ISLAMABAD: At least five more people were killed in rain-related incidents in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Tuesday, taking the overall monsoon death toll to 116 since late June.

In Punjab, two children died after being struck by lightning in Okara, while two others were killed in a house collapse in Bahawalnagar. A man was killed in a house collapse in Sindh’s Hyderabad. At least 253 people have been injured in rain-related incidents since monsoon began in late June.

In its latest report on Tuesday, the NDMA said monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal were penetrating into central parts of Pakistan and were likely to cause thunderstorm and heavy rains.

“Scattered to widespread thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls and torrential rains at few places is expected over Bahawalpur, Multan, DG Khan, Sahiwal, Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad Divisions,” it said.

“Scattered thunderstorm/rain with isolated heavy falls is expected over the upper catchments of all rivers along with Islamabad, upper Sindh, east Balochistan, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha Divisions.”

The authority said flash flooding due to hill torrents is expected in DG Khan and east Balochistan on July 15-16, while urban flooding is expected in major Punjab cities over the next two days.

The NDMA earlier directed authorities to ensure deployment of emergency teams, improve drainage systems and coordinate closely with local administration. It advised public to stay away from weak structures and electricity poles, avoid unnecessary travel and relocate vehicles and livestock to safer locations.

Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.

The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But increasingly erratic and extreme weather patterns are turning the rains into a destructive force.

Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its 240 million residents are facing extreme weather events with increasing frequency.

In 2022, unprecedented monsoon floods submerged a third of Pakistan and killed 1,700 people, with some areas yet to recover from the damage. In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan court ordered a government probe on Tuesday into allegations that young people are being entrapped in online blasphemy cases, following appeals from hundreds of families.

There has been a spike in cases of mostly young men being arrested for committing blasphemy in WhatsApp groups since 2022.

Rights groups and police have said that many are brought to trial by private law firms, who use volunteers to scour the Internet for offenders.

“The government will constitute a commission within a 30-day timeframe,” said Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan at Islamabad High Court, adding that the commission is required to submit its findings within four months.

Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan punishable by death, and even unsubstantiated accusations can incite public outrage, lead to lynchings and to families being shunned by society.

A report published by the government-run National Commission for Human Rights in October last year said there were 767 people, mostly young men, in jail awaiting trial over blasphemy allegations.

“This is a huge ray of hope and it’s the first time that the families have felt heard,” said lawyer Imaan Mazari, who represents the families of arrested men and women, of the court order.

“Youngsters have been falsely roped into cases of such a sensitive nature that the stigma will last forever even if they are acquitted,” she added.

A 2024 report by Punjab police into the sudden spike in cases, that was leaked to the media, found that “a suspicious gang was trapping youth in blasphemy cases” and may be motivated by financial gain.

The Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan (LCBP) is the most active of lawyers groups prosecuting young men in Pakistan.

Sheraz Ahmad Farooqi, one of the group’s leaders, told AFP in October that “God has chosen them for this noble cause.”

In recent years, several youngsters have been convicted and handed death sentences, although no execution has ever been carried out for blasphemy in Pakistan.

“We will fully support the probe commission and are confident that our voices will finally be listened to, our concerns will be heard, and the truth will come out,” the relative of one of the accused, who asked not to be named because of the backlash, told AFP.