PESHAWAR: The price of a permit to hunt Pakistan’s endangered Astor markhor suffered a markdown of over $20,000 as compared to last year, as the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) wildlife department on Thursday auctioned licenses for the hunting of over 100 rare species under a trophy hunting program.
The enormous license fee to kill the rare markhor, a long-horned goat native to Pakistan and found in its snowy northern mountains, is one of the highest in the world, with 12 licenses awarded every year in the country-- four of them in GB.
In 2017, a markhor hunting license was auctioned for $100,000-- the highest in the history of trophy hunting. Earlier this year, the GB government had to ban trophy hunting mid-season, owing to the virus outbreak.
Conservationists argue the trophy hunting program, which picked up steam in 1998, prevents poaching and empowers local communities. But this year, COVID-19 has damaged the value of permits with a lower than usual turnout at Thursday’s auction.
“Last year the price of a single markhor license was between $83,000 to $85,000,” Zakir Hussain, chief conservator for forests, parks and wildlife in GB, told Arab News a day after the auction.
This year, he said, the base price of the licenses had to be reduced, with permits selling eventually for roughly $62,000.
But despite the drop in license fees, Hussain said he is grateful hunting season-- which falls between November and April-- will finally bring some financial respite to mountain villages in the wake of the pandemic, which had spelled a near end to incomes dependent on foreign tourism.
Eighty percent of the money received from the trophy hunting program goes to local communities which spend it on education, health and development projects.
The remaining 20 percent of the money is deposited in the government exchequer.
In addition to the steep price tag of the permits, trophy hunting also provides income for local communities as hunting guides and hosts — extra incentives not to poach the markhors, which has led to a rise in the population of the iconic mountain goat.
According to Hussain, more than $18 million have so far been generated from the trophy hunting scheme which includes permits to hunt blue sheep, ibex and urial among other rare species.
“The amount generated by trophy licenses is used in the development of the social sector and health... and to provide loans for people who want to start small businesses,” Irshad Karim, a member of a local villager’s association told Arab News.
The funds he said, were used to build schools, solar panels, girls’ hostels and to give scholarships among other things.
“People here wait all year round just for hunting season to begin, and for some money to start coming in as the cold winter begins,” he said.
Markhors are usually found at heights of 8,000-11,000 ft, but during the winter months descend to between 5,000- 6,000 ft, which is when hunting season kicks off.
License to kill: $85,000 markhor trophy hunting permits suffer pandemic markdowns
https://arab.news/z9b9j
License to kill: $85,000 markhor trophy hunting permits suffer pandemic markdowns
- Earlier this year, Gilgit-Baltistan’s hunting scheme was halted mid-season after virus outbreak
- $18 million in permit fees have been raised, with 80 percent going to local communities
Pakistan PM calls for national unity to address Balochistan crisis after train hijacking
- PM Shehbaz Sharif chairs high-level meeting to review security situation in Balochistan
- Separatist BLA outfit stormed train in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday, held over 400 hostages
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called on political parties to forge unity to combat surging militancy in southwestern Balochistan province, a day after the military announced it had conducted a successful operation against separatists who hijacked a passenger train with over 400 people on board, rescuing hostages and killing 33 militants.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had bombed part of a railway track and stormed the train on Tuesday afternoon in Mushkaaf, a rugged area in the mountainous Bolan range of Balochistan.
Security forces had killed militant suicide bombers sitting among the hostages before swiftly executing the rescue operation and securing the Quetta-Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express on Wednesday night, the military said, adding that 21 hostages had been killed in the episode.
Sharif chaired a high-level meeting in Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta on Thursday to review the security situation in the province, with senior officials including Chief Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti in attendance.
“If there ever was a need for something more than before, it is national unity and national alliance,” Sharif told participants of the meeting in a televised address.
“We will keep on doing our politics and keep on saying what we want to say but on this one issue, that we must save this country from these khawarij, this trial, this terrorism, we must become united,” he added.
The prime minister said his government would “soon” convene a meeting to discuss the Balochistan crisis. He called for Pakistan’s political leadership to sit with the military to discuss the challenges that the country was facing.
Sharf said Pakistan can’t prosper until the pace of development in Balochistan catches up to that of other provinces.
“Peace can’t be established in Pakistan until terrorism is completely eliminated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” he said.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s biggest in terms of landmass, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency, with separatist groups accusing the government of exploiting the province’s natural resources while leaving its people in poverty.
Government officials deny the allegation and say they are developing the province through multibillion-dollar projects, including those backed by China.
One paramilitary soldier, 12 militants killed during attack in northwestern Pakistan
- Militants carry out suicide blast at Frontier Corps headquarters in northwestern Tank district
- No group has claimed responsibility for attack but suspicion likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban
PESHAWAR: One paramilitary soldier and 12 militants were killed during a gunbattle in Pakistan’s northwestern Tank district on Thursday after militants carried out a suicide blast at the Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters in the area, a police official with direct knowledge of the development said.
The attack took place in district Tank’s Tehsil Jandola, located in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the incident but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Talban Pakistan (TTP).
“An officer on duty shot the suicide bomber driver of an explosive-laden vehicle which detonated the blast,” the Tank district police officer told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
“One soldier was martyred, twelve terrorists were killed, two FC personnel injured while four civilians have sustained normal injuries during the clearance operation,” he added.
The police officer said the situation was “under control” following the FC’s clearance operation.
The attack takes place amid rising militant attacks in Pakistan, especially in KP province bordering Afghanistan. KP has suffered a surge in militant attacks since November 2022 when a fragile truce between the state and the TTP collapsed.
Pakistan says the takeover of Kabul by the Afghan Taliban in 2021 has emboldened the group as it is able to operate out of and launch attacks from safe havens in neighboring Afghanistan, whose government denies the charges.
