ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top civilian and military leaders will carry out a security review on Friday on the standoff with Iran, the information minister said, after the neighbors carried out drone and missile strikes on militant bases in each other’s territory.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar will chair a meeting of the National Security Committee, with all the military services chiefs in attendance, the minister, Murtaza Solangi, told Reuters by telephone.
It aims at a “broad national security review in the aftermath of the Iran-Pakistan incidents,” Solangi said. Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home on Thursday.
The tit-for-tat strikes by the two countries are the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years and have raised alarm about wider instability in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.
However, both sides have already signalled a desire to cool tensions, the highest in years, although they have had a history of rocky relations.
Iran said Thursday’s strikes killed nine people in a border village on its territory, including four children. Pakistan said the Iranian attack on Tuesday killed two children.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the two nations to exercise maximum restraint. The US also urged restraint although President Joe Biden said the clashes showed that Iran is not well liked in the region.
Islamabad said it hit bases of the separatist Baloch Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation Army, while Tehran said its drones and missiles targeted militants from the Jaish al Adl (JAA), a third group.
The targeted militant groups operate in an area that includes Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped.
The groups which Islamabad targeted inside Iran have been waging an armed insurgency for decades against the Pakistani state, including attacks against Chinese citizens and investments in Balochistan.
The JAA, which Iran targeted, is also an ethnic militant group, but with Sunni Islamist leanings that primarily Shiite Iran sees as a threat.
The group, which has had links to Islamic State, has carried out attacks in Iran against its powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Iran and its allies had been flexing their muscles in the region, even before its cross-border incursion into Pakistan.
Iran launched strikes on Syria against what Tehran said were Islamic State sites, and Iraq, where it said it had struck an Israeli espionage center.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
Pakistan’s civil, military leaders to review Iran standoff — minister
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Pakistan’s civil, military leaders to review Iran standoff — minister
- Neighbours carried out drone and missile strikes on militant bases in each other’s territory this week
- PM Kakar cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home on Thursday
Pakistan’s missile program is ‘emerging threat’, top US official says
- Pakistan refuses to address why it is developing more powerful rocket engines, senior officials say
- US has imposed new sanctions on Pakistan’s missile program
WASHINGTON: A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an “emerging threat” to the United States.
Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer’s surprise revelation underscored how far the once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad have deteriorated since the 2021 US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
It also raised questions about whether Pakistan has shifted the objectives of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs long intended to counter those of India, the victor in three major wars they have fought since 1947.
Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said Pakistan has pursued “increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment, that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors.”
If those trends continue, Finer said, “Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States.”
The number of nuclear-armed states with missiles that can reach the US homeland “is very small and they tend to be adversarial,” he continued, naming Russia, North Korea and China.
“So, candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Finer said.
His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile development program, including for the first time against the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.
The Pakistani embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Islamabad casts its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as deterrents against Indian aggression and intended to maintain regional stability.
Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US concerns with Pakistan’s missile program have been long-standing and stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being developed.
The threat posed to the United States is up to a decade away, said one official.
Finer’s comments, the officials said, were intended to press Pakistani officials to address why they are developing more powerful rocket engines, something they have refused to do.
“They don’t acknowledge our concerns. They tell us we are biased,” said the second US official, adding that Pakistani officials have wrongly implied that US sanctions on their missile program are intended “to handicap their ability to defend against India.”
Finer included himself among senior US officials who he said repeatedly have raised concerns about the missile program with top Pakistani officials to no avail.
Washington and Islamabad, he noted, had been “long-time partners” on development, counter-terrorism and security.
“That makes us question even more why Pakistan will be motivated to develop a capability that could be used against us.”
Pakistan has been critical of warm ties US President Joe Biden has forged with its long-time foe India, and maintains close ties with China. Some Chinese entities have been slapped with US sanctions for supplying Islamabad’s ballistic missile program.
It conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 — more than 20 years after India’s first test blast — and has built an extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of lofting nuclear warheads.
The Bulletin of the American Scientists research organization estimates that Pakistan has a stockpile of about 170 warheads.
US-Pakistani relations have undergone major ups and downs, including close Cold War ties that saw them support Afghan rebels against the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Pakistan also was a key partner in the US fight against Al-Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and has been a major non-NATO ally since 2004.
But ties also have been hurt by coups staged by the Pakistani military, its support for the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule and its nuclear weapons program.
Several experts said Finer’s speech came as a major surprise.
“For a senior US official to publicly link concerns about proliferation in Pakistan to a future direct threat to the US homeland — this is a mighty dramatic development,” said Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center think tank.
