ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Tuesday that Libyan authorities have recovered bodies of at least 16 Pakistani nationals who had died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast, while around 10 Pakistani citizens were still missing.
The boat capsized near the port of Marsa Dela in the northwest of Zawiya city in Libya, according to the Pakistani Foreign Office. It prompted the Pakistani government to activate a crisis management cell to confirm if any Pakistanis were on board.
A team from the Pakistani embassy in Tripoli visited the Zawiya city on Tuesday and met local officials and hospital authorities, and the Foreign Office, citing unconfirmed reports, said the boat was carrying 63 Pakistani nationals.
“So far, 16 dead bodies have been recovered and their Pakistani nationalities established on the basis of their passports,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
“There are 37 survivors, including 1 in hospital and 33 in police custody. Reportedly, around 10 Pakistanis are missing in the accident. Three of the survivors are in Tripoli and being looked after by the [Pakistani] embassy.”
It said the Pakistani embassy in Tripoli was in the process of gathering further information from local authorities.
The latest tragedy comes weeks after at least 13 Pakistanis died when a boat carrying 86 migrants to Europe capsized near the coast of Morocco on Jan. 16.
Each year, thousands of Pakistanis pay traffickers large sums for risky and illegal journeys to Europe, hoping to find work and send money back to their families. Many also take these perilous routes to escape conflicts and religious persecution.
Following the tragedy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for strict action against people involved in human trafficking, saying that no negligence would be tolerated in this regard. He expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and assured that the government was undertaking comprehensive measures to combat the crime.
“The prime minister has requested a report on the incident from the relevant authorities,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on human trafficking rings facilitating dangerous sea journeys for migrants, as many of its nationals frequently drown on overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean, the world’s deadliest migrant route.
In 2023, 262 Pakistanis were among the hundreds who died when a vessel sank off Greece’s Pylos. Recently, five Pakistanis perished in a shipwreck near Gavdos on Dec. 14.
Bodies of 16 Pakistanis recovered after shipwreck off Libya, Foreign Office says
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Bodies of 16 Pakistanis recovered after shipwreck off Libya, Foreign Office says
- The boat carrying over 60 Pakistanis capsized near port of Marsa Dela in northwest of Libya’s Zawiya city
- Libyan authorities have rescued 37 people, while around 10 Pakistanis are still missing after the incident
Bangladesh treads carefully as it explores closer defense ties with Pakistan
- Air force chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh discussed potential defense pact last week
- Dhaka says plan to procure fighter jets still in early stages, discussions ongoing with several countries
DHAKA: Bangladesh appears to be moving with caution as Dhaka and Islamabad forge closer ties and explore a potential defense deal, experts said on Friday.
Following decades of acrimonious ties, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have been growing since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Talks on a potential defense deal covering the sale of Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets to Dhaka emerged after Bangladesh’s Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan visit to Rawalpindi last week, where he met with his Pakistani counterpart Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of defense forces.
Bangladesh’s military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said the procurement of fighter jets for the Bangladesh Air Force is “in the very rudimentary level,” and currently “under an evaluation process.”
“The evaluation process will determine which country’s offer proves befitting for us. The Air Chief’s visit to Pakistan is part of the evaluation process … earlier he visited China, Italy (too),” ISPR Director Lt. Col. Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury told Arab News.
“Discussions are underway with different countries. Nothing concrete has come yet.”
Talks between the high-ranking military officials are the latest development in Bangladesh-Pakistan ties, which have included resumption of direct trade for the first time since the 1971 war and the expected launch of a regular route from Dhaka to Karachi at the end of this month, following over a decade of suspension.
Though efforts to expand relations can be seen from both sides, the current interim government of Bangladesh led by economist and Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been “showing some kind of pragmatism,” said Prof. Delwar Hossain of Dhaka University’s international relations department.
“Bangladesh is stepping very cautiously in comparison with the advancement from the Pakistan side. Bangladesh is trying to make a balanced approach,” he told Arab News.
“The present government is always saying that the development of a relationship with Pakistan doesn’t necessarily mean that Bangladesh is moving toward a particular camp. Rather, Bangladesh is interested in having a balanced relationship with all the great powers.”
Trade and economy are “naturally” more preferable areas of cooperation for Dhaka, Hossain said, adding that “we need more time to determine” how far military cooperation will be expanded.
Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, a defense expert and retired air officer of Bangladesh Air Force, said that Bangladesh is “very much in need of advanced aircraft” because its military has not procured new fighter jets in at least two decades.
“Air frigate fighters are badly needed for the Bangladesh Air Force. We had some F-7 produced by China, but they stopped producing these fighters nowadays. Here, Pakistan can be a source for our fighter jets, but it involves … geopolitics,” he told Arab News, alluding to how Dhaka’s defense ties with Pakistan may be perceived by its archrival neighbor India.
Pakistan’s JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft jointly developed with China, has drawn international interest following its success last May, when Pakistani and Indian forces engaged in their worst fighting since 1999.
Islamabad said it shot down several Indian fighter jets during the aerial combat, a claim Indian officials later acknowledged after initially denying any losses, but without specifying the number of jets downed.
“We shouldn’t also forget that both India and Pakistan are at each other’s foot. Here, our friendship with Pakistan shouldn’t go at the cost of our friendship with India,” Choudhury said.
“With this (potential) defense purchase deal with Pakistan, we have to remain very cautious so that it proves sustainable in the long term.”
