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Protests erupt as ex-PM’s party says Khan wounded in ‘planned assassination attempt’

Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a protest against the assassination attempt on Khan, in Karachi on November 3, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 04 November 2022
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Protests erupt as ex-PM’s party says Khan wounded in ‘planned assassination attempt’

  • Khan’s doctor says condition stable, bullet shrapnel in his leg, one leg bone chipped
  • Khan aide Faisal Javed, injured in attack, says party spirits high, protest march to go on
Updated 04 November 2022
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party said on Thursday he had narrowly escaped a “well-planned assassination attempt” after the ex-premier was shot in the leg during a gun attack on his ‘long march’ convoy, unleashing protests around the country.

The attack took place as Khan was leading a march to the capital in a bid to pressure the government to announce early elections. The movement began from the city of Lahore last Friday and has made stops in different towns daily on the way to the capital, Islamabad, where the convoy had planned to reach by November 11. Khan’s followers were piled onto trucks and cars in the convoy but many were also marching alongside on foot.

Today, Thursday, the ex-PM’s caravan was meant to stop in Wazirabad city in Punjab’s Gujranwala district. Wazirabad is nearly 200 km (120 miles) from Islamabad.

According to a statement released by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Khan and his close aide Senator Faisal Javed were injured in firing by a shooter who was on the ground while the politicians were atop a container.

“It was a well planned assassination attempt on Imran Khan, the assassin planned to kill Imran khan and leadership of PTI,” Khan aide Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said, saying an automatic weapon was used. “No two opinions [about] that it was narrow escape.”

Dr. Faisal Sultan, who is heading the medical team treating Khan, told media outside the Shaukat Khanum Hospital that he was “stable.”

“Bullet shrapnels are in his leg,” the infectious disease specialist said in Lahore where Khan was moved, adding that one bone was chipped. “He has been taken to the operation theater.”

Sultan declined to comment further, saying more information would be shared after a detailed examination.

Photos and video footage shared by social media and TV channels showed Khan supporters taking to the streets in many cities of the country after the gun attack, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar.




Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a protest against the assassination attempt on Khan, in Peshawar on November 3, 2022. (AFP)

In Karachi, the financial hub of the country, PTI supporters blocked Shahrah-e-Faisal, a main thoroughfare running through the port city. Protests were reported in at least 24 locations in the city, creating severe traffic congestion.

Supporters also took to the streets in the cities of Lahore in Punjab province, Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit city and the Khaplu Valley in the remote Gilgit-Baltistan region.

As questions arose nationwide about whether the protest movement would continue in light of the firing incident, Senator Faisal Javed said the march would go on.

“Imran Khan is safe,” he said in comments to the media outside a hospital, wearing a white shalwar kameez covered in blood, a bandage on his face. “Our [PTI’s] spirits are high and god willing this movement will not stop.”




Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a protest against the assassination attempt on Khan, in Karachi on November 3, 2022. (AN Photo)

In footage of the shooting shared on TV channels and social media, a man with a handgun was grabbed from behind by a Khan supporter at the gathering. He then tried to flee.

Later, TV channels showed footage of a man they said was a suspected shooter, who looked to be in his twenties or thirties. He said he wanted to kill Khan and had acted alone.

“He [Khan] was misleading the people, and I couldn’t bear it,” the suspect said in the video.

The information minister confirmed the footage was recorded by police.

No one has yet been charged with the attack.




Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan, take part in a protest against the assassination attempt on Khan, in Karachi on November 3, 2022. (AN Photo)

“BLEEDING EXCESSIVELY”

Close Khan aide and former governor Imran Ismail told Geo News Khan had been shot three times in his left leg. He paid tribute to his leader’s bravery, saying that during the chaos that followed the shooting, the PTI leader tried to calm down his supporters and told them “not to panic.”

He said Khan was “bleeding excessively” and a bandage was tied to the former prime minister’s leg before he was moved to a Lahore hospital.

Senator Javed, Ismail said, was shot in the face and hand.

TV footage showed Khan, a bandage on his leg, being piled into a bulletproof car, with media reporting that he was being rushed to the hospital. Additional footage showed a wincing Khan being carried by supporters out of the container.

In a Twitter post, PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the firing “in the strongest words” and prayed for Khan’s recovery. He also directed interior minister Rana Sanaullah and the police chief in Punjab to start a probe.

PTI leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari accused Sanaullah of threatening Khan, saying he should be arrested for attempted murder.

“The string pullers, the Establishment will also be held responsible by the nation for this murderous attack on Imran Khan,” she said on Twitter, referring to the powerful military.

Khan, once widely believed to have been supported by Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, is now considered to have fallen out with the army since his ouster through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April.

