Federally Administered Tribal Areas is all set to move from colonial laws to Pakistan constitution

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly is due to hold a session on 27 May to give its approval to the constitutional amendment passed by the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and KP provinces. FATA has been ruled under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a set of laws imposed by the British in 1901. (AP)
Updated 26 May 2018
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Federally Administered Tribal Areas is all set to move from colonial laws to Pakistan constitution

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly is due to hold a session next week to give its approval to the constitutional amendment passed by the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and KP provinces.

The KP government spokesman and lawmaker, Shaukat Yousafzai, said the KP Assembly would hold its session on on May 27. “During the session, we plan to discuss an amendment to let Malakand division remain a tax-free zone, although the merger plan mentions it as a tax zone.”

After the provincial assembly’s approval, the bill will go to the president of Pakistan, who will issue an executive order for the KP-FATA merger.

“Once the president issues the executive order, the political agents will become deputy commissioners and the levies personnel will take the role of police. Other bureaucrats can also be transferred and all this is possible within a month,” Shaukat said.


He added, however, that the future of the Frontier Constabulary is still uncertain. “The Frontier Constabulary is a force meant for Frontier Regions (FRs). It is yet to be decided whether they will also be made a regular police force or not,” he said.

The FATA Director of Information Secretariat, Abdul Salam Wazir, said that changing the roles of bureaucracy there plus postings and transfers can be done without much delay, "but some issues, such as land revenue records that do not exist in FATA at the moment, may take years," he added.

Rahim Shah Afridi, FATA Lawyers' Forum president, said that though the provincial assembly election would be held after one year and though preparing revenue records might take even more years, the major focus should nevertheless be on FATA development schemes.

“Our main concern now should be the 100-billion-rupee fund to be given to FATA so that it is used transparently for the area’s development,” he said.

FATA has been ruled under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a set of laws imposed by the British in 1901. The FCR gives all executive and judicial powers to the political administration of FATA under this law.

The FCR continued to exist in FATA after Pakistan was created in 1947.

During the Cold War, FATA was the main source of Afghan and Arab fighters during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. FATA witnessed a great deal of violence after 2002 and when the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emerged in the tribal belt, that prompted military operations by the Pakistan Army.


A look at troubled legacy of 1947 Partition creating India, Pakistan

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A look at troubled legacy of 1947 Partition creating India, Pakistan

  • In August 1947, Britain divided Indian Subcontinent into two countries, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, but left the fate of then princely state Kashmir undecided
  • Excitement over independence was quickly overshadowed by some of the worst bloodletting that left up to 1 million people dead as gangs of Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan’s latest military conflict has expanded, days after India carried out airstrikes in Pakistan that followed an attack by gunmen on tourists in India-controlled Kashmir last month.
The two nuclear-armed rivals have exchanged artillery shells, gunfire, missiles and drones, killing civilians on both sides and raising concerns of a wider war.
The fresh round of confrontation is yet another escalation of a decades-long conflict over the disputed Kashmir region that began after a bloody partition of India in 1947.
Here’s a look at the troubled legacy of Partition that has dictated the future course of India-Pakistan relations:
PARTITION CREATED TWO NEW NATIONS
In August 1947, Britain divided the Indian Sub-continent, its former colony, into two countries — Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. The fate of Kashmir — then a princely state — was left undecided.
Excitement over independence was quickly overshadowed by some of the worst bloodletting that left up to 1 million people dead as gangs of Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other.
IT DIVIDED MILLIONS OF FAMILIES
Creating two independent nations also tore apart millions of Hindu and Muslim families in one of the world’s largest peacetime migrations.
Many fled their homes and lost their property, never imagining that they would not be able to return.

A battery of Indian army artillery guns fire at the positions of Islamic guerillas in the Dras sector of Kashmir, June 1, 1999. (AP/File)

At least 15 million people were displaced.
BOTH NATIONS LAY CLAIM OVER KASHMIR
Within months, both India and Pakistan laid claim over Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region.
Kashmir’s Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent, but local armed uprisings flared in various parts of Kashmir, along with a raid by tribesmen from Pakistan. It forced the monarch to seek help from India, which offered military assistance on condition that the kingdom link itself to India.
The Indian military entered the region soon after, with the tribal raid spiraling into the first of two wars between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. That war ended in 1948 with a UN-brokered ceasefire. Kashmir was divided between the two young nations by the heavily militarized Ceasefire Line that was later named Line of Control.
A UN-sponsored vote that was promised to Kashmiris would have enabled the region’s people to decide whether to be part Pakistan or India. That vote has never been held.

