ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Hajj mission in Saudi Arabia has received nearly 8,890 pilgrims in Madinah, state media reported on Saturday, adding that 3,300 more were expected to arrive by the end of the day.
Pakistan launched its Hajj flights on April 29. For the first 15 days of the operation, pilgrims will continue to arrive in Madinah. Afterward, incoming pilgrims will land in Jeddah and travel directly to Makkah.
“The Pakistan Hajj Mission has so far received approximately 8,890 intending Pakistani pilgrims in Madinah by Saturday, who arrived through 35 flights operated by various airlines from major cities of Pakistan to perform their religious obligation under the government scheme,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
“As many as 12 flights, carrying 3,300 more pilgrims, are scheduled to arrive in the holy City Madinah on Saturday,” it added.
Pilgrims from across the world are converging in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, which begins on the 8th of Dhu Al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar.
The first groups of Pakistani pilgrims are scheduled to depart for Makkah on May 7 after completing their eight-day stay in Madinah. Departures will follow the sequence of their arrival in the city, according to the religious affairs ministry.
Under the single-route system, all Pakistani pilgrims arriving in Madinah will proceed to Makkah for Hajj before returning to Pakistan via Jeddah.
Pilgrims flying directly to Makkah will later visit Madinah before departing for home.
Upon reaching Makkah, pilgrims will perform their first obligatory Umrah, according to the ministry.
Over 8,800 Pakistani pilgrims in Madinah with 3,300 more expected today — state media
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Over 8,800 Pakistani pilgrims in Madinah with 3,300 more expected today — state media
- The first groups of Pakistani pilgrims are scheduled to depart for Makkah on May 7
- Pilgrims going directly to Makkah will visit Madinah after performing Hajj rituals
Pakistan says nine militants killed in security operations in northwest
- The intelligence-based operations were conducted in Tank and Lakki Marwat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Military says the counterterrorism campaign is being pursued under the framework of the National Action Plan
PESHAWAR: Security forces in Pakistan said on Saturday they killed nine militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in two intelligence-based operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan refers to fighters of the TTP, an umbrella group of various armed factions, as “khwarij,” a term from early Islamic history used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against authority. The military also alleges the group receives arms and funding from the Indian government, a charge New Delhi denies.
The two operations were carried out on Dec. 5 in the volatile districts of Tank and Lakki Marwat, according to a statement from the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“On reported presence of khwarij, an intelligence-based operation was conducted by the Security Forces in Tank District,” the statement said. “During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell.”
“Another intelligence-based operation was conducted in Lakki Marwat District,” it added. “In ensuing fire exchange, two more khwarij were effectively neutralized by the security forces.”
ISPR said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, whom it described as “Indian sponsored” and accused of involvement in attacks on security personnel, law enforcement agencies and civilians.
It said follow-up “sanitization operations” were under way as part of the country’s counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee of the National Action Plan, which aims to eliminate what it called foreign-supported militant threats in the country.
