ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) announced the final national men’s squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier Round 2 matches against Jordan on Thursday, with diaspora players set to join the team from Monday.
Pakistan will lock horns with Jordan at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad on Mar. 21 followed by an away fixture in Jordan on Mar. 26.
In October 2023, the Pakistan men’s football team beat Cambodia 1-0 to win their first ever FIFA World Cup qualifier in Islamabad. Pakistan subsequently lost 4-0 to Saudi Arabia in the second round.
“The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) named a final squad for the forthcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier Round 2 matches against Jordan, scheduled to be held at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad on 21st March followed by an away game in Jordan on 26 March,” the PFF said in a statement.
It said the week-long camp for the Jordan fixtures will be relocated from Lahore to Islamabad on Sunday.
A total of 36 teams, grouped into nine groups of four teams each, are competing to progress through to the third round of the qualifiers.
The top two from each group from the second round will head into the third round, where 18 nations will be split into three groups of six. From there, the top two of each group will secure their spot at FIFA World Cup 26.
Pakistan men’s football team coach Stephen Constantine on Saturday acknowledged that Jordan was one of the best sides in Asia but vowed Pakistan would not “lay down” in front of their opponents.
“We have very little time to prepare for such a big game. And unfortunately, we are going to play one of the best teams [Jordan] in Asia on 21st March,” Constantine said.
“We will fight against Jordan and not lay down.”
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Yousuf Butt (D), Saqib Hanif, Abdul Basit and Hassan Ali
Defenders: Easah Suliman (D), Abdullah Iqbal (D), Mamoon Musa, Haseeb Khan, Mohammad Saddam, Mohammad Sohail, Omer Rao, Mohammad Fazal (D) and Mohammad Adeel
Midfielders: Rahis Nabi (D), Harun Hamid (D), Alamgir Ghazi, Rajab Ali, Ali Uzair, Shayek Dost and Abdul Samad (D)
Forwards: FareedUllah, Waleed Khan, Imran Kayani (D) and Adeel Younis
Pakistan announce final squad for FIFA World Cup Qualifier matches against Jordan
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Pakistan announce final squad for FIFA World Cup Qualifier matches against Jordan
- Pakistan face Jordan in Islamabad on Thursday in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier Round 2 fixture
- In October, Pakistan beat Cambodia 1-0 to win their first ever FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Islamabad
Pakistan extends detention for ethnic rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch
- Detention of the most prominent rights activist of the Baloch minority extended for 30 days
- Baloch was charged with “terrorism,” “sedition,” “murder” after she took part in sit-in protest last month
QUETTA, Pakistan: Pakistan extended the detention of the most prominent rights activist of the Baloch minority for 30 days on Monday after she was charged with “terrorism,” “sedition” and “murder,” her lawyer told AFP.
Mahrang Baloch, 32, has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it is targeted with harassment and extrajudicial killings in the Balochistan province. The state denies involvement.
She was detained on March 22 for 30 days but “the government has issued another notification ordering to detain her for 30 days more,” her lawyer Imran Baloch said.
A dozen UN experts called on Pakistan in March to immediately release Baloch rights defenders, including Mahrang, and to end the repression of their peaceful protests.
The judiciary declined to rule on her detention a week ago, effectively halting any further judicial appeal and placing the matter solely in the hands of the provincial government of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Mahrang took part in a sit-in protest in the provincial capital, Quetta, in March to demand the release of members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a group she founded to organize protests.
Since 2009, Baloch protesters have gathered in the vast and mineral-rich province — where 70 percent of the population lives in poverty — demanding justice for what they claim are extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions.
Pakistani authorities reject these as “baseless allegations.”
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, with militants targeting state forces and foreign nationals.
Separatists accusing outsiders of plundering the province’s natural resources launched a dramatic train siege in March in which officials said about 60 people were killed, half of whom were assailants.
Mahrang was barred from traveling to the United States last year to attend a TIME magazine “rising leaders” awards gala.
Popularity of Himalayan salt grows in China as Pakistan exports reach $1.8 million in FQ25
- Pakistan sees 40 percent increase compared to exports in same period last year
- Himalayan salt export driven by increasing Chinese interest in health-oriented products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan exported $1.83 million (Rs512 million) worth of salt to China in the first three months of 2025, an increase of 40 percent compared to the same period last year, state-run media reported on Monday, showing the growing popularity of the product in the Chinese market.
Pakistan primarily exports salt to the United States, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Other significant destinations include Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Pakistan’s salt exports are known to be mined at the Khewra Salt Mine and surrounding deposits.
The Khewra Salt Mine is one of the world’s oldest and second largest, turning out 325,000 tons of salt a year. The mine is renowned for producing Himalayan pink salt, which is popular globally for its unique color and health benefits. The mine contributes significantly to Pakistan’s exports, especially to China, and is also a major tourist attraction due to its historical and geological significance.
“Pakistan exported over 13.64 million kilograms of salt to China worth $1.83 million (Rs512 million) in the first quarter of 2025 whereas last year in the same period it was $1.3 million (Rs364 million),” the Associated Press of Pakistan said in a report, quoting Ghulam Qadir, the Trade and Investment Counsellor of Pakistan in Beijing.
“Pakistan is exporting salt to China under three categories, edible salt, pure sodium chloride and other salt.”
The report attributed the increase to better trade ties between the two nations and China’s increasing appetite for premium-grade edible salt as well as for salt for industrial consumption, particularly for use in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food processing sectors.
Industry experts attributed Pakistan’s salt export growth to “improved logistics, competitive pricing and enhanced quality standards” adopted by Pakistani exporters.
