ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Ishaq Dar announced the government has arranged three commercial flights to repatriate around 540 Pakistani students from Bishkek today, Sunday, following violent clashes in the city this week that led to the evacuations.

The development took place after frenzied mobs attacked foreign nationals in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Friday. The attacks began after videos of a brawl between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students went viral on social media, prompting furious mobs to target hostels of medical universities and private lodgings of international students, including Pakistanis, in the city.

The first batch of around 130 Pakistani students arrived in Lahore late Saturday night. According to official statistics, around 10,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in various educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan, with nearly 6,000 residing and studying in Bishkek.

“Three commercial special flights have been arranged for today (Sunday) on which 540 students will come back while 130 returned yesterday,” Dar told reporters during a media briefing in Lahore.

“A special flight of Pakistan Air Force will also bring around 130 students. So far, 50 students have registered themselves to come on this flight,” he added.

Dar said he spoke with the foreign minister of Kyrgyzstan today, Sunday, who assured him that the situation in the country was under control and that no new incidents had occurred since Friday afternoon.

“Kyrgyz foreign minister has confirmed that 16 foreign students including four to five Pakistanis got injured during this incident and are under treatment,” Dar said.

He added that Kyrgyzstan’s government has also assured that security at students’ hostels has been enhanced and that they were constantly monitoring the situation.

Earlier on Saturday evening, the PM’s Office said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed Dar and another cabinet member, Amir Muqam, to travel to Bishkek on Sunday and address the situation there.

Dar said they were not traveling to the country at the Kyrgyzstan government’s request, adding that Pakistan has instead sent two officers from the foreign office to facilitate the country’s embassy.

“We were supposed to leave today for the Kyrgyz republic but their foreign minister requested [us] not to come because it would give the wrong impression about the incident and would provide fuel to the opposition,” Dar said.

He said Kyrgyzstan’s foreign minister has categorically denied any Pakistani students were killed in the clashes.

“Their (Kyrgyzstan) foreign minister also said they have arrested a few culprits and assured that no one involved will be spared,” the deputy prime minister said.

Dar said Pakistan’s foreign office had summoned the Kyrgyz Charge d’Affaires to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday for a demarche over the current situation.

“It [violence] happened due to a clash between students and foreign students were targeted from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Arab countries,” he said.

Dar said Pakistan’s embassy had confirmed the situation is not tense anymore and that Pakistanis injured are being provided the best possible medical facilities.

Separately, in a telephone call with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Hasan Ali Zaigham, PM Sharif instructed the embassy to make the necessary arrangements for the special plane to bring back Pakistani students.

The prime minister said injured Pakistani students should be brought back to Pakistan on a priority basis.

“The Prime Minister also instructed to ensure repatriation of family members residing in Kyrgyzstan with the Pakistani students,” PMO said.

ISLAMABAD: The counting of votes was underway after polling ended for a by-election in National Assembly constituency, NA-148, in Pakistan’s Multan on Sunday, state-run media reported.

Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani won the NA-148 seat in Multan in the contentious Feb. 8 national election. However, Gillani vacated the seat after he was elected to the post of Senate chairman in April.

Polling for Sunday’s by-election began at 8am and continued uninterrupted till 5pm. The constituency has a total of 444,231 registered voters, and 275 polling stations and 933 polling booths were set up for the exercise.

“Counting of votes is underway after polling for bye-election in NA-148 Multan-1 concluded at 5:00 pm,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

Eight candidates including the ex-PM Imran Khan-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) leader Taimur Malik and Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Ali Qasim Gillani, were vying for the seat.

Authorities made comprehensive security arrangements free, fair and transparent conduct of polls in the constituency.

Pakistan’s national election on Feb. 8 was marred by a countrywide shutdown of mobile phone services. The results of the polls, which were declared unfair by Khan and his party, threw up a hung parliament in which no political party emerged with the majority to form its government.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which formed the largest bloc in the National Assembly after winning over 90 seats, said it won a two-thirds majority but was denied victory by Pakistan’s election regulator, accusing it of manipulating votes.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied the allegations and so did the caretaker government.