Imran Khan gives Pakistan government until Dec. 22 to meet demands or face civil disobedience
- Demands include release of political prisoners, judicial commissions to investigate violence at protests
- Khan has been in jail since August 2023 on charges he says are motivated to keep him away from politics
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said he would call on overseas Pakistanis, a large support base for the jailed leader, to stop sending remittances if the government did not implement his party’s demands by Dec. 22.
On Dec. 5, Khan, jailed since August 2023 on charges he says are politically motivated to keep him away from power, said in a message to supporters he was setting up a five-member negotiations committee to hold talks with the federal government for the release of political prisoners. He also demanded judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 26 this year in which the government says supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party partook in violence and caused vandalism.
“These are both legitimate demands, and if the government does not implement them by Sunday, the first phase of the civil disobedience movement, ‘boycott of remittances,’ will be launched,” Khan said in a message posted on his X.
“In this regard, we will appeal to Pakistanis living abroad that the situation in Pakistan is evident to you; democracy, the judiciary, and the media has been stifled, and a period of oppression and fascism is ongoing. Therefore, we urge you to start the boycott of remittances.”
Inflow of remittances clocked in at $30.3 billion in fiscal year 2023-24, 10.7 percent higher on a year-on-year basis compared to $27.3 billion in FY23, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan.
Khan said the PTI’s offer for negotiations was being projected as a sign of “surrender.”
“The offer for talks and delaying the civil disobedience movement was made in the broader national interest,” Khan said.
“If the government shows no interest, we will not force negotiations upon them. Our offer should never be seen as a sign of our weakness. If the government still wants to prevent the civil disobedience movement, they must contact us regarding our two demands or convince us that these demands are unconstitutional and cannot be addressed.”
Pressure on Khan’s PTI party, already at loggerheads with the government and military, has increased since last month when thousands of its supporters stormed Islamabad, demanding Khan’s release.
The government says protesters killed four security officers in clashes while the PTI says at least 12 of its supporters died and “hundreds” were injured and arrested as security agencies used live ammunition rounds to disperse protesters, which authorities deny. The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government says it will take legal action against the rioters and bring to justice suspects behind what it has described as a “malicious campaign” to spread fake online news, images and video content against the state and security forces.
Previously, the government and military have accused Khan supporters of attacking and damaging government and military buildings, including the military’s GHQ headquarters in Rawalpindi, after his brief arrest on May 9, 2023. The PTI says at least ten of its supporters were killed as security forces opened fire at protesters.
Hundreds of PTI supporters and dozens of leaders were subsequently arrested while police registered cases against the party’s top leaders, including Khan. The army is also holding military trials of over a 100 people arrested in connection with the May riots.
On Thursday, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, key aides of Khan, were among 14 members of his party indicted in a case involving an attack last year on the military’s headquarters (GHQ).
Khan was himself indicted last Thursday on charges of inciting his supporters to attack GHQ on May 9.
Former foreign minister, serving chief minister among 14 indicted for attack on Pakistan army headquarter
- Imran Khan supporters accused of attacking GHQ, other military installations on May 9, 2023, following his brief arrest in land graft case
- Hundreds of PTI supporters and dozens of leaders were subsequently arrested while police registered cases against PTI party top leaders
ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, key aides of jailed ex-premier Imran Khan, were among 14 members of his party indicted on Thursday in a case involving an attack last year on the military’s headquarters (GHQ).
The move comes after Khan was himself also indicted on Thursday on charges of inciting his supporters to attack GHQ on May 9, 2023, when Khan was arrested by the national anti-corruption agency in a land graft case. The arrest sparked a wave of protests by Khan supporters across the country, with rioters attacking important state buildings and ransacking military facilities, including the GHQ in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the residence of the army’s top commander in the eastern city of Lahore.
Hundreds of supporters and dozens of leaders of Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were subsequently arrested while police registered cases against the party’s top leaders, including Khan.
Following Thursday’s indictment, Qureshi spoke to reporters outside Adiala Jail, saying he was being “targeted for political revenge.”
“I was in Karachi on May 9, not Rawalpindi,” Qureshi told reporters. “I say take mine and the prosecutor’s oaths on May 9 under Section 16 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.”
Besides Qureshi and Gandapur, Senate opposition leader Shibli Faraz, Shehryar Afridi, Kanwal Shauzab, Latasab Satti, Umar Tanveer Butt, Taimur Masood, Saad Ali Khan, Sikandar Zeb, Zohaib Afridi, Fahad Masood and Raja Nasir Mahfouz are other PTI members indicted today.
On Monday, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari and eight others were also arraigned in the GHQ case, in which a total of 113 PTI leaders and supporters have so far been indicted.
