Over 50 killed, dozens injured in accidents and shootings during Eid in northwest Pakistan

Rubaha, 8, watches from the entrance of her home as a buffalo is held down for sacrificial slaughter in celebration of Eid al-Adha in the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan, June 8, 2025. (REUTERS)
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Updated 09 June 2025
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Over 50 killed, dozens injured in accidents and shootings during Eid in northwest Pakistan

  • Fatalities occurred in road accidents, drownings, fires and gun violence across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Mardan and Peshawar districts reported the highest death tolls with 14 and 13 fatalities, respectively

PESHAWAR: At least 55 people were killed and 50 others injured in various incidents across Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during the three days of Eid Al-Adha, rescue officials said on Monday.

The fatalities were reported in traffic accidents, drowning incidents, fires and gun violence across multiple districts, including the provincial capital, Peshawar. The injured were taken to local hospitals for medical treatment, according to a statement released by Rescue 1122.

“The total number of deaths across the province during the Eid holidays has reached 55,” Shah Fahad, Director General of Rescue 1122 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said. “Fifty others were injured in shooting incidents and provided emergency medical aid.”

According to the data, Rescue 1122 responded to about 2,000 emergencies and provided medical assistance to 1,897 individuals across the province during Eid.

These included 1,400 medical emergencies, 349 traffic accidents, 112 fire incidents, six drowning cases and 50 crime-related incidents.

In Peshawar alone, the agency handled 418 emergency calls, including 43 road accidents, 338 medical cases, 20 fire incidents and eight gun-related injuries. A total of 431 patients were transported to hospitals in the city.

District-wise, the highest number of fatalities was reported in Mardan (14) and Peshawar (13).

Fire incidents on festive occasions in the province are often caused by barbecues or fireworks, while traffic accidents typically stem from congestion, reckless driving by youth and occasional road rage.

Drowning incidents occur when people visit rivers or lakes for boating without adequate safety measures, and gun-related injuries often result from either criminal activity or celebratory gunfire.

 


Imran Khan not a ‘national security threat,’ ex-PM’s party responds to Pakistan military

Updated 06 December 2025
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Imran Khan not a ‘national security threat,’ ex-PM’s party responds to Pakistan military

  • Pakistan’s military spokesperson on Friday described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat”
  • PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan says words used by military spokesperson for Khan were “not appropriate”

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday responded to allegations by Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry from a day earlier, saying that he was not a “national security threat.”

Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), spoke to journalists on Friday, in which he referred to Khan as a “mentally ill” person several times during the press interaction. Chaudhry described Khan’s anti-army narrative as a “national security threat.”

The military spokesperson was responding to Khan’s social media post this week in which he accused Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.” 

“The people of Pakistan stand with Imran Khan, they stand with PTI,” the party’s secretary-general, Salman Akram Raja, told reporters during a news conference. 

“Imran Khan is not a national security threat. Imran Khan has kept the people of this country united.”

Raja said there were several narratives in the country, including those that created tensions along ethnic and sectarian lines, but Khan had rejected all of them and stood with one that the people of Pakistan supported. 

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by Raja, criticized the military spokesperson as well, saying his press talk on Thursday had “severely disappointed” him. 

“The words that were used [by the military spokesperson] were not appropriate,” Gohar said. “Those words were wrong.”

NATURAL OUTCOME’

Speaking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif defended the military spokesperson’s remarks against Khan.

“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said. 

“The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”

Khan, who was ousted after a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, blames the country’s powerful military for removing him from power by colluding with his political opponents. Both deny the allegations. 

The former prime minister, who has been in prison since August 2023 on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, also alleges his party was denied victory by the army and his political rivals in the 2024 general election through rigging. 

The army and the government both deny his allegations.