ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates on Friday condemned a militant attack that killed 10 Pakistani soldiers near the Pakistan-Iran border, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The soldiers were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Kech, southwestern Balochistan province, the Pakistani military said in a statement on Thursday evening. The troops returned fire, killing one attacker and arrested three militants as a search for those who launched the attack was still underway.
"The UAE has strongly condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a security site in the town of Kech," WAM said.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation affirmed that the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these criminal acts, and its rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism that aim to destabilize security and stability and are inconsistent with humanitarian values and principles."
Pakistan has recently seen an increase in attacks, including in urban areas.
On Friday, a roadside bomb killed four policemen and wounded eight others as they were traveling in in the town of Sui in Balochistan.
A bomb blast in a crowded market in Lahore last week killed three people and injured 33 others. A day earlier, militants also targeted police personnel, killing one in the federal capital, Islamabad.
Defiant Masood narrows Pakistan’s deficit to 109 in 2nd Test against South Africa
Masood progressed to a defiant 137 off 232 balls and led Pakistan to 312-3 at lunch
South Africa enforced the follow-on after Pakistan collapsed to 194 on a dry wicket
Updated 7 sec ago
AP
CAPE TOWN: Pakistan captain Shan Masood continued to defy South Africa as the tourists cut down the deficit to 109 runs on the fourth day of the second and final Test on Monday.
Masood progressed to a defiant 137 off 232 balls and led Pakistan to 312-3 at lunch with Saud Shakeel getting a lucky escape and staying unbeaten on 16.
South Africa enforced the follow-on after Pakistan collapsed to 194 on a dry wicket in reply to the home team’s massive first innings score of 615.
Shakeel could have been out leg before wicket to Kwena Maphaka in the penultimate over before the break, but South Africa didn’t go for a television review against Indian on-field umpire Nitin Menon’s not out decision. TV replays clearly showed the ball would have hit the leg stump of the left-hander and earned South Africa its third wicket of the session.
But Masood stood firm and continued to lead Pakistan’s strong fightback on Monday after sharing a record-breaking double century opening partnership with Babar Azam (81) that had anchored the tourists to 213-1 on Day 3.
Nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad (18) frustrated South Africa in the morning before Marco Jansen (2-74) had him caught at point. Jansen came close to getting Kamran Ghulam (28) out without scoring in the same over, but David Bedingham missed a sitter in the first slip.
Ghulam hit four boundaries but was undone by Kagiso Rabada’s (1-81) off a delivery that just came back enough to hit the off stump as the batter attempted a loose drive and missed the line of the ball.
Masood, resuming on 102, kept batting solidly against the pace and left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj as the left-hander hit just two boundaries in the first session in his patient knock.
South Africa sealed its place in June’s World Test Championship final against Australia after narrowly beating Pakistan by two wickets in the first Test at Centurion.
Australia booked its place in the WTC final at Lord’s after it clinched a six-wicket victory against India on Sunday in the fifth and final Test at Sydney. Australia also regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the 3-1 series win against India for the first time in 10 years.
QUETTA: Authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have suspended cellular and mobile Internet services in the provincial capital of Quetta for two days, officials said on Monday, citing “security reasons.”
The decision came a day after a suicide attack on a convoy of Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force in the Kech district, which killed five soldiers and injured several others.
The attack was claimed by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the most prominent armed groups involved in dozens of attacks that killed over 100 people in Balochistan in 2024.
Balochistan, a mineral-rich Pakistani province which shares its border with Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a long-running insurgency, which has intensified in recent years.
“The provincial home department requested the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to suspend the mobile service in Quetta,” Deputy Commissioner Saad bin Asad told Arab News.
“Cellular and mobile Internet services have been suspended for two days due to security reasons,” he said, without specifying the nature of these threats.
Baloch separatist groups say they are fighting what they call exploitation of the region’s resources by the state. The Pakistani government denies the allegation and says it is working for the uplift of the impoverished region.
In 2024, Balochistan witnessed a dramatic 41 percent increase in militant attacks. Nearly 300 people were killed in 564 attacks of different variations in the province, while 44 percent of these attacks targeted Pakistani security forces, according to the provincial government data.
Sunday’s mobile and Internet service suspension also came hours after a re-election in a provincial assembly constituency, PB-45, which triggered protests by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) religious party over alleged rigging of poll.
The JUI announced a province-wide shutter down strike in the province on Monday, which was partially observed in areas where the party has strong presence.
ISLAMABAD: The West Indian national men’s cricket team has arrived for their first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Monday, during which they will play two Test matches.
The last time the West Indies played a Test series on Pakistani soil was in November 2006, when they played three Tests. Their last away Test series against Pakistan was in the UAE in October 2016, which was selected as Pakistan’s home venue for cricket series after 2009 when a militant attack in Lahore scared away international cricket teams from touring the country.
