Young Pakistani turns bedroom into robotics lab to develop humanoid droids

Syed Usama Aziz demonstrates his 3D-printed humanoid robot at his home in Multan, Pakistan on October 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Usama Aziz)
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Updated 05 November 2021
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Young Pakistani turns bedroom into robotics lab to develop humanoid droids

  • 28-year-old electrical engineering graduate Usama Aziz has been developing his passion for robotics for the past six years
  • He sees a bright future for robotics in his country, where such initiatives are supported by the National Centre of Robotics and Automation

RAWALPINDI: It took Usama Aziz two years to build a white robot that dazzled YouTube viewers last month when with human-like fingers it poured a drink for his creator without spilling a drop. 

Aziz, 28, an electrical engineering graduate of the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad built the white shiny humanoid at his bedroom-turned- laboratory in Multan, where he has been developing his passion for robotics for the past six years.

“Humanoid robots are the most difficult robots to make because human structure is complex, and very difficult to replicate,” he told Arab News. “There are individual finger control elements, which means I can individually control its fingers as well as the elbow, wrist, shoulders and all the joints separately. It is very complex."

The white robot, which Aziz says is still in the development stage, has made the rounds on social media, but it is not his first creation.

In 2016, he made a food-serving droid, which was even put to work at a Multan restaurant in 2017. But that one was much simpler and could not move its arms.

For the drink-serving robot Aziz opted to go with a 3-D printer, also because of how he believes it could influence robot design, particularly in Pakistan, where research and development have been limited.  

“The number one benefit (of 3-D printing) is that it is very accurate, all the parts of the robot once developed can be replicated with exact dimensions, exact sizes, exact parameters, without any changing, without any difficulty it can be replicated,” he said.  

“This means once I open source my files through my website, or on any online portal, any researcher, student, enthusiast or roboticist, who wants to work in this field or want to make a humanoid robot, can use my design files and 3-D printable files, and can have their own version of the robot and can do so right here in Pakistan.”

Aziz says he sees a bright future for robotics in his country, where individual initiatives are supported by the National Centre of Robotics and Automation (NCRA).

Established in 2018 under the umbrella of the Higher Education Commission, the purpose of NCRA is to indigenize and advance the discipline in Pakistan.

“Because of these labs and the startup culture that is going to develop in Pakistan, the future of robotics has a great potential,” Aziz said.

His own robotics startup, NextGen Robotix, last year won NCRA's Robotics Start-Up Challenge competition and a prize of Rs300,000 ($1,750).




Syed Usama Aziz (right) receives a cheque after winning a robotics competition at the National Centre of Robotics and Automation located at the National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad in 2020. (Photo courtesy: Usama Aziz)

“Robotics is a cutting-edge field where you can create intelligent machines having the capability of performing autonomous or semi-autonomous tasks. It’s an exciting field because one can create something out of nothing,” Dr. Umar Shahbaz Khan, NCRA director and NUST faculty member told Arab News.

“The world is moving towards automation and robotics is an integral part of it. Whether it’s the Roomba robot cleaning the carpet in the house or the Mars rover on another planet, these are all robots.”  

An educationist by day, Aziz says many students are interested in the field.

"All we need is some sort of companies who are willing to spend money on the indigenous development of robotics here in Pakistan, and then we'll be really progressing in this sphere," he said.

Could this progress lead to a robot takeover of the world?

“It's a very common question among people. But I think there is nothing to be afraid of. We are still far, far, far away from robots taking over the world,” Aziz said. “We control the robots right now. And they are pretty harmless. Robots are pretty dumb, not as intelligent as humans are, so they cannot take over the world anytime soon.”