The former premier as well as members and supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have been criticizing the Pakistani military, which has ruled the South Asian country for almost half of its 75-year history, and the army chief, for not intervening to block his ouster, which he says was part of a United States-backed “foreign conspiracy.”

Washington, Khan’s political rivals who are now in power and the military deny the allegations.

In a statement released after the firing, the army’s media wing sent its “sincere prayers” to Khan for his “speedy recovery and wellbeing.”

Pakistan has a long history of political violence. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 in a gun and bomb attack after holding an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad.

Her father and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in the same city in 1979 after being deposed by a military coup.

Additional inputs by Saima Shabbir and Aamir Saeed in Islamabad, Naimat Khan and Zulfiqar Kunbhar in Karachi, Rehmat Mehsud in Peshawar, Nisar Ali in Khaplu Valley. 

Topics: PTI long march Imran Khan

Pakistan’s tax authority says surpassed revenue collection target for FY24

Updated 35 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan   
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Pakistan’s tax authority says surpassed revenue collection target for FY24

  • Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) says it collected Rs9,306 billion ($33.55 billion) as opposed to target of Rs9,252 billion ($33.36 billion) for FY24
  • FBR says ready to put in “best efforts” to achieve ambitious revenue target of Rs13 trillion for this fiscal year
Updated 35 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan   

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) announced on Sunday it had surpassed its revenue collection target of Rs9,252 billion ($33.36 billion) by collecting Rs9,306 billion ($33.55 billion) for the previous fiscal year, saying it is ready to achieve the ambitious revenue target for the current fiscal year. 

Pakistan’s narrow tax base and enduring tax evasion issue leads to the problem of insufficient revenue collection for the country’s fragile economy each year. The shortfall exacerbates the government’s tendency to run a high fiscal deficit, often financed through domestic and international borrowing, increasing the nation’s debt burden.

The FBR announced on social media platform X it had “comfortably achieved” its revenue collection target for the previous fiscal year, collecting Rs9,306 billion ($33.55 billion) in total and thus exceeding its target by Rs54 billion. 

“The growth in revenue collection is 30 percent as compared to the last year,” the FBR wrote on X. 

The FBR said it had collected Rs1,183 billion ($4.27 billion) in June alone, adding that the target was despite imports being compressed from $55 billion ($200 million) to $53 billion ($200 million).

“For the FY 2023-24, FBR collected income tax amounting to Rs4,528 billion ($16.33 billion) as compared to Rs3,270 billion ($11.79 billion) during the same period last year, depicting an increase of 38.4 percent,” the tax authority wrote. 

“Similarly, under the head sales tax Rs3,098 billion ($11.17 billion) was collected as compared to Rs2,593 billion ($9.35 billion).”

The FBR said it collected Rs576 billion [$2.08 billion] in Federal Excise Duty (FED) compared to Rs370 billion ($1.33 billion) last year while the revenue collection under the Customs Duty tax head was recorded at Rs1,104 billion ($3.98 billion) compared to Rs931 billion ($3.36 billion) last year.

“FBR collected Rs6,128 billion ($22.09 billion) in domestic taxes and Rs3,178 billion ($11.46 billion) in import taxes, thereby depicting a growth of 37 percent in domestic taxes and 18 percent in imports despite import compression during the current financial year,” it said. 

The tax authority said it had disbursed refunds amounting to Rs469 billion during FY 2023-24 compared to Rs331 billion ($1.19 billion) during FY 2022-23, with the amount being 42 percent more than last year.

“In addition to exceeding the annual revenue target, the Tax System of Pakistan also witnessed significant structural improvements, which were a direct result of the interest of the Honorable Prime Minister and Finance Minister,” it said. 

The FBR said that despite all odds, it remains committed to achieving targets “under all circumstances.” 

“It is reiterated that for the assigned revenue collection target for the FY 2024-25, the team FBR is ready to deliver and put in their best efforts to achieve it and serve the nation,” it added. 

Pakistan has set a challenging tax revenue target of Rs13 trillion ($46.66 billion) for the current fiscal year, a near 40 percent jump from the previous one, to strengthen the case for a new bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Pakistan’s new administration has decided to digitalize the tax collection system to prevent leakages, even as a large segment of the national economy remains undocumented.

Topics: Pakistan tax FBR

Pakistani state minister for IT arrives in China to attend digital economy conference

Updated 01 July 2024
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Pakistani state minister for IT arrives in China to attend digital economy conference

  • Conference aims to build up broader platform for cooperation, communication in terms of global digital economy
  • State Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja to visit Pakistani tech companies’ booths, participate in panel discussions 
Updated 01 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s State Minister for IT and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja arrived in China on Monday to attend the “Global Digital Economy Conference,” state-run media reported, as Islamabad hopes to attract foreign investment in its priority sectors and modernize its economy amid efforts to ward off a macroeconomic crisis. 

