ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Thursday announced a “Black Day” and protests on the one-year anniversary of last year’s Feb. 8 general elections that the party says were rigged.
The national polls were marred by a countrywide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by opposition parties like jailed ex-premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the JI headed by Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman.
The caretaker government which oversaw the electoral exercise and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deny the charges, saying mobile networks were shut down to maintain law and order. The US House of Representatives and several European countries have called on Islamabad to open a probe into the allegations, a move that Pakistan has thus far rejected.
“JI will observe Youm-e-Siyah [Black Day] on Feb. 8 over the stolen mandate and rigged elections last year,” Rehman said at a press conference in Karachi. “We have planned to stage a protest outside the ECP office in Karachi and will observe the Youm-e-Siyah throughout the country.”
The JI party did not win any National Assembly seats in the general elections but managed to clinch two provincial seats in the Sindh Assembly and one in the Balochistan Assembly.
On Jan. 20, PTI founder Khan also called on his supporters nationwide to stage protests on Feb. 8 against the rigging of the polls. He directed Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, to lead caravans from across the province for a public gathering in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
The PTI has also sought permission, yet to be granted by the local administration, to hold a political rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan monument on Feb. 8.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
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After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
- Countrywide mobile network shutdown, delayed results led to allegations of manipulation in Feb. 8, 2024 election
- Jamaat-e-Islami party to stage protest outside office of Election Commission of Pakistan in the port city of Karachi
Pakistan says it seized 32 square kilometers inside Afghanistan as border clashes escalate
- Security official describes ‘limited tactical action’ in Gudwana after Afghan assaults
- Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering militants as UN, China and Russia urge restraint
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area inside Afghanistan following overnight fighting, a security official said on Saturday, as cross-border clashes between the two countries escalated sharply.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said troops carried out a “limited tactical action” in the Gudwana area opposite the Zhob sector along the frontier, capturing Afghan territory after responding to attacks on Pakistani positions.
“On the night of Feb. 26/27, posts opposite the Zhob sector launched anticipated physical attacks on multiple Pakistani positions,” the official said, referring to fighters linked to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, whom Islamabad identifies as Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA).
“In response to aggressive unprovoked fire and physical attacks, Pakistan security forces launched a limited tactical action on the night of Feb. 27/28 in the general area of Gudwana with a view to capture TTA Tahir Post,” he continued, adding that 32 square kilometers of Afghan territory were seized.
The official said special combat teams crossed the border after preparatory bombardment, supported by intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets providing “real-time battlefield awareness.”
He said 24 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and 37 wounded, with no Pakistani casualties reported.
The claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate confirmation from Taliban authorities in Kabul of any territorial loss in the Gudwana area.
The latest clashes erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan over the weekend, triggering retaliatory fire along the frontier and sharply escalating long-running tensions. Islamabad accuses Kabul of sheltering Pakistani Taliban militants responsible for attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation that Afghanistan denies.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday evening that 352 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 535 wounded since the latest phase of hostilities began.
Tarar said Pakistani strikes had destroyed 130 check posts, 171 tanks and armored vehicles and targeted 41 locations across Afghanistan by air. Those figures could not be independently verified.
The United Nations, as well as China and Russia, have called for restraint.
The United States said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.