Eight-month peace deal reached after deadly clashes in Pakistan’s Kurram district

Updated 29 March 2025
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Eight-month peace deal reached after deadly clashes in Pakistan’s Kurram district

  • The peace deal follows last year’s Kohat Agreement, which called for a ceasefire and removal of private bunkers
  • Violence in Kurram lasted for months, triggered a humanitarian crisis, cutting off access to food, fuel and medicine

PESHAWAR: An eight-month peace agreement was reached on Saturday between warring factions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s restive Kurram district, with all sides pledging to resolve future disputes through legal means, according to a statement shared by a police official.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 people bordering Afghanistan, has long been a flashpoint for sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni tribes. Clashes between the two sides have killed more than 150 people since November, while militant attacks and retaliatory violence have claimed even more lives of people and security personnel during months of unrest.
The violence also created a humanitarian crisis, with road blockades cutting off access to food, fuel and life-saving medicines, leading to the reported deaths of dozens of children.
“Representatives of both sides agreed to maintain peace for a period of eight months in order to prevent any kind of conflict in the area and to work toward improving the situation,” said a statement shared by district police spokesperson Riaz Khan.
The deal was struck following a jirga, or tribal council, held in the presence of provincial authorities and the local administration.
The agreement builds on the Kohat Agreement, a peace framework developed last year that called for a ceasefire, disarmament, the dismantling of private bunkers in the area and government oversight to ensure sustainable peace.
“Under this agreement, if any untoward incident occurs on the road, legal action will be taken against the responsible party in accordance with the ‘Kohat Agreement,’” the statement continued.
“Both sides pledged that in the event of any incident that could harm peace in the area, they would consult with each other and seek a solution through legal means,” it added.
It was also agreed that the main road through Kurram, closed for months due to violence, will be formally reopened in a joint announcement by the government and state institutions to ease public hardship and facilitate travel.


Eleven dead in drone strikes in northwest ahead of Pakistani Taliban Eid ceasefire announcement

Updated 29 March 2025
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Eleven dead in drone strikes in northwest ahead of Pakistani Taliban Eid ceasefire announcement

  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration says an ‘anti-terror operation’ was launched on credible intelligence on Friday
  • It confirms the killing of women and children during the action, regretting their loss of life in the operation

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration on Saturday confirmed an “anti-terror operation” after an international wire agency reported that drone strikes killed at least 11 people, including women and children, just hours before the Pakistani Taliban announced a three-day Eid Al-Fitr ceasefire.
The strikes targeted what officials described as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts in the Katling area of Mardan district, following a TTP attack a day earlier that killed seven soldiers during an army operation elsewhere in the province.
“An anti-terror operation was conducted in the Katling mountainous area of Mardan district based on credible information about the presence of terrorists,” said Muhammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the provincial government. “According to reports, this location was being used for the hideout and movement of terrorist elements.”
However, he added as per the information received later, there were some unarmed civilians around the scene of the incident as well.
“It is regrettable that unarmed people were killed in the operation, including women and children,” he added.
While the military has not commented publicly on the incident, police sources confirmed to AFP that three drone strikes were carried out on Friday night. It was only on Saturday morning, they said, that officials learned two women and three children were among the dead.
“In protest, local residents placed the bodies of the victims on the road,” a senior police officer told AFP, saying they were being described by locals as “innocent civilians.”
Another official said an investigation was under way to determine whether militants were present at the time of the strikes.
“It is too early to say whether the places affected were civilian areas or whether they were sheltering Taliban,” he said.
Shortly after reports of the casualties emerged, the TTP released a statement announcing a three-day ceasefire on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr.
“The leadership of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has decided that, on the joyous occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, a three-day ceasefire will be observed as a gesture to allow the people of Pakistan to celebrate in peace,” the group said in a statement.
It added that TTP fighters would refrain from operations on the last day of Ramadan, Eid day, and the day after Eid, but reserved the right to respond in self-defense if attacked.
The TTP, which announced a “spring offensive” earlier this month, has claimed responsibility for around 100 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent weeks.
In Friday’s separate incident, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in an hours-long gunbattle with Taliban fighters holed up in a house in the province.
The army later deployed helicopter gunships, killing eight militants, while six other soldiers were wounded, according to police sources.
According to an AFP tally, over 190 people — mostly security personnel — have been killed in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since the start of the year.
Last year was the deadliest in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 fatalities nationwide, nearly half of them security forces, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies.
Islamabad blames the surge in attacks on militants using Afghan territory as a base, particularly the TTP, which Pakistan says enjoys sanctuaries across the border.
The Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul denies this, and accuses Pakistan in return of harboring Daesh militants.
With input from AFP


