SRINAGAR: Tens of thousands of angry protesters poured into the streets more than a dozen times in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday, hurling rocks and shouting anti-India slogans after soldiers killed four civilians and two suspected militants. Government forces responded with tear gas.
The overnight shooting at a military checkpoint threatened to spark even more unrest in a region that in recent years has seen renewed rebel attacks and repeated public protests against Indian rule.
The authorities had put parts of the highly militarized region under lockdown after the late Sunday night shooting, deploying soldiers and riot police, shutting schools and Internet service and ordering people off the streets in some places in an attempt to derail protests.
But widespread anger, along with funerals for the six victims and separatist calls for a business shutdown, helped ignite angry demonstrations.
Many protests centered around the town of Shopian, where the shooting occurred, a region of mountain forests and apple orchards.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the protests.
The trouble began late Sunday night, when officials say a car refused to stop at a checkpoint outside a Shopian military base and militants inside fired at the soldiers.
Indian army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said a rebel and three civilians were killed when soldiers fired back. A fourth civilian’s body was recovered from a nearby car, officials said, and the body of another rebel was found a few kilometers (miles) away.
Authorities said he was injured in the shooting and died later.
Kalia called the slain civilians “over-ground workers,” a term that Indian security forces use for people who give support to the rebels.
Police, though, were careful not to use that term, calling them simply “young men” and saying they were investigating the incident. However, Kashmir’s top elected official, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, termed them “civilians.” In a tweet, Mufti said she was “deeply distressed by more deaths of civilians caught in the crossfire in Shopian.”
But across the region, most people believed all were killed in cold blood. The soldiers “shoot even at shadows, and they’re employing every tactic to suppress people,” said Bashir Ahmed, a Shopian resident.
Separatists challenging Indian sovereignty over Kashmir called for a strike after the shooting, and shops and businesses slammed shut across the region.
Top separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called the army’s version “propaganda and lies” and said the soldiers had “let loose mayhem” at Shopian.
Authorities cut cellphone Internet service in the most restive towns, and reduced connection speeds in other parts of the Kashmir Valley, a common government practice to calm tensions and prevent anti-India demonstrations from being organized.
Officials also ordered schools and colleges closed until Wednesday and suspended rail service in the region.
At one of the funerals for the dead rebels, soldiers fired in the air to disperse thousands of mourners in a village in the Shopian area. No one was reported injured.
In January, anti-India protests erupted across Kashmir after soldiers killed three civilians during clashes in the same area.
Indian troops are covered by controversial powers that shield them from prosecution while serving in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, army and paramilitary officers can search homes and make arrests without warrants, shoot at people suspected of being separatists and blow up buildings or homes on suspicion that insurgents are using them.
Rights activists accuse Indian troops in Kashmir of routinely misusing their power, killing civilians in staged confrontations for promotions or rewards and to suppress public sentiment against Indian rule. Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India, with both nations claiming the entire region.
Rebels have been fighting Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
Protests rock Kashmir after deadly shooting by Indian troops
Protests rock Kashmir after deadly shooting by Indian troops
Pakistan PM says UAE has agreed to extend $2 billion debt due this month
- Shehbaz Sharif met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in southern Punjab on Sunday
- UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner and a major source of foreign investment for Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the federal cabinet on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed to roll over $2 billion in debt for Pakistan due this month, days after he held a one-on-one meeting with the Gulf country’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
Sharif met the UAE president in Pakistan’s Rahim Yar Khan city on Sunday where they discussed a wide range of issues such as economic collaboration, regional stability, climate change, and the promotion of mutual interests on the global stage, Sharif’s office had said.
The UAE has rolled over its $2 billion deposits with Pakistan’s central bank since 2023, helping the South Asian country shore up its foreign exchange reserves, strengthen its currency and secure financial bailouts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking to members of his cabinet, Sharif told them that during his one-on-one meeting with the UAE president, Al-Nayhan told him that Pakistan’s payment of the $2 billion loan was due in January.
“So, he said we [UAE] are happy that we are extending it,” Sharif said. “He proposed it himself and I thanked him.”
The Pakistani premier said he had requested Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to proceed with the UAE in this regard so that Islamabad can “take forward our matters related to investment with them.”
He said the UAE president had also spoken to him about enhancing bilateral ties and investment-related matters between the two countries.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States (US), and a major source of foreign investment, valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE foreign ministry.
It is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates. Policymakers in Pakistan consider the UAE an optimal export destination due to its geographical proximity, which minimizes transportation and freight costs while facilitating commercial transactions.
In January last year, Pakistan and the UAE signed multiple agreements worth more than $3 billion for cooperation in railways, economic zones and infrastructure, a Pakistani official said, amid Pakistani caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar’s visit to Davos, Switzerland to attend 54th summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Pakistan expresses condolences as powerful Tibet earthquake kills at least 95
- Magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes near one of Tibet’s holiest cities, injuring at least 130
- Southwestern parts of China, Nepal and northern India are frequently hit by earthquakes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan expressed condolences to China on Tuesday after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities, killing at least 95 people and injuring 130.
The earthquake struck at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT), with its epicenter located in Tingri, a rural Chinese county at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. The US Geological Service put the quake’s magnitude at 7.1.
At least 95 people had been killed and 130 injured on the Tibetan side, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported, as rescue operations continue.
“Pakistan expresses heartfelt condolences over the tragic loss of lives caused by the earthquake in Xizang,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement. “We extend our support to the people and government of China in their relief efforts.”
The foreign office said Pakistan’s thoughts were with the persons who were injured or reported missing due to the earthquake.
“We also extend best wishes for the ongoing rescue operations,” it said.
