KARACHI: The Counterterrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province said on Thursday the Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade had carried out at least 17 sectarian killings in Karachi between last September to February this year, which were previously believed to be incidents of street crime.
The US Treasury placed the Zainabiyoun Brigade on its financial blacklist in January 2019 as part of a “pressure campaign to shut down the illicit networks the (Iranian) regime uses to export terrorism and unrest across the globe.”
Many of the group’s fighters are believed to have been recruited from Pakistan by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij militia, and trained for operations in the Syrian civil war, which broke out in 2011.
Some of the recruits have since returned to Pakistan, especially during COVID-19 pandemic closures, authorities say, prompting them to step up their crackdown on the group’s activities. Islamabad banned the group last month, saying it was a potential threat to security.
“In the last few months of 2023 and the first few months of 2024, there was a sudden increase in targeted killings in Karachi, which initially appeared to be deaths due to resistance in street crimes,” a CTD statement released on Thursday said.
“When the CTD investigated these incidents, it was found that from September 2023 to February 2024, in addition to street crimes, there were nearly 17 sectarian targeted killings … Upon further technical and forensic investigation of the network involved, it was revealed that terrorists from the banned organization Zainabiyoun were involved in these acts of terrorism.”
The CTD said local militants belonging to the group were getting their targets, funds and other facilities from a man named Syed Hussain Mousavi alias Muslim who used one group to perform reconnaissance and another to take out targets.
According to the CTD, sectarian killings carried out by the group had stopped in the city after two Zainabiyoun militants, Waqar Abbas and Hussain Akbar, were jailed following their arrest in a case involving the possession of illegal weapons.
Another team of sectarian killers originally from Gilgit-Baltistan had gone underground since the arrest of their accomplices, the statement said.
In January, the CTD in Sindh said it had arrested a “trained terrorist” belonging to the Zainabiyoun Brigade in Karachi who was accused of an assassination attempt on a top Pakistani cleric.
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, a former Pakistan top court judge and a permanent member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy, narrowly escaped the assassination attempt in the port city in March 2019. The attack had killed two of Usmani’s guards and wounded a fellow religious scholar, Maulana Amir Shahabullah.
Karachi, a metropolis of 20 million that hosts the stock exchange and central bank, has for decades been beset by armed violence.
While an armed campaign by the military, with help from police, paramilitary Rangers and intelligence agencies, against armed gangs and suspected militants in the city brought down murder rates after 2013, street crimes have been on the rise again since last year, with shooting deaths in muggings and robberies once again becoming a daily headline.
Pakistan accuses Iran-backed militants of 17 sectarian killings between September 2023 to February
https://arab.news/22utw
Pakistan accuses Iran-backed militants of 17 sectarian killings between September 2023 to February
- United States Treasury placed Zainabiyoun Brigade on its financial blacklist in January 2019
- Pakistan’s interior ministry designated Zainebiyoun Brigade a “terrorist” organization in April
Pakistan PM urges President Biden to release Dr. Aafia Siddiqui from US prison
- Sharif’s letter to the US president, written last Sunday, was submitted to a Pakistani court by a state lawyer
- Sharif wants Biden to take a compassionate view of the situation, release Siddiqui ‘on humanitarian grounds’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to United States President Joe Biden earlier this month, according to a court hearing on Friday, seeking the release of a Pakistani national, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the US on terrorism charges.
The information about the letter emerged after a state lawyer submitted the document, written last Sunday, during an Islamabad High Court hearing that had recently sought a detailed report on the extradition efforts made by Pakistani authorities.
Siddiqui, a US-trained neuroscientist, was convicted in 2010 on multiple charges, including attempting to kill US nationals. She became a suspect after leaving the US and marrying a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Siddiqui was wounded during a confrontation with US officials in Afghanistan in 2008, with some reports suggesting she shot at the Americans.
“I am writing this letter to you, Mr. President, to seek your kind intervention in a matter that deserves to be viewed with compassion,” the prime minister said in his letter. “I am referring to the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui ... [who] is serving an eighty-six (86) year sentence, without the possibility of parole.”
Sharif noted that Siddiqui, now 52 years old, had spent approximately 16 years behind bars in the US.
He also emphasized that several Pakistani officials had made consular visits to her in prison, raising “serious concerns” about her treatment while incarcerated.
The prime minister said her time in prison had “severely impacted her already fragile mental and frail physical health,” adding: “In fact, they [the officials] even fear that she could take her own life.”
Pointing out that, as Pakistan’s prime minister, it was his duty to intervene when necessary to ensure the well-being of a citizen, Sharif sought clemency from President Biden for Siddiqui.
“Keeping these facts in view, I request you, Mr. President, to kindly exercise your constitutional authority and accept Dr. Siddiqui’s clemency petition and order her release, strictly on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
Siddiqui’s sister, Fauzia, has taken up her case in the media and has visited her in captivity in the US.
During the hearing, she urged the government to make every effort to bring her back to the country, as the court reviewed the details of how the Pakistani neuroscientist ended up in an American prison.
With input from AP
Pakistan crush England in second Test to set up series decider
- Spinner Noman Ali grabbed 8-46, Sajid Khan took 2-93 as the pair wrapped up England’s second innings for 144
- It was Pakistan’s first home win since Feb. 2021 and came after they were thumped by an innings in the first Test
MULTAN: Spinner Noman Ali took eight wickets as Pakistan crushed England by 152 runs in the second Test to level the series 1-1 on Friday in Multan.
Noman grabbed 8-46 and Sajid Khan took 2-93 as the pair wrapped up England’s second innings for 144 after the visitors were set a daunting target of 297.