11 dead in drone strikes against Taliban in northwest Pakistan

Updated 29 March 2025
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11 dead in drone strikes against Taliban in northwest Pakistan

  • Security forces carried out three drone strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, targeting ‘Pakistani Taliban hideouts’
  • Local residents protested the killings of ‘innocent civilians,’ saying women and children were among the victims

PESHAWAR: Eleven people were killed in drone strikes in northern Pakistan on Saturday launched by the army against the Taliban, who had killed seven soldiers a day earlier, police told AFP.
Three drone strikes were carried out on Friday night in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity, targeting “Pakistani Taliban hideouts” in the region bordering Afghanistan where violence has erupted in recent months.
“It was only this morning that we learned that two women and three children were among the victims,” he said.
“In protest, local residents placed the bodies of the victims on the road,” saying that they were “innocent civilians” killed in the strikes, he added.
Another police source said that “an investigation is under way to establish whether Taliban fighters were indeed present at the sites at the time of the attack.”
“It is too early to say whether the places affected were civilian areas or whether they were sheltering Taliban,” he added.
The Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — announced in mid-March a “spring campaign” against security forces, threatening “ambushes, targeted attacks, suicide attacks and strikes.”
The TTP has since claimed responsibility for around 100 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In the same province, “armed Taliban” fighters hiding in a house shot and killed seven soldiers who were carrying out an operation against them, a police source said on Saturday.
During the shoot-out, which lasted several hours, the army deployed helicopter gunships, killing eight Taliban, while six other soldiers were wounded, according to the source.
Since January 1, more than 190 people, mostly members of the security forces, have been killed in violence carried out by armed groups fighting against the government both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan provinces, according to an AFP count.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a blast from a bomb planted by separatists on a motorbike also killed a soldier and a civilian further south in Balochistan, police officer Mohsin Ali told AFP.
The area was the scene of a spectacular attack last month when militants held hundreds of train passengers hostage and killed dozens of off-duty soldiers.
Attacks are reported every day in Pakistan’s western regions bordering Afghanistan, where the army regularly says it is killing “terrorists” during sweep operations, without, however, curbing the violence.
Attacks have increased in Pakistan in particular since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of failing to eliminate militants who take refuge on Afghan soil to prepare attacks against Pakistan.
The Taliban government denies these accusations and in return accuses Pakistan of harboring “terrorist” cells on its soil, pointing the finger in particular at the regional branch of Daesh.
“Pakistan expects the Afghan government to assume its responsibilities,” the army said at the beginning of March, reserving “the right to take the necessary measures to respond to these threats coming from across the border.”
Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade in Pakistan, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks — nearly half of them security forces personnel — according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.


Pakistan markets bustle with shoppers for Eid final preparations

Updated 29 March 2025
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Pakistan markets bustle with shoppers for Eid final preparations

  • At bazaars, shoppers browse through glittery sandals, bangles, clothes hoping to find special items for the festival
  • Although inflation has eased recently, some shoppers complained of price increases compared to regular days

