Historic K2 team make it back safely to base camp/node/1794226/pakistan
Historic K2 team make it back safely to base camp
This handout photo taken on January 16, 2021 and released by Seven Summit Treks, shows mountaineers and Sherpas posing for pictures after reaching the summit of Mt K2, which is the second highest mountain in the world, at the Base Camp of the winter expedition in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. (Seven Summit Treks via AFP)
The triumphant team of Nepali climbers made history when they became the first to summit Pakistan's K2 in winter
Updated 18 January 2021
AFP
ISLAMABAD: The triumphant team of Nepali climbers who made history when they became the first to summit Pakistan's K2 in winter arrived safely back at base camp on Sunday, officials said.
The 10 climbers reached the top of the world's second-highest mountain on Saturday, the last peak above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) to be conquered in wintertime.
"All the 10 Nepali climbers arrived in the base camp this afternoon. They are in good health and relaxing," Faizullah Firaq, a spokesperson for the Gilgit Baltistan government, told AFP.
One of the successful climbers, Nirmal Purja, who is also known as Nimsdai, posted on social media: "The full team are now back... All safe and sound... It has been an overwhelming journey."
Thaneshwor Guragain from Seven Summit Treks, a leading mountaineering company behind one of the expeditions, said more climbers are still hoping to reach the top.
Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers young and old, K2 is a much lonelier place. But this winter, dozens of adventurers converged on the mountain hoping to take the record.
K2 is known as the "Savage Mountain" because of its punishing conditions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometers per hour (125 miles per hour), and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit).
The descent can be just as dangerous as going up.
Saturday's successful summit was overshadowed by the death of a Spanish climber from another team, Sergi Mingote, lower down the perilous peak.
His body was evacuated from base camp on Sunday to nearby Skardu city by an army helicopter, the Alpine Club of Pakistan's Karrar Haidri told AFP.
Mingote was at an intermediate camp and fell on his way down to the base camp, injuring his leg, according to his team.
Purja said his team were "deeply saddened to hear that we have lost a friend" and added, "Rest in peace my brother!"
The 10 Nepali climbers had been spread across different expeditions at the start, but formed a new group in order to claim the summit in Nepal's name, singing the national anthem as they reached the top.
Despite being famed for their climbing expertise, there has never before been a Nepali climber on the first winter ascent of a peak higher than 8,000 meters.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday 71 militants had been killed in three days of armed operations in the country’s northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan where the military has been battling a surge in militancy.
On Sunday, the army said it had killed 54 militants trying to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, highlighting the challenges its forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly.
In a fresh statement on Monday, the army said it had carried out a “sanitization operation” in the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the night of Apr. 27-28 following Sunday’s campaigns.
“During the conduct of the operation, seventeen more khwarij [militants] who were operating on behest of their foreign masters were hunted down and successfully neutralized,” the army said in a statement.
“The number of khwarij killed in three days operation has risen to seventy one.”
The 71 deaths reported are an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against militancy and instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took over Kabul.
The banned group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has intensified attacks on Pakistani security forces, straining ties between Pakistan’s leaders and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring and supporting TTP fighters, an allegation they deny.
Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province. The possibility of conventional skirmishes with nuclear-armed neighbor India to the east have also risen since last week when 26 tourists were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad, which has denied involvement.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both the nuclear states, and has been the site of multiple wars, insurgencies and diplomatic standoffs.
India bans Pakistani channels in social media crackdown
Banned platforms include YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Raftar and Geo News
India has accused Pakistan of being involved in attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 which Islamabad denies
Updated 46 min 37 sec ago
AFP
NEW DELHI: India launched a sweeping crackdown on social media on Monday, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content following an attack in Kashmir.
The banned platforms include the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News and Suno News.
The sites were blocked in India on Monday, with a message reading it was due to an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”
The Press Trust of India news agency, which listed 16 channels, cited a government statement saying they were blocked for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India.”
The ban follows the deadly April 22 shooting that targeted tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six men were killed in the attack, the worst on civilians in the contested region for a quarter of a century.
India has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” but Islamabad has denied any role in the attack.
The information ministry also issued an advisory notice on Saturday calling on journalists and social media users to “exercise utmost responsibility” while reporting on matters “concerning defense and other security related operations.”
The advisory note, which cited previous cases of conflict with Pakistan including fighting in 1999 at Kargil, warned that “premature disclosure of sensitive information may inadvertently assist hostile elements and endanger operational effectiveness.”
Indian social media accounts have also been awash with comments on the killings at Pahalgam, with hashtags including #WarWithPakistan and #FinishPakistan trending on social media platform X.
ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has invited Turkmenistan’s energy companies to set up operations in Pakistan, state media reported on Monday, as Islamabad seeks foreign investment to boost the country’s economy and resolve its energy issues.
Energy-starved Pakistan is actively pursuing energy cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly through the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project. This initiative aims to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh field to Pakistan, passing through Afghanistan and extending to India as well.
Pakistan has attempted to strengthen cooperation in energy, tourism, mines and minerals as well as other priority sectors in recent months in its bid to attract international investment. It seeks to establish itself as a trade and transit hub that connects landlocked Central Asian states to the global economy.
“Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has invited energy companies of Turkmenistan to establish operations in Pakistan,” Radio Pakistan said in a report, adding that the minister was speaking at an event in Ashgabat.
Iqbal said the TAPI gas pipeline project would contribute to regional energy security and support Pakistan’s green energy transition, deeming it essential to cope with climate change impacts.
The TAPI project was envisaged in the early 1990s and officially agreed upon in December 2010. It has primarily been delayed due to security concerns, geopolitical tensions, funding challenges and bureaucratic hurdles.
Pakistan faces significant gas and energy problems that have deepened over the years due to a combination of rising demand, depleting domestic resources and poor management.
The country’s natural gas reserves are rapidly declining, while efforts to discover new fields have lagged behind.
Pakistan has increasingly relied on imported liquefied natural gas which strains its foreign exchange reserves and exposes it to global price fluctuations.
Frequent power shortages known as load-shedding disrupt daily life and hurt economic productivity. Outdated infrastructure, inefficiencies in the energy sector, circular debt and policy inconsistencies have made it difficult to develop long-term sustainable solutions.
Pakistan will hold its inaugural digital foreign direct investment forum this week, the information ministry said, as the country aims to showcase its digital economy potential, attract foreign fundings and promote technology exchanges.
The Digital Foreign Direct Investment (DFDI) 2025 forum, hosted in Islamabad from April 29-30, is being organized by the Pakistani ministry of IT and Telecommunication in collaboration with the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO). Over 400 delegates and more than 200 IT and telecom companies will attend the event from over 30 countries.
The forum will aim to bring together global policymakers to discuss frameworks that enhance digital infrastructure, adoption and exports across the 16 DCO member states. It will showcase the readiness of DCO member states, with Pakistan as the host, for digital investment by leveraging their skilled talent, supportive policies, and high-growth sectors such as fintech, AI and cybersecurity.
“The purpose is to showcase Pakistan’s digital economy, attract foreign investment and promote innovation and technology exchange,” the information ministry said.
The platform also aims to facilitate partnerships between IT leaders from DCO member states and international delegates to drive innovation, knowledge exchange, and cross-border cooperation. The goal is to present actionable prospects for investors, backed by data on the combined $3.5 trillion GDP and thriving digital ecosystems across DCO member states, including Pakistan’s dynamic IT sector.
“The Digital Foreign Direct Investment Forum is a strategic initiative designed to position Pakistan as a pivotal hub for digital investments,” IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja was quoted as saying on the forum’s official website.
As of 2025, Internet penetration in Pakistan was estimated at 58.4 percent, as per the IT ministry, with 142 million Internet users in a population of over 240 million. Mobile penetration is at 79.4 percent, including 72.99 million smart phone users.
Pakistan also has an over $3 billion IT export market, with IT exports reaching $1.86 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2024-25, up 28.04 percent year-on-year. Its exports grew 26 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, reaching $300 million monthly.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing in Islamabad on Monday, Khawaja said over 10 ministers and vice ministers of IT and other allied ministries from different countries will be arriving on Monday and Tuesday for the forum.
“The idea is to showcase Pakistan in both categories, whether it’s the startup, venture capital potential that Pakistan has, or with the already institutionalized, large IT companies related to software and IT products that have, again, a huge potential when it comes to investment opportunities that will work,” Khawaja explained.
She said Pakistan’s IT industry has been growing at a “reasonably fast pace,” noting that its exports have grown annually between 24 percent to 27 percent.
“And we’re trying to actually increase the base further up, trying to hit the target of 4 billion hopefully this year,” Khawaja added.
But the forum is being held as digital media in Pakistan has been muffled with measures by telecom authorities to slow down Internet speeds and restrict VPN use while social media platform X has been blocked for over a year. Earlier this year, parliament approved a law to regulate social media content that rights activists and experts widely say is aimed at curbing press freedom and controlling the digital landscape. The government denies this.