The Global Digital Economy Conference 2024 is scheduled to be held from July 2-5 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. This conference aims to build a platform for cooperation and communication in terms of the global digital economy, and jointly promote prosperity and development of the global digital economy with all attendees, China’s government said on its official website. 

“The Minister of State will visit booths of Pakistani tech companies and meet their representatives,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. “She will also attend ‘Euro Asia Pakistan Digital Economy Forum’ and participate in the panel discussions.”

Radio Pakistan said Khawaja will also hold meetings with “important figures” related to the information and communication technology sector during her trip. China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan, investing over $65 billion in energy and infrastructure projects in the South Asian country as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key element of its Belt and Road initiative. This will connect China to the Arabian Sea and help modernize Pakistan’s economy through a network of roads, railways, pipelines, and ports.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited China on a five-day official trip with a high-level delegation in June during which both countries signed several agreements to bolster trade and investment in agriculture, economy, IT and other sectors. 

Pakistan has been trying to navigate a prolonged economic crisis by actively pursuing foreign investments and enhanced trade opportunities, while also seeking yet another International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout to keep economic reforms on track.

Islamabad established the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a civil-military hybrid forum, in June 2023 to attract foreign funding in agriculture, mining, information technology, defense production and energy. 

Topics: Pakistan China Ties Shaza Fatima Khawaja

Pakistan experienced 12% decline in overall violence during second quarter of 2024— report

Updated 01 July 2024
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Pakistan experienced 12% decline in overall violence during second quarter of 2024— report

  • Violence in Balochistan decreased by 46% during second quarter, with fatalities dropping from 178 to 96
  • Pakistan reported decline in 380 violence-linked casualties during this quarter compared to 432 in previous one
Updated 01 July 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced a 12% decline in overall violence during the second quarter of 2024 from April to June, a local think tank’s report said on Monday, noting that the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces remained the “epicenters of violence” during this period. 

Pakistani think tank Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) released the report on Monday. The CRSS, established in September 2007, says it is dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding through research endeavors and publications, from in-depth analyzes of regional and national dynamics to policy recommendations for sustainable development. 

In a report titled, “Overview Of Pakistan’s Security Landscape In Q2 2024” the CRSS stated that Pakistan witnessed 380 violence-linked fatalities and 220 injuries among civilians, security personnel, and outlaws in the second quarter of this year. These fatalities took place due to 240 incidents of terror attacks and counter-terror operations, the report said. Of these fatalities, 236 included civilians and security forces personnel.

“Violence and casualty rates across the country plummeted in Q2, 2024,” the report said. “The country experienced a 12% reduction in overall violence, with 380 fatalities recorded compared to 432 in Q1 2024.”

It said KP and Balochistan were the “epicenters of violence” accounting for nearly 92% of all fatalities and 87% of attacks (including incidents of “terrorism” and security forces operations) during the second quarter. 

KP suffered 67% and Balochistan 25% of all fatalities during this period, the report disclosed, noting that the data reflected the remaining regions of the country were “relatively peaceful” and suffered only 8 percent of all fatalities.

It said Balochistan showed “remarkable” improvement, with the rate of violence dropping to almost 50 percent during the second quarter. “The most notable improvement was seen in Balochistan, where violence decreased by 46 percent, with fatalities falling from 178 in Q1 to 96 in Q2 2024,” the report pointed out. 

It added that violence saw a notable decline of 32% in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province while “similar downward trends” were reported in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and its semi-autonomous region of Gilgit-Baltistan. 

The report noted that outlaws accounted for the majority of fatalities, 38%, followed by civilians, who accounted for 32% of all the casualties during the second quarter of 2024. Security and government officials comprised 30% of all the casualties, it said. 

“Compared to Q1, civilian and security forces’ fatalities decreased by 21% and 10%, respectively, while militant fatalities increased by 29%,” the CRSS report said. “Notably, only 2 insurgents were killed in Q2, a sharp decline from 41 in Q1.”

However, the report also acknowledged some of the worrying trends of the second quarter, most notably that civilians, government officials, and security personnel suffered 62 percent of all fatalities, compared to the 38 percent figure for outlaws. 

“Civilians suffered the highest number of militant and insurgent attacks,” the report said. 

Pakistan has seen an uptick in attacks on its western provinces bordering Afghanistan. The South Asian country has blamed the recent surge in militant attacks on neighboring Afghanistan, which it says allows Pakistani Taliban militants to hold camps and train insurgents to launch attacks inside Pakistan.

