QUETTA/PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least 29 people near a polling centre as Pakistanis voted on Wednesday in a knife-edge general election pitting cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Neither Khan nor Sharif is likely to win a clear majority in the too-close-to-call election, with results likely to be known by around 2 a.m. local time on Thursday (2100 GMT Wednesday).
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack that hospital officials said killed 29 people and wounded 35 in the western city of Quetta. Security sources said the bomber drove his motorcycle into a police vehicle.
About 106 million people were registered to vote in polls which closed at 6 p.m (1300 GMT).
Sharif's party had called for voting to be extended by an hour, saying people were still lining up and could be turned away without casting ballots. TV channels said election officials denied the request.
About 371,000 soldiers have been stationed at polling stations across the country, nearly five times the number deployed at the last election in 2013.
Earlier this month, a suicide bomber killed 149 people at an election rally in the town of Mastung in Baluchistan province. That attack was also claimed by Islamic State militants.
Khan has emerged as a slight favourite in national opinion polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country's most populous province, where Sharif's party has clung to its lead in recent surveys.
The election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan's favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month.
"Imran Khan is the only hope to change the destiny of our country. We are here to support him in his fight against corruption," said Tufail Aziz, 31, after casting his ballot in the north-western city of Peshawar.
ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADER
Whichever party wins, it will face a mounting and urgent in-tray, from a brewing economic crisis to worsening relations with on-off ally the United States to deepening cross-country water shortages.
An anti-corruption crusader, Khan has promised an "Islamic welfare state" and cast his populist campaign as a battle to topple a predatory political elite hindering development in the impoverished mostly-Muslim nation of 208 million people, where the illiteracy rate hovers above 40 percent.
"This is the most important election in Pakistan's history," Khan, 65, said after casting his vote in the capital, Islamabad.
"I ask everyone today - be a citizen, cherish this country, worry about this country, use your vote."
Khan has staunchly denied allegations by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party that he is getting help from the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its history and still sets key security and foreign policy in the nuclear-armed nation. The army has also dismissed allegations of meddling in the election.
STRUGGLE TO WIN
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has inched ahead of PML-N in recent national polls, but even if it gets the most votes, it will likely struggle to win a majority of the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly, raising the prospect of weeks of haggling to form a messy coalition government.
Such a delay could further imperil Pakistan's economy, with a looming currency crisis expected to force the new government to turn to the International Monetary Fund for Pakistan's second bailout since 2013. PTI has not ruled out seeking succour from China, Islamabad's closest ally.
Sharif's PML-N has sought to turn the vote into a referendum on Pakistan's democracy, and has said it was campaigning to protect the "sanctity of the vote", a reference to a history of political interference by the military.
"I voted for PML-N because of Nawaz Sharif's struggle for the rule of constitution and supremacy of the parliament," said Punjab voter Muhamad Waseem Shahzad, 41, a farmer. "We want to get rid of the system that steals peoples' mandate."
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has been overtaken by Khan's PTI as the main challenger to PML-N, has also alleged intimidation by spy agencies.
Sharif's PML-N has been touting its delivery of mega infrastructure projects, especially roads and power stations that helped hugely reduce electricity blackouts, as proof the country is on the path to prosperity.
"If we get the opportunity, we will change the destiny of Pakistan," said Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz and the PML-N president, as he cast his vote in Lahore. "We will bring an end to unemployment, eradicate poverty and promote education".
PML-N's campaign was reinvigorated by the return to Pakistan of Nawaz Sharif, 68, who was earlier this month convicted and sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison over the purchase of upscale London apartments using offshore companies in the mid-1990s. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The election will be only the second civilian transfer of power in Pakistan's 71-year history.
Counting begins in knife-edge Pakistani elections marred by suicide bomb
Counting begins in knife-edge Pakistani elections marred by suicide bomb
- Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has inched ahead of PML-N in recent national polls, but even if it gets the most votes
- The election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan's favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif
Bangladesh investigators say ousted PM behind deadly crackdown
- “Investigation team has found Sheikh Hasina culpable in at least five charges,” chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal said
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina masterminded a deadly crackdown on mass protests that prompted her ouster last year, prosecutors at a domestic war crimes tribunal said Monday.