Following Thursday’s indictment, Gandapur, Afridi and Shauzab filed applications under Section 265-D of the Criminal Procedure Code, which deals with framing charges against an accused. A hearing on the applications has been scheduled for tomorrow, Friday, at the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Adiala Jail.
Should Gandapur appear in court tomorrow, his arrest warrant will be canceled, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper quoted the judge as saying.
After Monday’s indictments against Mazari and eight others, the PTI had said in a statement to reporters:
“It’s good that things are going toward indictment … As the case goes to trial, then it will come out whether these accused people are actually involved, and they will get a way to fight these false charges through the legal and judicial system. Up until now, people were just being kept in custody and things were lingering on for a year and a half.”
Nearly 2,000 people were arrested following the May 9 protests and at least eight were killed. The government had called in the army to help restore order.
Though Khan was released on bail within days of the May 9 arrest, he was later rearrested in August 2023 after he was handed a three-year prison sentence in another corruption case. He has been in jail since then.
His party was barred from Pakistan’s election on Feb. 8, 2024, but the would-be candidates stood as independents.
Despite the ban and Khan’s imprisonment for convictions on charges ranging from leaking state secrets to corruption, millions of the former cricketer’s supporters voted for him. Independent candidates from his party won the highest number of seats but not enough to form a government on their own. Khan cannot be part of any government while he remains in prison.
Khan and his party say all legal cases against him are based on made-up charges to keep him out of politics at the behest of the army after he had fallen out with the military’s generals. The army denies the accusation.
Pakistani PM condemns Israeli military actions at special D-8 session on Middle East conflict
- Shehbaz Sharif announces support for mediation efforts by Qatar and Egypt, calls for funding for war-torn regions
- More than 45,000 people including women and children have been killed during the 14-month war in Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday condemned Israel’s “unrelenting atrocities” in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, applauding countries like Egypt and Qatar for leading international mediation efforts to end the war in the Middle East.
Sharif was speaking at a special session called during the Eleventh Summit of the D-8 group of developing nations, which is taking place in Cairo this week.
Health officials in the Gaza Strip have said the death toll from the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas has topped 45,000 people, with more than half of the fatalities being women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel has since launched attacks on Lebanon as well, killing over 3,000 after accusing Hezbollah of targeting its military. This month, it took control of Syria’s buffer zone and bombed key military and strategic assets after the overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime by opposition forces.
“Israel’s deliberate and inhumane targeting of the people of Gaza and Lebanon, with intensifying savagery has resulted in a relentless massacre that blatantly violates international law, UN resolutions and ICJ directives,” Sharif said in an address to the special session, referring to Israeli aggression in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.
“Pakistan supports all international mediation efforts for an immediate ceasefire and for that, we deeply appreciate the efforts of Qatar and Egypt,” the PM added, calling for the provision of funding and aid for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and other war-torn areas.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions.
Islamabad does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and has for decades called for an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Pakistani ministry signs agreement with National Testing Service for selection of Hajj staff
- Pakistan selects hundreds of assistants via competitive process every year to facilitate local pilgrims
- Pakistan has received 82,000 applications for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage under government scheme
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani ministry of religious affairs has signed an agreement with the National Testing Service, which will hold exams for the selection of supervisors and assistants for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage, the ministry said on Thursday.
Pakistan selects hundreds of assistants and doctors from federal and provincial government departments via a competitive process every year to facilitate local pilgrims in performing the rituals of the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan had received 82,000 applications for next year’s Hajj under the government scheme by Tuesday when the submission deadline ended. Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a quota of 179,210 pilgrims, to be divided equally between government and private schemes. The government extended the deadline for applications twice this month, first from Dec. 3 to Dec. 10, and then to Dec. 17, as it aims to fill over 89,000 seats under the federal government quota.
“Like last year, this year too, the selection of Hajj Assistants who will be sent on Hajj duty will be done through National Testing Service,” the religious affairs ministry said.
“According to the agreement, staff will be appointed on the basis of merit as per the federal and provincial quotas, in which a specific ratio of new and experienced assistants has been kept … Government employees and officers of Scale 7 to 18 will be eligible to apply.”
The ministry said it would “soon” announce the selection through an advertisement.
The ministry of religious affairs trains Hajj assistants and pilgrims every year ahead of their departure to Saudi Arabia to ensure all aspects of the pilgrimage process, including food, transportation, and accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, run smoothly.
Pakistan last year sent 550 Hajj assistants and 400 doctors and paramedical staff to Saudi Arabia to facilitate pilgrims.