Local residents examine their damaged house following overnight shelling from India, in Haveli Kahuta, a district of Azad Kashmir on May 9, 2025. (AP)

India and Pakistan fought another war, in 1965, and a limited conflict, in 1999, over Indian-controlled Kashmir.
INSURGENCY IN KASHMIR
Kashmiri discontent with Indian rule took root as successive governments reneged on a promise to allow a referendum while largely peaceful movements against Indian control were suppressed harshly.
By 1989, Indian-controlled Kashmir was in the throes of a full-blown rebellion.
India decries the rebellion as Islamabad’s proxy war and state-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies that.
Many Muslim Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle and support the rebel goal that the territory be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.


US asks India, Pakistan to ‘avoid miscalculation,’ China urges restraint amid spiraling standoff

Updated 35 min 17 sec ago
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US asks India, Pakistan to ‘avoid miscalculation,’ China urges restraint amid spiraling standoff

  • The development comes amid days of clashes between the neighbors, which began after Wednesday’s missile strikes by India deep inside Pakistan
  • Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes against India in wee hours of Saturday after Islamabad said Indian attacks had targeted three Pakistani air bases

ISLAMABAD: The Unites States (US) has asked Pakistan and China to “avoid miscalculation,” while China urged both its neighbors to exercise restrain, amid a rise in cross-border incursions by Pakistani and Indian militaries.
Rubio held separate telephonic conversations with Pakistani and Indian foreign ministers for the first known time since the conflict erupted, in a bid to lower tensions between the two nuclear-armed archfoes.
The development came amid reports that Pakistan’s prime minister had summoned on Saturday a meeting of the country’s top nuclear body, but Defense Minister Khawaja Asif denied any such move by Islamabad.
“Secretary Rubio emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” the US State Department said on Saturday.
“He further proposed US support in facilitating productive discussions to avert future disputes.”
Rubio’s call with the two FMs followed Pakistan’s retaliatory strikes against India early Saturday that targeted multiple military sites, including a missile storage facility, after Indian attacks on its air bases.
India said it targeted Pakistani military bases after Islamabad fired several “high-speed missiles” at multiple Indian bases in the country’s Punjab state. The claims could not be independently verified.
The latest escalation between Pakistan and India was triggered by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the assault, Islamabad denies the charge and has called for a credible, international investigation.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled only in part by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic republic of Pakistan. It has been the site of wars, insurgency and diplomatic standoffs over the decades.
Days of clashes between the two neighbors, which began after Wednesday’s missile strikes by New Delhi deep inside Pakistan, have killed nearly 50 people on both sides and brought the nuclear-armed arch-foes to the brink of a full-blown war.
Rubio separately held a telephonic conversation with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir in a bid to lower tensions between the two sides.
“He continued to urge both parties to find ways to deescalate and offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,” the State Department said.
Pakistan said that, before its retaliatory attacks, India had fired missiles at three air bases, including one close to the capital, Islamabad, but Pakistani air defenses intercepted most of them. Five civilians were killed in the latest strikes in the Jammu region of Indian-administered Kashmir, the regional police said.
Analysts and diplomats have long feared that a conflict between the arch-rivals could escalate into the use of nuclear weapons, in one of the world’s most dangerous and most populated nuclear flashpoint regions.
China, which borders both Pakistan and India, has urged the arch-foes to exercise restraint.
“We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
The Group of Seven (G7) major countries on Friday urged India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue toward a peaceful outcome,” the G7 statement said.
The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, Britain and the European Union said in a statement they “strongly condemn” an April 22 attack, which killed 26 people in India-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan, which denied the accusations and called for a neutral probe into the attack that has sparked the latest fighting between the two neighbors.
In recent years, India has been seen as an important partner by Western powers as a counter-balance to China’s rising influence. Pakistan is a US ally although its importance has diminished since Washington’s 2021 withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.


Pakistan says targeted Indian military sites, S-400 missile defense system in retaliation to attacks

Updated 10 May 2025
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Pakistan says targeted Indian military sites, S-400 missile defense system in retaliation to attacks

  • The two countries have been engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan
  • The latest conflict has alarmed world powers and Secretary Rubio has offered Pakistan army chief assistance in defusing crisis

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has targeted several Indian military sites and destroyed an S-400 missile defense system as part of ‘Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos,’ Pakistani military sources said on Saturday, after India reportedly fired missiles on three of its air bases.