“This surge is a testament to Pakistan’s expanding capacity to meet international market demands, and a positive sign for diversifying our exports to China,” the report said, quoting a Trade Development Authority of Pakistan official.
Militant ‘ringleader’ among six insurgents killed in northwest Pakistan — army
- Military conducts frequent operations against militants it claims launch attacks from safe havens in Afghanistan
- Militants have intensified attacks on army and its bases since revoking ceasefire with government in late 2022
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army said on Monday a militant “ringleader” was among six insurgents killed in two intelligence-based operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In recent months, the military has launched frequent operations in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The army’s target in the area is militants it says launch attacks inside Pakistan and against the army using safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Groups like the Pakistani Taliban, commonly known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have been waging a war against the Pakistani state for nearly two decades in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with what they consider an Islamic system of governance.
“On 20-21 April 2025, six Khwarij [militants] were sent to hell in two separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province,” the army said in a statement.
One operation was in the South Waziristan district, where the army said militant “ringleader” Zabi Ullah was killed. The statement said he had “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as in target killing of innocent civilians and was highly wanted by the Law Enforcement Agencies.”
Another intelligence-based operation was conducted in Razmak, North Waziristan District, in which five militants were killed.
Militants have intensified their attacks since revoking a ceasefire with the government in late 2022, with recent months witnessing significant strikes targeting the military and its bases.
Pakistani religious parties announce Gaza rally at Lahore’s Iconic Minar-e-Pakistan
- Religious parties say are forming new pro-Gaza platform called Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Ummat
- Platform to launch nationwide awareness campaigns to boycott Israeli products and companies
ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s main religious-political party, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam F (JUI-F), said on Monday the JUI-F and other religious parties would stage a protest rally in solidarity with Palestinians at the iconic Minar-e-Pakistan monument in Lahore on Apr. 27.
The move follows a Gaza Solidarity March organized by another religio-political party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), on a main road connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi last week that was attended by thousands.
“A very big rally will be held at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on Apr. 27 along with a protest,” JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Monday at a press conference in Lahore alongside JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman.
“We all will participate along with other religious parties. We are forming a new platform now by the name of Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Ummat.”
He also said nationwide awareness campaigns would be launched by the platform to boycott Israeli products.
Separately, the JI has announced a nationwide strike on Apr. 26 in solidarity with Palestine and urged citizens to boycott brands that support Israel amid its ongoing military offensive in Gaza.
Pakistan does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and has for decades condemned its military actions in Gaza.
Islamabad has called for the immediate resumption of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave and a revival of negotiations toward a two-state solution. The country has long supported the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its latest military assault on Gaza, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 116,000 injured.
Free ambulance service in southern Pakistan delivers babies, and hope, onboard
- Nearly 100 babies successfully delivered inside Sindh Integrated Emergency and Health Services ambulances this year
- As per UN report, Pakistan was among four countries that accounted for nearly half of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2023
MAKLI, Sindh: Earlier this month close to the crack of dawn, a free ambulance service in southern Pakistan received a call that a 26-year-old woman from a remote village in Thatta had gone into labor without a health facility nearby for miles.
Within minutes of receiving the call, a Sindh Integrated Emergency and Health Services (SIEHS) ambulance staffed with health workers trained in emergency obstetric care sped off toward Shabeera Bibi’s location in the Sindh province. The paramedics stabilized her and left with her for the nearest health center but realized soon that there just wasn’t enough time to reach the facility.
With her husband’s consent, Shabeera’s baby boy was delivered in the moving ambulance, one of 100 babies born in an SIEHS ambulance in this year alone.
“I was in a lot of pain when I was about to deliver, the baby’s condition was also at risk and my water had broken,” Bibi recalled, sitting on a charpoy back at home in her mud home in Hussain Notiar village.
In her arms, she held her newborn son Fayyaz.
“I am simply grateful to Allah for saving my baby and my life, and that my baby is still with me today.”
Pakistan’s Sindh province is the second most populated province of the country where 30 percent of women receive no prenatal care, 60 percent do not give birth in a health facility, and the maternal mortality ratio is thrice the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 3 target.
As per a recent United Nations report, Pakistan was among four countries that accounted for nearly half of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2023. The situation is dire in rural districts such as Thatta, where the health infrastructure is shoddy and few skilled birth attendants are available.
Set up in 2021, SIEHS, which runs as a public-private partnership, wants to fill the gap, with its ambulances, called ‘HOPE,’ providing free and round-the-clock assistance to people in Sindh though the 1122 helpline.
“Our job is to respond to emergencies,” Farheen Haider, an emergency Mmedical technician (EMT) at SIEHS, told Arab News. “When it’s a delivery case, we respond immediately. If the situation is more critical, we try to manage the patient on the way.”
Since its establishment, SIEHS has delivered 400 babies in ambulances across Sindh, with the mothers surviving in all cases, Haider added.
Shabeera’s was one such case in which paramedics worked in the confined space of the ambulance, performing the delivery and administering immediate postnatal care, including carrying out an APGAR scoring to gauge the health of the baby, as well as cleaning the mother and baby and cutting the umbilical cord.
The baby’s grandmother, Haseena Bibi, recalled the ordeal the woman went through that day.
“We are very poor and we couldn’t reach the hospital … we were very worried and then the girl [Shabeera] said that she couldn’t bear it anymore,” Haseena said.
She said the ambulance arrived quickly and Shabeera gave birth on the way.
Around 600 HOPE ambulances are operating in various districts of Sindh, Wazeer Ahmed, SIEHS regional manager told Arab News.
One of the main objectives of the service, he explained, was to move expecting women to hospitals:
“But if there are complications or the baby is about to be delivered, we take permission from the parents or the husband and proceed with the delivery inside the ambulance.”