Southwestern parts of China, Nepal and northern India are frequently hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
A magnitude 7.8 tremor struck near Katmandu in 2015, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands in Nepal’s worst ever earthquake. Among the dead were at least 18 people killed at the Mount Everest base camp when it was smashed by an avalanche.
With additional input from Reuters
Pakistan’s star batter Saim Ayub departs for London for urgent treatment
- Ayub suffered fracture in his right ankle last week while fielding against South Africa
- Pakistan are scheduled to face New Zealand in Champions Trophy opener on Feb. 19
ISLAMABAD: Star left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub has departed for London from Cape Town for urgent medical treatment, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday, as Pakistan races to get him fit ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament scheduled to kick off in February.
Ayub suffered a right ankle fracture while fielding in the second Test against South Africa at Newlands last week, with the injury ruling him out of competitive cricket for six weeks.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced on Monday that the board will send Ayub to London for medical treatment, hoping that he can be fit in time for the multi-nation Champions Trophy tournament scheduled to begin in February.
“Ayub and Assistant Coach Azhar Mahmood depart from Cape Town to London,” the PCB said. “On the instructions of PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, expert sports orthopedic doctors from England will check on Ayub tomorrow.”
It quoted Naqvi as saying that Ayub was a “valuable asset” for Pakistan cricket and that “all resources will be provided” for his treatment.
“I pray for Ayub’s full recovery,” he said. “I am in constant touch with the doctors regarding Ayub’s health.”
Ayub has cemented his place in Pakistan’s white-ball squad over the past few months. He was instrumental in Pakistan’s 3-0 whitewash over South Africa in the recently concluded ODI series last month. Ayub scored two ODI centuries in the three matches, winning Player of the Series award for his stellar contributions.
Pakistan will play the Champions Trophy tournament opener on Feb. 19 against New Zealand in the eastern city of Lahore.
Pakistan raises alarm at Sudan’s worsening food security situation, calls for ceasefire
- United Nations-backed committee’s report in December outlined famine in five areas of Sudan
- Twenty-month-long war between Sudanese army, paramilitary group has killed over 24,000 people
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram this week raised alarm at the Security Council over the worsening food security situation in Sudan, urging both warring parties to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as civil war in the African country rages on.
The UN-backed Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published a report last month outlining famine in five areas, including in Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam, in North Darfur province. The IPC’s report also warned that famine will likely spread to another five areas— Um Kadadah, Melit, el-Fasher, Tawisha and Al-Lait, by May 2025.
Sudanese people have suffered due to a 20-month war between the army and a paramilitary group that has killed over 24,000 and driven over 14 million people from their homes, according to the UN. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, to escape the horrors of the conflict.
Akram said on Monday that Pakistan was “deeply grieved” by the current ordeal of the people in Sudan by the war.
“We call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” Akram said. “The parties need to find a sustainable political resolution to the conflict through dialogue. It will not be resolved on the battlefield. War will only bring more death and destruction for the Sudanese people.”
He said that the worsening food security situation in the country is “alarming,” noting that over 24.6 million people in Sudan face high levels of acute food insecurity.
“We have reviewed the 24th December report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC),” he said. “We note that the Sudanese government has questioned the IPC’s malnutrition data and assessment and its ability to collect data from conflict zones and those controlled by the Rapid Security Forces. These views need to be taken into account.”
The Pakistani envoy urged the international community to work with the Sudanese government in addressing the humanitarian crisis in the country, calling on Sudanese authorities to facilitate the delivery of aid to the needy.
“We appreciate the recent steps taken by the Sudanese authorities in opening additional air, sea and land borders for humanitarian aid and extending the Adre border crossing, which has brought some improvement in the humanitarian situation,” Akram noted.
The Pakistani ambassador called on the international community to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and bridge the 36 percent funding gap for humanitarian appeals relating to Sudan.
“The international community must unite to support a common vision for return to peace and normalcy in Sudan,” he said. “Foreign interference in the internal conflict of Sudan must stop. The UNSC arms embargo on Sudan must be respected.”
As the war reached its peak in April 2023, Pakistan joined other countries in evacuating its nationals from Sudan, rescuing about 1,000 people from the African nation.
German diplomat found dead at his residence in Pakistan’s capital
- Preliminary reports suggest diplomat previously experienced minor heart attack, says state media
- Thomas Jurgen Bielefeld was serving as second secretary at Germany’s embassy in Islamabad
KARACHI: A German diplomat was found dead in his residence located in Islamabad’s heavily guarded Diplomatic Enclave on Monday, state-run media reported, saying that preliminary reports suggest he had previously suffered a heart attack.
Thomas Jurgen Bielefeld, 58, was serving as the second secretary at the German Embassy in Islamabad. His body was discovered after embassy staff raised concerns about his two-day absence from work, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.
The state media reported that the German embassy staff broke into his apartment and found him unresponsive, following which the authorities were notified.
“He [police spokesperson] said the body was taken to the Polyclinic Hospital, where a post-mortem examination was conducted to ascertain the cause of death,” APP said. “Preliminary investigations suggested that the diplomat had previously experienced a minor heart attack, which could potentially be linked to his cause of death.”
APP said the German embassy was in touch with Pakistani authorities and its officials were cooperating with the investigation.
“Further investigations are underway to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident,” APP quoted the police spokesperson as saying.
Pakistan’s English language newspaper Dawn quoted the police as saying that the diplomat was found “dead with his eyes, nose and mouth bleeding at his residence located in Karakoram Heights.”
The report added that the diplomat last used the WhatsApp messaging platform at 7:44 p.m. on Saturday.