Up to 1,400 people died in July 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the opposition, according to the United Nations.
Hasina lives in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled by helicopter, and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity.
“The investigation team has found Sheikh Hasina culpable in at least five charges,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters.
“They have brought charges of abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.”
Tajul Islam said the prosecution had submitted its first report to be presented at the court set to try Hasina and two of her aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-police chief Abdullah Al Mamun.
“Sheikh Hasina directly ordered law enforcement agencies and auxiliary forces aligned with her party to kill and maim, and to burn corpses and even people who were still alive at certain points,” he added.
The ICT was set up in 2009 by Hasina to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971.
Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina’s phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe.
Bangladesh’s interim government on Saturday banned Hasina’s party, the Awami League, pending the outcome of the trial.
The decision was taken to ensure the country’s “sovereignty and security” as well as the safety of the protesters, plaintiffs and witnesses of the tribunal, Asif Nazrul, a government adviser on law and justice, told reporters.
Bangladesh has requested India to extradite her but has not yet received a response.
Indonesia puts spotlight on Palestine as Jakarta hosts meeting with OIC states
- Delegations representing member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, attending conference
- Indonesian government sees Palestinian statehood as being mandated by constitution
JAKARTA: Indonesia began hosting a meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States on Monday with a special focus on the situation in Gaza, as Jakarta seeks to strategize efforts for Palestine among Muslim countries.
Representatives from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s member countries are in Jakarta for the 19th Session of the PUIC Conference, which is being hosted by Indonesia’s House of Representatives from May 12-15.
Delegations have arrived from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, and Egypt, among other countries.
Discussions during the three-day event will cover Palestine and particularly Gaza, where 19 months of Israeli attacks have killed more than 52,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of the territory’s civilian infrastructure, while Tel Aviv continues to block humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.
“I raised Palestine as one of the main topics during the opening session. And everyone agreed to continue fighting for Palestinian independence and to punish Zionist Israel for brutality and genocide,” Mardani Ali Sera, head of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation, or BKSAP, said in a statement.
The focus on Palestine had been raised in the weeks leading up to the conference by Indonesian officials, who saw the meeting as an opportunity to coordinate collective action.
“We are all here to talk about the situation in Gaza, how we can help the people of Palestine in various aspects,” BKSAP deputy head Muhammad Husein Fadlulloh said.
“But what’s more important is how we can unite our strategies so that the international community, outside of OIC, will also support this fight.”
A staunch supporter of Palestine, the Indonesian government and its people see Palestinian statehood as being mandated by its own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.
Since Israel began its assault on Gaza, Indonesians have shown their support of Palestine through a series of mass demonstrations, organized boycotts and solidarity campaigns.
Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon, who hosted a cultural dinner with OIC member states ahead of the start of the conference, is among those calling for more action on Palestine, including a permanent ceasefire.
“Our efforts must also be intensified to champion Palestinian independence and (a) permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” he said in a speech on Sunday, addressing representatives of OIC countries.
“Collective steps to contribute to international peace and security is a necessity, not an option. We must promote the Islamic values of peace and equality, ensuring that the voice of the voiceless are heard, the right to self-determination is fulfilled and that cultural justice triumphs.”
UK veterans break silence on ‘barbaric’ killings in Iraq, Afghanistan
- Unlawful executions ‘became routine,’ ex-special forces members tell BBC
- Veteran: ‘Everyone knew. There was implicit approval for what was happening’
LONDON: British special forces allegedly carried out a pattern of war crimes going back more than a decade to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, former members have told the BBC.
Breaking years of silence to provide eyewitness accounts to the “Panorama” investigative program, multiple veterans reported that their colleagues had killed people in their sleep, executed detainees — including children — and planted weapons to justify the murders.
The two units at the center of the reports are the British Army’s Special Air Service and Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service, the country’s top special forces units.
One SAS veteran who served in Afghanistan said: “They handcuffed a young boy and shot him. He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age.”