KARACHI/LAHORE: Pakistani Muslims on this week crowded the night markets soon after ‘iftar’ (breaking of fast at sunset) in the final week of Ramadan as they geared up in preparation for Eid-Al-Fitr celebrations.
Markets in the biggest city Karachi and the second largest city Lahore were bustling with activity as the holy month of Ramadan neared the end ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid.
For Pakistan the festival will fall on either Monday (March 31) or Tuesday (April 1), depending on the sighting of the moon.
Shoppers browsed through glittery sandals, bangles, and new clothes hoping to find special items for the festival.
“Shopping is really an enjoyment in last days [of Ramadan]. The bazar is very lively during the last days of Ramadan, which is fun to watch,” said housewife Subia Arshad in Karachi.
Although inflation has eased recently, some shoppers complained of price increases compared to regular days.
Prices generally rise in Ramadan and ahead of Eid in Pakistan.
“Items that cost 600 ($2.14), 700 rupees ($2.50) normally, they are selling it for two thousand rupees ($7.14),” said housewife Mrs. Irfan in Lahore.
Pakistan’s annual inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent in February, the lowest in nearly a decade and below the finance ministry’s estimates, according to early March data from the statistics bureau.
Inflation has cooled significantly, easing from 23.1 percent in February 2024.
The South Asian country, currently bolstered by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted in September, is navigating an economic recovery.
Pakistan government has announced Eid Al-Fitr holidays from Monday (March 31) to Wednesday (April 2).


Afghan refugee leaders urge Pakistan to reassess expulsions ahead of Eid deadline

Updated 29 March 2025
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Afghan refugee leaders urge Pakistan to reassess expulsions ahead of Eid deadline

  • The government has decided to begin expelling refugees holding Afghan Citizen Cards from April
  • UN data suggest around 800,000 of the 2.8 million Afghans in Pakistan face imminent deportation

KARACHI: Refugee leaders in Karachi on Saturday urged the Pakistani authorities to reconsider their plan to expel Afghan nationals, saying the prospect of deportation during Eid was the harshest blow they could expect from a country that had generously hosted them for nearly five decades.
Earlier this month, the government announced that Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders must leave Pakistan by March 31, a deadline expected to coincide with Eid al-Fitr.
According to UN data, Pakistan hosts more than 2.8 million Afghans, many of whom fled decades of war and instability in their home country. Around 1.3 million of them are formally registered as refugees and hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, which grant them legal protections.
Another 800,000 Afghans possess ACCs, a separate identity document issued by the Pakistani government that recognizes them as Afghan nationals without offering refugee status.
With the government now requiring ACC holders to leave by March 31, a deadline expected to coincide with Eid al-Fitr, nearly 800,000 Afghans, including an estimated 65,000 in Karachi, face the prospect of being forcibly returned to a country many have never even seen.
“We appeal to the government of Pakistan to reconsider its decision to expel Afghans holding Afghan Citizen Cards,” said Haji Abdullah Shah Bukhari, chairman of the refugee community in Sindh, at a news conference in Karachi.
“Pakistan has generously hosted us for nearly 47 years, and a large portion of these refugees were born in Pakistan,” he continued. “Even if the government decides to expel us, it should not be done during Eid.”
Bukhari urged the authorities to allow more time for refugees to prepare, warning that many would be forced to live in tents in Afghanistan, where they have no homes to return to.
Islamabad has previously attributed militant attacks and other crimes to Afghan nationals, who make up the largest share of migrants in the country. The government claims that militants, particularly from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), operate from safe havens in Afghanistan and maintain ties with Afghans living in Pakistan to stage cross-border attacks. Kabul has consistently denied these accusations.
Bukhari, however, stressed that Afghan refugees in Pakistan had no links to militant violence in the country.
“We ourselves are victims of war and terrorism,” he said.
Mufti Rahim Ullah, another refugee elder, said his fellow nationals consider Pakistan their home.
“I arrived in Pakistan over three decades ago with my parents. I married a refugee woman born in Pakistan, and all my children were born and raised here. Pakistan is our country, and we love it. We condemn anyone who wants to harm Pakistan,” he said, adding that fear had gripped refugee settlements across Karachi.
Agha Syed Mustafa, another Afghan national and school principal, said law enforcement agencies lacked clarity during crackdowns, leading to the harassment of all of his community members, including those holding PoR cards.
“There should be clarity, and any operation should be conducted in consultation with the local [Afghan] community,” he said.
Mustafa urged the government to urgently review the deportation decision and allow refugees more time.
“They should be given more time so that they can plan their return to Afghanistan,” he said.