The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistan’s security forces and civilians since 2007 in its bid to impose its strict version of Islamic law in the country.
Karachi man arrested in child pornography case involving US minors — Pakistani investigators
- Suspect Agha Sarwar Abbas was arrested on Mar. 11 on complaint of US Consulate in Karachi
- Court in Karachi has granted Federal Investigation Agency five-day physical remand of Abbas
KARACHI: A Pakistani man has been arrested in Karachi on charges of possession of child pornography and blackmailing minors in the United States following a complaint from the American consulate in the port city this week, a Pakistani official said on Thursday
The suspect, Agha Sarwar Abbas, was arrested on Mar. 11 following a complaint filed by a special agent of the US Department of State that alleged he was in possession of child pornography and was extorting US minors by using material obtained through various online platforms, the First Information Report (FIR) filed by police said. After a request from the US Consulate in Karachi, a case was registered under Sections 16, 22 and 24 of Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, which criminalizes offenses related to child pornography and online exploitation.
“Agha Sarwar Abbas has been arrested on a complaint from the US consulate for his alleged involvement in child pornography and blackmailing minors in the US,” Ameer Ali, an investigation officer with the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), told Arab News. “The court granted us a five-day physical remand for further questioning.”
The US Consulate said it could not comment on an ongoing legal case.
On Wednesday, FIA informed Judicial Magistrate East Karachi that Abbas had admitted to creating a fake online identity and was pretending to be a US citizen named Brandon Liechier to gain the trust of minors.
According to the FIR, the suspect has confessed during interrogation “to using personal data for the purposes of blackmail and threats based on recorded videos of US minor citizens.”
The agency said it had raided Abbas’s residence in Karachi’s New Rizwia Society and seized multiple devices, including a laptop and an iPad, that allegedly contained child pornographic material. Investigators said they had also identified several online platforms, including Whereby.com, Google Meet, Snapchat, and 411.com, that the suspect was using to establish contact with victims. Through these platforms, he engaged in video calls and text chats, allegedly forcing minors to share personal and objectionable content.
According to the police report, the investigation had so far revealed that Abbas used personal data, including home addresses, to threaten victims with the release of “compromising material” unless they complied with his demands. Abbas also allegedly accessed adult websites to facilitate his activities, with a digital forensic analysis confirming the presence of child pornographic content and extortion messages on his seized devices.
On Wednesday, the FIA sought a 14-day police remand for Abbas from a local magistrate who only granted five days, until Mar. 18.
Child pornography is illegal in Pakistan. Suspects convicted in child pornography cases can be subject to up to 20 years in prison and large fines.
Pakistan dismisses US travel ban reports as ‘speculative’
- Foreign Office says Pakistan has not received any such indication in this regard so far
- A media report said last week a travel ban by Trump could prevent Pakistanis from entering the US
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan on Thursday rejected reports of a US travel ban on Pakistani nationals as “speculative,” saying that Islamabad had received no such indication so far.
A Reuters report last week, citing sources, suggested that a new travel ban under US President Donald Trump could bar travelers from Afghanistan and Pakistan based on a government review of security and vetting risks.
Amid the speculation, Pakistani Ambassador to Turkmenistan K.K. Ahsan Wagan was detained and denied entry into the US this week. However, the Foreign Office clarified that he was traveling for personal reasons, was not eligible for diplomatic immunity and that officials were looking into the matter.
“As of now, this is all speculative and hence does not warrant a response,” Khan said in response to a question at the weekly media briefing.
“So far we have not been given any indication of such a ban on the Pakistan nation.”
He added the foreign ministry and Pakistan’s mission in Washington were in constant contact with relevant US authorities to obtain further details on the matter.
On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order mandating intensified security vetting for foreigners seeking admission to the US.
The order instructed US cabinet members to submit a list by March 12 of countries from which travel should be partially or fully suspended due to inadequate vetting and screening information.
The Reuters report also said the new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who had been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas, adding these people were at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the US during a 20-year war in their home country.
Pakistan urges Afghanistan to bring militant masterminds to justice after deadly train attack
- Separatist militants took over 200 passengers hostage in Balochistan after targeting a passenger train
- Pakistan says it is taking a ‘multifaceted approach’ involving diplomacy, military action to deal with the threat
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday called on the interim administration in Afghanistan to bring to justice the masterminds behind a militant attack on a passenger train in Balochistan, asking Afghan authorities to take action against those responsible for orchestrating the assault since they were based on its soil.
The attack, which took place in the southwestern Bolan region, saw separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants bomb a railway track and storm the Jaffar Express, taking over 200 passengers hostage.
This was followed by a security forces rescue operation, which led to the killing of 33 BLA fighters who had stationed suicide bombers near civilians to prolong the standoff.
The separatist group accuses the government of exploiting Balochistan’s natural resources while leaving its people in poverty. Government officials deny the allegation and say they are developing the province through multibillion-dollar projects, including those backed by China.
“Terrorists were in direct communication with Afghanistan-based planners throughout the incident,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly news briefing. “Pakistan has repeatedly asked the interim Afghan government to deny the use of its soil for a terrorist group like BLA to attack Pakistan.”
“We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice,” he added.
Pakistan has frequently attributed the recent surge in militant violence in the country to cross-border attacks originating from Afghanistan, alleging that such incursions are “facilitated” by authorities in Kabul. The Afghan government has denied these allegations.
The foreign office spokesperson said Pakistan was addressing the threat through a multifaceted approach, combining military action, intelligence-based operations and diplomatic efforts to expose foreign sponsors of terrorism.
“So it’s a complex and multifaceted approach,” he said. “This is not a one-track approach.”