It was Pakistan’s first home win since February 2021 and came after they were thumped by an innings in the first Test, also in Multan.
The third and final Test starts in Rawalpindi from October 24.
Noman finished with a match haul of 11-147 while Sajid had figures of 9-204, only the second time in Pakistan’s history that two bowlers took all 20 wickets in a Test.
Pakistan’s last Test win at home came against South Africa in Rawalpindi more than three years ago. It was followed by 11 home Tests without a win.
This also becomes Shan Masood’s first win as skipper after getting the job last year, including 3-0 and 2-0 whitewashes at the hands of Australia and Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s ploy of dropping ace batsman Babar Azam in one of four changes after the first Test defeat and playing on a reused pitch with three spinners paid off handsomely.
Resuming at 36-2 and facing a tough task on a pitch offering sharp spin, England managed to add just 108 runs before folding.
In just the second over of the day Sajid removed Ollie Pope with a sharp turning delivery and caught the miscued drive off his own bowling. Pope made 22.
Noman then trapped Joe Root leg-before for 18 and Harry Brook for 16 to leave England facing defeat at 78-5.
Brook smashed an epic 317 and Root a brilliant 262 — eclipsing Alastair Cook’s England Test run record — in the first Test, and their dismissals signalled England’s doom was approaching.
Noman’s fourth wicket came in the form of Jamie Smith whose uppish slog sweep was held by Masood at mid-on. Smith scored six.
Skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse fought hard to take the total to 125 when Stokes was stumped in a comical manner, jumping out of the crease to loft Noman but missing the ball as his bat flew out of his hands.
Noman wrapped up the match with the wickets of Carse (27), Jack Leach (one) and Shoaib Bashir (nought), improving his previous best of 7-70 against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year.
Third batch of 26 Palestinian students arrives in Pakistan to resume medical studies
- Islamabad announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to more than 100 Palestinian students
- These Palestinian students will return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, a Pakistani health official says
ISLAMABAD: A third batch of 26 Palestinian students has arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to continue their studies in the fields of medicine and dentistry, the Pakistani health ministry said on Friday.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced in July that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will provide scholarships to over 100 Palestinian students so that they can continue their studies in Pakistan.
The initiative, which came amid Israel’s war on Palestine, is a collaboration between Doctors of Rehman, Global Relief Trust and a leading Pakistani non-governmental organization, Al-Khidmat Foundation.
Pakistan prime minister’s coordinator on health, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, warmly welcomed the Palestinian students upon arrival at the Islamabad airport, according to the Pakistani health ministry.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had offered Palestinian medical students to continue their studies in Pakistan in view of the current situation in Gaza,” Dr. Bharath was quoted as saying by the ministry.
“[They] will continue their medical and dental education in various medical institutions of Pakistan.”
More than 42,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the Palestinian health authorities. The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 and capturing around 200 others.
“All necessary steps will be taken to provide medical facilities to Palestinian students,” Dr. Bharath said. “[Pakistan] stands with the Palestinian students in this difficult time.”
These Palestinian students would return after completing their medical education in Pakistan to serve people at home, he added.
More than 90 Palestinian students arrived in Pakistan earlier this week via two separate flights to continue their medical studies in the country.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.
India foreign minister’s Pakistan visit a ‘good beginning’, Nawaz Sharif says
- Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
- Jaishankar and his counterpart Ishaq Dar had an ‘informal interaction,’ an official in Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday
MUMBAI: The visit of India’s foreign minister to Pakistan earlier this week was a “good beginning” that could lead to a thaw in relations between the two rivals, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by Indian media on Friday.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Pakistan on Tuesday and Wednesday for a meeting of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with the capital city under tight lockdown.
“This is how talks move forward. Talks should not stop,” Sharif, the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N), and the brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told a group of visiting Indian journalists, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad, nearly a decade since an Indian foreign minister has visited amid frosty relations between the two nuclear powers.
Jaishankar and his counterpart Ishaq Dar had an “informal interaction,” an official in Pakistani foreign ministry said on Thursday, but New Delhi denied that any sort of meeting had taken place.
“We had made it very clear that this particular visit is for SCO head of government meeting. Other than that, there were some pleasantries exchanged on the sidelines of the meeting,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday.
“We have lost the last 75 years and it is important we don’t lose the next 75 years,” Sharif was quoted as saying in the Times of India newspaper.
Pakistan’s first multi-mission communication satellite becomes operational
- PAKSAT MM1 to aid in South Asian nation’s space and digital development
- The satellite will usher in digital era by providing Internet to remote areas
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first multi-mission communication satellite, PAKSAT MM1, is now fully operational, state media reported on Thursday, describing the move as a significant milestone in the country’s space and digital development.
In May, Pakistan launched the PAKSAT MM1 with Chinese assistance into space from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in a ceremony broadcast live by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the country’s national space agency.
The satellite has been conceived keeping in view the growing needs of the South Asian country in the broad spectrum of communication and connectivity.
“The success of PAKSAT-MM1 will transform Pakistan’s communication infrastructure, which will benefit various IT sectors,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The satellite will provide services such as television broadcasting, community Internet, and tele-education to promote local industries.”
Pakistan’s ranking has improved by 14 points in the United Nations E-Governance Development Index — a comprehensive assessment tool that evaluates the digital government landscape across all UN member states — according to the state broadcaster.
The country now stands at 136 in overall ranking which was at 150 in 2022.
“This satellite will also increase Internet connectivity in remote areas which will further the government’s vision of Digital Pakistan,” the report read.