Pakistani military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said India targeted Nur Khan, Shorkot and Murid air bases, adding that Pakistani air defense system had intercepted a majority of missiles and the few, which had sneaked in, did not cause any damage to Pakistan Air Force assets.

The two countries have been engaged in daily clashes since Wednesday, when India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan on what it called “terrorist infrastructure” over an attack in the disputed Kashmir region. It was difficult to independently verify the claims made by both sides.

“Brahmos storage site has been taken out in general area Bias. Attacks on various other places [in India] in progress. Pathan Kot Airfield, Udhampur Airforce Station hit,” a Pakistani military source said early Saturday.

“All those air bases wherefrom Pakistan was attacked are being attacked simultaneously.”

This screengrab, taken from a handout video released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on May 10, 2025, shows the launch site of missiles fired at India. (Photo courtesy: Handout/Screengrab)

The Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the military has its headquarters, is around 10 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad.

“Now you just wait for our response,” Chaudhry, the Pakistani military spokesman, said in televised remarks prior to Pakistan’s retaliatory attacks.

The Indian army said “multiple enemy drones were spotted flying over” a military cantonment in Amritsar in Punjab, a state adjoining India-administered Kashmir, and were “instantly engaged and destroyed by our air defense units.”

“Pakistan’s blatant escalation with drone strikes and other munitions continues along our western border,” it said on X.

Another Pakistani military source said “70 percent electricity grid of India has been made dysfunctional” through a cyberattack, a day after Pakistan’s economic affairs ministry’s X account was hacked and a post was published on it appealing to international partners for more loans.

The attack targeted websites, including those of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, Crime Research Investigation Agency, Mahanagar Telecommunication Company Limited, Bharat Earth Movers Limited, and the All India Naval Technical Supervisory Staff Association. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi in this regard.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors escalated this week as they both accused each other of violating airspaces by sending drones and other munitions, killing at least 48 people on both sides. The latest conflict was sparked by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22.

New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, Islamabad denies it and calls for a credible, international probe into the assault.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority on Saturday, Pakistani state media reported. The top body of civilian and military officials takes security decisions, including those related to the country’s nuclear arsenal.

 

Security personnel cordon off a road near Nur Khan military airbase after Indian strikes in Rawalpindi on May 10, 2025. (AFP)

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations. They have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a region split between them, since gaining independence from the former British colonial rule in 1947.

The ongoing conflict alarmed the world powers, including China, US and the United Kingdom who all have urged restraint.

United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir and urged both parties to find ways to deescalate and “offered US assistance in starting constructive talks in order to avoid future conflicts,” the State Department said.

The Group of Seven countries on Friday urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan and called on them to engage in direct dialogue. The United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, said on X they were monitoring the developments closely.


Pakistan ports face export backlog as India’s transit ban forces shipping lines to reroute

Updated 10 May 2025
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Pakistan ports face export backlog as India’s transit ban forces shipping lines to reroute

  • Shipping companies launch special feeder services via Colombo to handle cargo from Pakistan
  • Some international shipper are imposing up to $800 surcharge per container amid the situation