Last year the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) said Pakistan’s economy could lose up to $300 million due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of a national firewall to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms. The government denies the use of the firewall for censorship.
Khawaja, however, said the government genuinely feels that the freedom Pakistani citizens generally have with regard to Internet usage is “quite high.”
“Actually except for X that you mentioned, there is no platform that is not accessible to anyone,” she said. “There are no, per se, restrictions on the usage.”
KARACHI: As US President Donald Trump ratcheted up his tariff war on the world, gold kept climbing in lockstep to reach a succession of record highs, including in Pakistan.
In recent weeks, gold has globally offered investors a safe haven from the chaos that has enveloped many financial markets since Trump’s tariff announcements on April 2. But at the same time, it has dampened consumption during the wedding season in Pakistan, as buyers and jewelers feel the brunt of high prices, with one tola, or nearly 12 grams, costing about Rs348,700 ($1,200). The average monthly income in Pakistan, meanwhile, is roughly Rs70,000 ($248).
“We can see that gold is hovering around an all-time high,” Kamal Ahmed, a commodities analyst at AKD Securities, told Arab News, adding that gold prices in Pakistan had surged 38 percent since the beginning of the year.
The increase, he said, was triggered by geopolitical tensions, the Russia-Ukraine war and macroeconomic uncertainty worsened by the latest US trade actions.
“When there is uncertainty in the economy, when there is uncertainty in the geopolitical situation, people like to invest in gold,” Ahmed explained, adding that central banks around the world had also bought “a lot of gold” recently to hedge against a possible tariff-driven recession.
In international markets, gold touched a record $3,500 per ounce, about 28.35 grams, on April 22, pushing local prices in Pakistan to fresh highs.
Gold earrings on display in a jewelry shop in karachi, Pakistan on April 26, 2025. (AN Photo)
Analysts suggest more pain ahead.
“I think gold might test $3,800 per ounce this year, and if it breaches that level, you could see $4,500 per ounce by the end of 2025,” said Ahmed.
Global brokerage firm JP Morgan has also predicted gold could rise beyond $4,000 per ounce next year, warning of growing recession risks tied to inflated US tariffs.
The impact on Pakistan, on a tricky path to economic recovery under a $7 billion IMF bailout program, could be severe.
“Investors would prefer to buy gold than invest in equities because they seek a very safe option,” said Ahmed.
For now, the math is simple: If Trump continues his trade war against China, and increases tariffs from the 10 percent base on other countries after his 90-day pause, then it’s likely that gold will continue to rally. But if a compromise with Beijing is worked out that allows both parties to save face, and other countries reach deals with Trump that largely preserve global trade, then the case for gold looks less secure.
On Monday, gold retreated as easing US-China trade tensions boosted investors’ risk appetite and dented demand for safe-haven assets such as bullion, while a stronger dollar also piled on the pressure.
In the domestic market, the price of 24-karat gold per tola fell by Rs3,300 on Monday, bringing it down to Rs348,700 ($1,200). The price of 10 grams of 24-karat gold also saw a decrease of Rs2,833, settling at Rs298,950 ($1,063).
But prices are still too high for most consumers and are dampening the spring/early summer wedding season in Pakistan, where gold is an intrinsic part of celebrations.
At a jeweler’s shop in Karachi’s oldest Sarafa Bazaar, Fatima, a housewife who only gave her first name, stared last week at rows of glittering gold sets she could no longer afford.
“I was buying gold for my daughter’s wedding that we have delayed for now because the prices of gold are very high,” Fatima said. “You either don’t give gold to your children at all or delay the marriage.”
She said she hoped prices might ease after Eid Al-Adha in June.
Jeweler, Muhammad Ishaq, observes a gold jewelry set in his shop in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 26, 2025. (AN Photo)
“The prevailing rates have made gold unreachable for the poor,” M. Iqbal, director of the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems & Jewelers Association, said, estimating that about 65 percent of traders in the gold market were actively buying, further driving up demand and prices.
“It’s risen beyond their purchasing power now. Gold has become an investor’s business only.”
He warned that if the tariff war dragged on, gold prices in Pakistan could swell beyond Rs500,000 ($1,780) per tola.
“People are managing their weddings by purchasing lesser quantities of gold,” Iqbal warned. “People who used to buy two or more tolas are now purchasing only half of it, and that too because it’s a tradition.”
Muhammad Yaqoob Ishaq, a jeweler whose family has traded gold for more than a century, said many customers were now opting for artificial jewelry.
“Nowadays artificial jewelry is trending in weddings,” he said. “People have been buying artificial jewelry or using silver ornaments that are gold coated.”