 Kabul denies this. Since last November, the Pakistan government has also launched a deportation drive under which over 600,000 Afghan nationals have been expelled from Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif threatened to launch cross-border attacks in Afghanistan to carry out alleged militant targets in the country. His statement was criticized by the Taliban government in Kabul, who warned him that such a move would have “consequences.”

Topics: Pakistan rate

Pakistan kicks off anti-polio campaign in 41 districts amid surge in cases

Updated 01 July 2024
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Pakistan kicks off anti-polio campaign in 41 districts amid surge in cases

  • Pakistan last week reported three polio cases, taking total tally of cases this year to eight
  • Anti-polio campaign of varied duration to vaccinate 9.5 million children in targeted districts
Updated 01 July 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan kicked off an anti-polio vaccination campaign on Monday to vaccinate 9.5 million children across several districts in the country amid a surge in cases of the disease, state-run media reported. 

The development takes place after Pakistan reported three people contracted the disease last week. Two of the cases were reported in Pakistan’s southwestern Killa Abdullah district while one child contracted the disease in the southern port city of Karachi. 

Polio has been eliminated in developed nations but persists in parts of India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is a highly infectious disease that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis. While polio mainly affects children under five years of age, anyone who is unvaccinated can contract the disease at any age.

“Anti-polio campaign of varied duration will start in forty-one districts of the country from tomorrow,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Sunday. “During the special campaign, more than 9.5 million children under five years of age will be administered polio vaccine.”

It said the campaign would be held in 16 districts of Balochistan, 11 districts of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), eight districts of Sindh and five districts of Punjab province. It said that a door-to-door polio campaign will be conducted in specific union councils of Islamabad as well. 

“This campaign is being launched in view of increasing polio cases in Balochistan,” APP said. 

National Command and Operation Center Commander Muhammad Anwar Haq said the campaign will be conducted in areas where polio virus is “continuously present.”

“He appealed to parents to consider it their national duty to join this campaign and vaccinate the children,” APP said. 

Polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan have been hampered by the belief among many Pakistanis, particularly those residing in the conservative tribal areas, that the medicine is a Western campaign aimed at sterilizing the country’s population or a cover for Western spies. 

In 2012, the local Taliban had ordered a ban on immunization against polio in some tribal districts. At least 11 policemen have been killed this year while on security duty during vaccination campaigns that are frequently targeted by militants. Dozens of polio workers have also lost their lives over the decades. 

The 2011 US special forces raid inside Pakistan that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, also increased masses’ fears about polio vaccination. A Pakistani doctor was accused of using a fake vaccination campaign to collect DNA samples that the CIA was believed to have been using to verify bin Laden’s identity. The doctor remains jailed in Pakistan.

Topics: Pakistan Polio

Pakistani Hajj pilgrims receive sacred Zamzam water at Saudi airports before flying back

Updated 01 July 2024
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Pakistani Hajj pilgrims receive sacred Zamzam water at Saudi airports before flying back

  • All pilgrims traveling with PIA can book the water with their luggage expect those from Quetta and Sukkur
  • Religious affairs ministry says pilgrims from Quetta and Sukkur get Zamzam water upon arrival in Pakistan
Updated 01 July 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Sunday Pakistani Hajj pilgrims flying back to their country were given their share of Zamzam water upon arriving at the airports in Jeddah and Madinah on a daily basis.

The water, which comes from the Zamzam Well in the Grand Mosque in Makkah, is considered sacred by Muslims due to its link with highly revered prophets in Islam.

According to religious tradition, the well miraculously emerged many thousands of years ago when Prophet Ibrahim’s infant son, Ismail, felt thirsty, and his mother began to search for water between the hills of Safa and Marwah.

Muslim pilgrims bring Zamzam water with them to their home countries after performing Hajj or Umrah to share it with friends and family.

“Zamzam water is being provided at the Madinah and Jeddah airports to Hajj pilgrims traveling to Pakistan,” the ministry announced in a statement.

It added that all Hajj pilgrims traveling with PIA, except those from Quetta and Sukkur, were allowed to book Zamzam along with their luggage at the two Saudi airports.

“Pilgrims from Quetta and Sukkur will be provided Zamzam upon arrival at Pakistani airports,” the statement added.

The ministry said all Hajj pilgrims under the government scheme, who were flying with Airblue, Air Sial and Serene Air, were receiving a 5-liter bottle each of Zamzam at the respective Pakistani airports.

Pilgrims on the official Hajj scheme traveling with Saudi Air can also book Zamzam with their luggage.

The ministry also informed it had posted the names and contact numbers of focal persons at the relevant Hajj camps and airlines to assist pilgrims who may require any help related to Zamzam distribution.

Topics: Hajj 2024 Pakistan Zamzam water

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