyPK)

In the first phase, KSrelief will deliver 50,000 winter kits to residents of the 50 coldest and snow-bound districts in Pakistan. Distribution will be region-specific, targeting 16,000 kits in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 12,000 in Balochistan, 10,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), 6,000 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 4,000 in Sindh, and 2,000 in Punjab. These winter packages include two polyester quilts and a kit of warm shawls for both men and women, as well as warm clothing for children and adults.




In this handout photo, released by Saudi Embassy, Pakistan’s National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain (3L), Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki (2R) and other officials inspect packages during the launching ceremony of KSrelief’s 2025 winter kits project in Islamabad on January 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy: X/@KSAembassyPK)

The remaining 34,500 Shelter NFIs will be strategically allocated for disaster response, with distribution planned over three additional phases, set to conclude by December 2025.
To ensure transparency and effective implementation, the project will be carried out in close collaboration with key stakeholders, including the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA), State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), and local authorities. 




This handout photo, released by Saudi Embassy, shows trucks, loaded with winter relief kits to distribute in Pakistan, parked during the launching ceremony of KSrelief’s 2025 winter kits project in Islamabad on January 30, 2025. (Photo courtesy: X/@KSAembassyPK)

“The joint effort is expected to benefit over 591,500 individuals, underscoring KSrelief’s commitment to alleviating hardships and improving the well-being of those in need across Pakistan,” a statement from the humanitarian agency said. 
Attending the ceremony, Pakistani minister for food security, Rana Tanveer Hussain, said the event marked “yet another milestone in the strong and historic ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, reflecting their shared commitment to humanitarian aid and development.”
In 2023 alone, KSrelief provided over 110 million meals globally, including a significant share for Pakistan.


No casualties as blast derails Jaffar Express train in Pakistan’s south

Updated 26 January 2026
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No casualties as blast derails Jaffar Express train in Pakistan’s south

  • Passengers were stranded and railway staffers were clearing the track after blast, official says
  • In March 2025, separatist militants hijacked the same train with hundreds of passengers aboard

QUETTA: A blast hit Jaffar Express and derailed four carriages of the passenger train in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Monday, officials said, with no casualties reported.

The blast occurred at the Abad railway station when the Peshawar-bound train was on its way to Sindh’s Sukkur city from Quetta, according to Pakistan Railways’ Quetta Division controller Muhammad Kashif.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, but passenger trains have often been targeted by Baloch separatist outfits in the restive Balochistan province that borders Sindh.

“Four bogies of the train were derailed due to the intensity of the explosion,” Kashif told Arab News. “No casualty was reported in the latest attack on passenger train.”

The Jaffar Express stands derailed near Abad Railway Station in Jacobabad following a blast on January 26, 2026. (AN Photo/Saadullah Akhtar)

Another railway employee, who was aboard the train and requested anonymity, said the train was heading toward Sukkur from Jacobabad when they heard the powerful explosion, which derailed power van among four bogies.

“A small piece of the railway track has been destroyed,” he said, adding that passengers were now standing outside the train and railway staffers were busy clearing the track.

In March last year, fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group had stormed Jaffar Express with hundreds of passengers on board and took them hostage. The military had rescued them after an hours-long operation that left 33 militants, 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers dead.

The passenger train, which runs between Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta and Peshawar in the country’s northwest, had been targeted in at least four bomb attacks last year since the March hijacking, according to an Arab News tally.

The Jaffar Express stands derailed near Abad Railway Station in Jacobabad following a blast on January 26, 2026. (AN Photo/Saadullah Akhtar)

Pakistan Railways says it has beefed up security arrangements for passenger trains in the province and increased the number of paramilitary troops on Jaffar Express since the hijacking in March, but militants have continued to target them in the restive region.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency waged by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces and foreigners, and kidnap government officials.

The separatists accuse the central government of stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.