KARACHI: Pakistan is facing a “big backlog” of export containers at its ports after international shipping lines began bypassing the country, following India’s decision to block vessels carrying Pakistani cargo, officials and shipping documents confirmed to Arab News on Friday.
The disruption has led several global shipping companies to impose emergency operational surcharges on Pakistani cargo, citing the “significant impact” of regional geopolitical tensions on their operations.
The move is expected to raise shipping costs and, ultimately, consumer prices in Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people already grappling with economic challenges.
“The European shipping services are bypassing Pakistan ports after India’s ban on the transit of ships loaded with cargoes from Pakistan,” said Syed Tahir Hussain, Secretary General of the Pakistan Ship Agents Association (PSAA).
He accused New Delhi of attempting to undermine Pakistan’s recovering economy, which has shown signs of stabilization under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $7 billion loan program.
PSAA Chairman Mohammed A. Rajpar called India’s move “unwarranted” and against international conventions, saying it was designed to discourage shipping lines from calling at Pakistani ports.
The situation comes as Islamabad is attempting to break free from its boom-and-bust economic cycles by boosting exports, which rose 6 percent to $27 billion through April, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Until recently, many international shipping services transited Pakistani cargo through India’s largest ports — Mundra and Nhava Sheva — by loading what is termed Remaining On Board (ROB) freight.
However, India embargoed this practice last week, prompting several carriers to remove Pakistani ports from their routes and instead launch dedicated feeder services to handle trade valued at approximately $87 billion last year.
Most of Pakistan’s containerized cargo is handled through the South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) operated by CH Hutchison Holdings, Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) run by DP World and the Karachi Gateway Terminal managed by Abu Dhabi Ports Group.
“Some vessels carrying Pakistan’s exports sailed from QICT were not allowed berthing in India,” said Hussain, whose association represents over 50 international shipping lines.
“They had to divert to Dubai and other nearby ports,” he added, without specifying when the incident occurred.
Shipping documents seen by Arab News show that at least four vessels were denied entry by Indian authorities earlier this week due to “Karachi onboard cargo.” These ships were rerouted to Colombo in Sri Lanka and Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
Swiss carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping redirected all destination cargo via Colombo aboard its vessel MSC Positano V-JP526R, which had been scheduled to call at QICT on May 6.
This change, MSC said in a customer notice, was “due to the current geopolitical situation and restrictions on imports and exports via/from India.”
French shipping giant CMA CGM has removed Karachi from at least four of its service routes, citing the need to adjust operations to and from Pakistan.
“BIG BACKLOG” AT PORTS
Export congestion is building at Pakistani ports as hundreds of containers await shipment.
“There is big backlog,” said Khurram Mukhtar, Patron-in-Chief of the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA).
Textiles remain Pakistan’s largest export sector, contributing $17 billion last year.
Mukhtar noted that most shipping lines were now planning to route exports through Colombo, with system updates expected by Monday.
MSC has launched a “Pakistan-Colombo Shuttle Service,” a weekly feeder vessel that will transport export containers to Sri Lanka for onward connections to global destinations.
Amid the ongoing crisis, international shipping lines have begun imposing surcharges on Pakistani exporters and importers.
CMA CGM has introduced an Emergency Operational Recovery Surcharge (EORS) of up to $800 per container for shipments to the US, Latin America and Australia, effective from May 15 through June 6.
The French firm said the surcharge was necessary to maintain service reliability and safety during this period. CMA CGM operates more than 250 routes globally with a fleet of 650 vessels.
“Pakistan’s exports are suffering,” said a senior official at one of Pakistan’s major container terminals, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This will lead to the buildup of a huge container backlog at Pakistani ports,” the official said. “There will be issues like port demurrages. The shipping lines will be charging the consignees with detentions.”


Pakistan vows retaliation, saying three bases targeted by Indian missiles

Updated 10 May 2025
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Pakistan vows retaliation, saying three bases targeted by Indian missiles

  • Army says Nur Khan base, Murid base in Chakwal district and one in Shorkot targeted by Indian missiles
  • Reports came after Chaudhry said in sudden statement India fired ballistic missiles that fell in Indian territory

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Military Spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Saturday India had attacked multiple bases in Pakistan, vowing retaliation.

In the latest confrontation between the two longstanding enemies that began on Wednesday, India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites in Pakistan in retaliation for what it says was a deadly Islamabad-backed attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. Pakistan says it was not involved and denied that any of the sites hit by India were militant bases. It said it shot down five Indian aircraft on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s military said on Friday it shot down 77 drones from India at multiple locations, including the two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore, and the garrison city of Rawalpindi, home to the army’s headquarters.

On Saturday early morning, panic rang out in Pakistan as reports emerged that Pakistan Air Force’s Nur Khan base had been hit. 

The Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, where the military has its headquarters, is around 10 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad.

In televised remarks, the military spokesman said three bases, Nur Khan, PAF Base Murid, an operational flying base of the Pakistan Air Force located near the village of Murid in the Chakwal District of Punjab, and one in Shorkot, had been targeted by Indian missiles. 

“Now you just wait for our response,” Chaudhry said.

The reports came after Chaudhry said India fired ballistic missiles that fell in Indian territory, announcing it in a sudden statement on national broadcaster at 1:50 a.m. local time on Saturday (2050 GMT), with no details provided to support the claim.

“I want to give you the shocking news that India fired six ballistic missiles from Adampur. One of the ballistic missiles hit in Adampur, the rest of the five missiles hit in the Indian Punjab area of Amritsar,” the army’s spokesman said in his short video statement.

Amritsar’s district commissioner in a text message between Friday and Saturday said: 

“Don’t panic. Siren is sounding as we are under red alert. Do not panic, as before, keep lights off, move away from windows. We will inform you when ready to resume power supply.”

Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday’s conflagration, according to casualty estimates on both sides of the border that have not been independently verified.