The eyewitness accounts relate to allegations of war crimes that took place more than a decade ago, far longer than the scope of a public inquiry into the allegations now being carried out in the UK, which is examining a three-year period.
The SAS veteran told “Panorama” that the execution of detainees by British special forces “became routine.”
Soldiers would “search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them,” before “planting a pistol” by the body, he added.
British and international law only permits deliberate killing when enemy combatants pose a direct threat to the lives of troops or other people.
An SBS veteran told the program that some troops suffered from a “mob mentality,” causing them to behave “barbarically.”
He added: “I saw the quietest guys switch, show serious psychopathic traits. They were lawless. They felt untouchable.”
The “Panorama” investigation includes witness testimony from more than 30 people who served with or alongside British special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another SAS veteran said: “Sometimes we’d check we’d identified the target, confirm their ID, then shoot them. Often the squadron would just go and kill all the men they found there.”
Killing became “an addictive thing to do,” another SAS Afghanistan veteran said, adding that some soldiers in the elite regiment were “intoxicated by that feeling.”
He said: “On some operations, the troops would go into guesthouse-type buildings and kill everyone there.
“They’d go in and shoot everyone sleeping there, on entry. It’s not justified, killing people in their sleep.”
One veteran recalled an execution in Iraq, saying: “It was pretty clear from what I could glean that he posed no threat, he wasn’t armed. It’s disgraceful. There’s no professionalism in that.”
Awareness of the alleged war crimes was not confined to individual units or teams, veterans told “Panorama.”
Within the command structure of the British special forces, “everyone knew” what was taking place, one veteran said.
“I’m not taking away from personal responsibility, but everyone knew,” he added. “There was implicit approval for what was happening.”
In order to cover up the killings, some SAS and SBS members went as far as carrying “drop weapons,” such as Kalashnikovs, to plant at the scene of executions.
These would be photographed alongside the dead and included in post-operational reports, which were often falsified.
One veteran said: “We understood how to write up serious incident reviews so they wouldn’t trigger a referral to the military police.
“If it looked like a shooting could represent a breach of the rules of conflict, you’d get a phone call from the legal adviser or one of the staff officers in HQ.
“They’d pick you up on it and help you to clarify the language. ‘Do you remember someone making a sudden move?’ ‘Oh yeah, I do now.’ That sort of thing. It was built into the way we operated.”
The investigation also revealed that David Cameron, UK prime minister at the time of the alleged war crimes, was repeatedly warned about the killings by then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
He “consistently, repeatedly mentioned this issue,” former Afghan National Security Adviser Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta told the program.
Gen. Douglas Lute, a former US ambassador to NATO, said Karzai was “so consistent with his complaints about night raids, civilian casualties and detentions that there was no senior Western diplomat or military leader who would have missed the fact that this was a major irritant for him.”
In response to the gathering of new witness testimony by “Panorama,” the UK’s Ministry of Defense said it is “fully committed” to supporting the public inquiry into the alleged war crimes. It urged all veterans with knowledge relating to the allegations to come forward.
US, China agree to slash tariffs in trade war de-escalation
- The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days
GENEVA: The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
After their first talks since US President Donald Trump launched his trade war, the world’s two biggest economies agreed in a joint statement to bring their triple-digit tariffs down to two figures and continue negotiations.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and international trade representative Li Chenggang as “productive” and “robust.”
“Both sides showed a great respect,” Bessent told reporters.
US President Donald Trump had imposed duties of 145 percent on imports for China last month — compared to 10 percent for other countries in the global tariff blitz he launched last month.
Beijing hit back with duties of 125 percent on US goods.
Bessent said the two sides agreed to reduce those tariffs by 115 percentage points, taking US tariffs to 30 percent and those by China to 10 percent.
In their statement, the two sides agreed to “establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations.”
China hailed the “substantial progress” made at the talks.
“This move... is in the interest of the two countries and the common interest of the world,” the Chinese commerce ministry said, adding that it hoped Washington would keep working with China “to correct the wrong practice of unilateral tariff rises.”
The dollar, which tumbled after Trump launched his tariff blitz in April, rallied on the news while US stock futures soared. European and Asian markets also rallied.