However, the former two-time ODI World Cup champions have toured Pakistan thrice since April 2018 — once for an ODI series in June 2022 and twice for a bilateral T20I series in April 2018 and December 2021.
“West Indies Test squad arrives in Pakistan for the two-match series,” the PCB said in a post on X.
West Indies will play two consecutive Tests against Pakistan in Multan after a three-day match against Pakistan Shaheens from Jan. 10-12 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The first Test will be held from Jan. 17-21, followed by the second one from Jan. 25-29.
International cricket teams refused to play cricket in Pakistan for years after militants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players and killing two civilians and six security officials.
International cricket and its stars, however, slowly returned to playing in Pakistan as the security situation improved. The South Asian country is gearing up to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year.
This will be Pakistan’s first ICC tournament on its home soil since 1996 when it co-hosted the ICC ODI World Cup, which Sri Lanka won.
KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: The main highway connecting Pakistan to China in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region remained closed for trade and traffic on Monday for the fourth consecutive day, as demonstrators continued their sit-in protest against power outages that residents say last for almost 20 hours.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH), a vital trade route between the two countries, was obstructed by protesters on Friday at Ali Abad, a significant point in the Hunza Valley. Protesters were enraged by frequent power outages in GB. The area has witnessed a gradual increase in trade activity following an agreement between Pakistan and China to keep the Khunjerab Pass open year-round to facilitate economic exchanges.
Hamid Hussain, an engineer at the Gilgit-Baltistan Water and Power Department, last week blamed technical reasons for the power outages. He said the region heavily relied on hydropower, which often faced disruption in winter due to the freezing of rivers and lakes.
Various political parties such as the Awami Workers Party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), members of the civil society and trade associations joined hands to stage the sit-in protest at the highway on Friday. Despite the freezing temperature, the sit-in protests have continued since then.
“All rounds of negotiations with the government have failed and we are still facing the worst kind of power crisis,” Zahoor Ilahi, a member of the core committee formed by protesters, told Arab News over the phone.
“We will not end the protest until our demands are met. Though our demands are to permanently resolve the power crisis, however, if they agree to run thermal generators to minimize power cuts, a consensus will be developed to end the protest,” he added.
Demonstrators gather around fire during a sit-in protest in Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, on January 5, 2025. (Ali Ahmad/Facebook)
GB an impoverished, mountainous part of the larger Kashmir region, is home to 127 hydel and 34 thermal stations but the region continues to suffer one of the worst power outages in the South Asian country.
Khuzaima Anwar, Hunza’s deputy commissioner, admitted the protesters’ demands were “genuine.”
“The people have been protesting for power crisis since last Friday and their demands for the long-term uplifting of power projects are genuine,” Anwar said.
He said the district administration engaged with protesters twice since Friday and acknowledged their demands.
“The issue is here that they are demanding we run thermal generators,” he said. “But the fuel cost will be very high and the government is not in a condition to face more liabilities.”
He said the government was also trying to negotiate with protesters, adding that members of the GB Assembly were also playing their role in ending the sit-in protest.
“Trucks and containers are stuck on both sides as the main KKH is blocked,” Anwar said. “However, there is another alternate route for miniature vehicles, and the law and order situation is under control.”
Imran Ali, former GB president, confirmed dozens of containers were stuck on both sides of the highway due to the sit-in protest.
“Tourists are also facing issues due to road blockades,” Ali told Arab News. “The government should come forward to resolve the issue.”
QUETTA: Pakistani health authorities on Monday concluded a week-long polio campaign in its southwestern Balochistan province, hit hardest by the disease, amid looming security threats to vaccinators and security forces guarding them.
Pakistan kickstarted the polio drive on Dec. 30 to vaccinate 2.6 million children against the disease in Balochistan. Pakistan reported 68 polio cases last year out of which 27 were from Balochistan. The northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Sindh provinces each recorded 19 cases while the eastern Punjab province and Islamabad each reported one case.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world.
“We have achieved our set target in the last province-wide anti-polio campaign,” Dr. Aftab Kakar, the provincial team lead at the National Stop Transmission of Polio (NSTOP) program told Arab News.
“We had set a target to vaccinate more than 2.6 million children but are gathering entry data from all districts but due to the suspension of mobile service in Quetta, some entries are pending.”
Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. To provide high immunity against the virus, multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential.
“We are planning our next anti-polio drive in the first week of February 2025 with further training to the polio staff across Balochistan to make next drives more effective,” Kakar said. “We are very much optimistic that polio cases will decline this year because we have noticed a major decline since September and October 2024.”
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
On Dec. 18, provincial health authorities postponed the nationwide anti-polio drive twice due to security reasons and a boycott by health staffers. The virus killed three children, including a minor girl, in Balochistan’s Quetta, Zhob and Killa Abdullah districts last year.
In the early 1990s, the country reported around 20,000 cases annually, but in 2018, the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