The trade dispute between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets, raising fears the tariffs would rekindle inflation and cause a global economic downturn.
The head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, praised the talks on Sunday as a “significant step forward” that “bode well for the future.”
“Amid current global tensions, this progress is important not only for the US and China but also for the rest of the world, including the most vulnerable economies,” she added.
Ahead of the meeting at the discreet villa residence of Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Trump had signalled he might lower the tariffs, suggesting on social media that an “80 percent Tariff on China seems right!“
However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that the United States would not lower tariffs unilaterally, saying China would also need to make concessions.
The Geneva meeting came days after Trump unveiled a trade agreement with Britain, the first with any country since he unleashed his blitz of global tariffs.
The five-page, nonbinding deal confirmed to nervous investors that Washington was willing to negotiate sector-specific relief from recent duties.
But Trump maintained a 10 percent levy on most British goods, and threatened to keep it in place as a baseline rate for most other countries.
UK govt toughens immigration plans as hard-right gains
- Document includes plans to cut overseas care workers and increase to 10 years length of time people will have to live in UK before qualifying for settlement, citizenship
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed Monday to “finally take back control” of Britain’s borders as his government unveiled policies designed to reduce legal immigration and fend off rising support for the hard right.
Labour leader Starmer announced he was ending an “experiment in open borders” that saw net migration rise to nearly one million people under the previous Conservative government, which lost last year’s general election.
The government’s Immigration White Paper policy document includes plans to cut overseas care workers and increase from five to 10 years the length of time people will have to live in UK before qualifying for settlement and citizenship.
English language rules will also be strengthened, with all adult dependents required to demonstrate a basic understanding, while the length of time students can stay in the UK after completing their studies will be reduced.
Starmer said the policies would “finally take back control of our borders,” recalling the pro-Brexit slogan used at the height of the campaign to leave the European Union in 2016.
Labour vowed in its general election manifesto last year to significantly reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to last June.
It had peaked at 906,000 in 2023 after averaging 200,000 for most of the 2010s.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who voted for the UK to remain part of the EU, is under renewed pressure to tackle immigration following the anti-immigration Reform party’s gains in recent local elections.
Arch-Euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s party won more than 670 local council seats as well as its first two mayoral posts. It is also riding high in national polls, while Labour is struggling.
However, Starmer’s tack to the right on immigration risks alienating Labour’s large base of liberal supporters, with the Liberal Democrats and the Greens picking up votes on the left.
The premier said that migrants “make a massive contribution” to Britain but alleged the country risks becoming an “island of strangers” without more controls.
He added that he wanted net migration to have fallen “significantly” by the next election, likely in 2029, but refused say by how much.
“Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control,” he told reporters at a Downing Street press conference.
The white paper also includes new powers to deport foreigners who commit offenses in the country.
Currently, the government is only informed of foreign nationals who receive prison sentences.
Under the new arrangements all foreign nationals convicted of offenses will be flagged to the government.
“The system for returning foreign criminals has been far too weak for too long,” interior minister Yvette Cooper said on Sunday. “We need much higher standards.”
The paper also includes new visa controls requiring foreign skilled workers to have a university degree to secure a job in the UK.
And to reduce lower skilled migration Cooper has said she aims to cut 50,000 lower-skilled worker visas this year.
On the plans to double the length of time before migrants can make settlement or citizenship requests, high-skilled individuals “who play by the rules and contribute to the economy” could be fast-tracked, according to Downing Street.
Starmer said Britain has “had a system that encourages businesses to bring in lower-paid workers, rather than invest in our young people.”
Care England, a charity representing the adult care sector, said the decision to close social care visas to new applications from abroad was a “crushing blow to an already fragile sector.”
“International recruitment wasn’t a silver bullet but it was a lifeline. Taking it away now, with no warning, no funding and no alternative is not just short-sighted — it’s cruel,” said chief executive Martin Green.
Starmer is also under pressure to stop the flow of migrants crossing the Channel from France to England on flimsy rubber dinghies.
More than 36,800 made the journey last year, according to British government figures, with several dozen dying.
Separate legislation to tackle irregular immigration, called the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, is currently going through parliament.
