PESHAWAR: At least two policemen were killed on Friday when a convoy of local judges came under attack in northwestern Pakistan, a police official confirmed, as the country grapples with a surge in militant attacks, particularly in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan has faced deadly attacks by the banned militant conglomerate Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since an uneasy truce between them collapsed in November 2022.
The network, whose leadership is reportedly based in neighboring Afghanistan, has targeted civilians and security forces with impunity since its inception in 2007, prompting the military to launch multiple operations to dislodge its fighters from the country’s northwestern tribal region.
This is not the first time the lives of district judges have been endangered by militants operating in KP. Last April, Judge Shakirullah Marwat was abducted by unidentified kidnappers near a village at the junction of Tank and Dera Ismail (DI) Khan districts but was recovered after a few days.
“Two policemen have been killed who were part of the judges’ security squad,” District Police Officer Abdul Salam Khalid told Arab News on Friday. “The attack on the convoy occurred at the junction of Tank and DI Khan.”
The police official said two judges were traveling in separate cars from Dera Ismail Khan to South Waziristan when their convoy was ambushed by unidentified militants. He added more details related to the incident would be shared after the investigation was completed.
Meanwhile, Regional Police Officer Nasir Mehmood said the attack was not aimed at the judges but was instead carried out to target the police personnel.
“Attacks on police and law enforcement agencies occur on and off in the region,” he added.
Reacting to the attack, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur described the targeting of judges and police as a “sad and condemnable” act, directing the authorities to submit a detailed report on the incident.
The province has witnessed a major increase in militant violence, with two policemen and a civilian killed this week in an attack on a police checkpoint in Khyber district.
Earlier in July, 10 soldiers and five civilians lost their lives in two separate attacks in the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts of KP.
In the first attack, the army reported that a group of 10 militants attempted to enter the cantonment in Bannu in the early hours of July 15, while in the second attack, militants opened fire on rural health center staff.
In February, 10 policemen were killed and six others injured in an attack on the Chodwan police station in Dera Ismail Khan, a district that remains one of the most dangerous parts of KP due to frequent militant attacks.
Pakistan has blamed the recent surge in militant violence on the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, which it says facilitates groups like the TTP. Kabul denies allowing its territory to be used by armed militants and maintains that Pakistan’s security issues are a domestic matter.
Two policemen killed as judges’ convoy attacked by militants in northwestern Pakistan
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Two policemen killed as judges’ convoy attacked by militants in northwestern Pakistan
- Both judges remain safe in the shooting incident at a junction between Tank and Dera Ismail Khan
- A senior police official in the area says the militants primarily wanted to target the police personnel
Pakistan voices ‘deep regret’ as US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on Gaza ceasefire
- 15-member UN council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members
- Only US voted against, using its veto as permanent council member to block resolution
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday expressed “deep regret” over the United States vetoing a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, which has drawn criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel’s war in the besieged enclave.
The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of hostages. Only the US voted against it, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.
“We deeply regret that even now a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire has been vetoed by the sole negative vote of a permanent member of the Council,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Munir Akram, told the state APP news agency.
Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said Washington had made clear it would only support a resolution that explicitly called for the immediate release of hostages as part of a ceasefire.
“A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages. These two urgent goals are inextricably linked. This resolution abandoned that necessity, and for that reason, the United States could not support it,” he said.
Wood said the US had sought compromise, but the text of the proposed resolution would have sent a “dangerous message” to Hamas that “there’s no need to come back to the negotiating table.”
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced nearly all of the enclave’s population at least once. It was launched in response to an attack by Hamas fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
With inputs from Reuters
Gulf countries have identified $19 billion investment portfolio for Pakistan — planning minister
- Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy
- Rollovers, loans from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China have helped Pakistan meet external financing needs in the past
ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among others, had identified a $19 billion investment portfolio for Pakistan, while China was now entering phase two of a multi-billion-dollar economic corridor project.
Pakistan has been pushing for foreign investment in recent months in a bid to shore up its $350 billion economy as it navigates a tough reforms agenda mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The world, which was viewing Pakistan as a failed economy, is once more looking at Pakistan with hope,” Iqbal said as he addressed a ceremony in Islamabad.
“China is extending its hand in the form of phase two of CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor]. Our friendly nations, Gulf countries, which include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Azerbaijan, they have together identified a $19 billion portfolio under which they can invest in Pakistan. So, all these opportunities are once again knocking at our door.”
Rollovers or disbursements on loans from Pakistan’s long-time allies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China, in addition to financing from the IMF, have helped Pakistan meet its external financing needs in the past.
Last month, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed investment agreements worth $2.8 billion while Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pledged to expedite a $5 billion investment portfolio for Islamabad.
The UAE committed this May it would invest $10 billion in promising economic sectors. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also said this week Azerbaijan had pledged to invest $3 billion in multiple sectors of Pakistan’s economy.
Pakistan and the IMF signed a $7 billion loan program in September.
Pakistan’s economy has struggled for decades with boom-and-bust cycles, needing 23 IMF bailouts since 1958.
Two new species of cobia fish found off Gwadar coast in northern Arabian Sea
- New study published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Zoologischer Anzeiger
- Research team found species during study of commercially popular black king cobia
ISLAMABAD: Two newly identified species of the cobia fish have been found off Pakistan’s Gwadar coast in the northern Arabian Sea, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Zoologischer Anzeiger, whose latest edition came out this month.
The cobia is a species of marine carangiform ray-finned fish, whose other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeater, prodigal son, codfish, and black bonito.
“This study describes two newly identified species, Rachycentron blochii sp. nov. and Rachycentron makranesis sp. nov. from Gwadar in the northern Arabian Sea,” said the study, authored by Dr. Sher Khan Panhwar and Dr. Imtiaz Kashani, professors at the Center of Excellence in Marine Biology at the University of Karachi.
“The newly discovered species differ significantly from their relatives in multiple morphological traits, such as head profile, mouth, pectoral fin, caudal fin, caudal peduncle, dorsal and anal fin bases, gill rakers, and body coloration.”
The recent finding increases the number of cobia species in the northern Arabian Sea, Pakistan, the study says, presenting information on the species’ biological and ecological aspects such as feeding habits, age assessment, habitat preferences and fishery-related details.
The research was financially supported by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan through its National Research Programme for Universities project.
“At first glance, I thought it was another black king cobia but when I looked closer at the markings on its body, I knew it was different,” Dr. Panhwar told Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, explaining that he was traveling with students on a routine survey of the Gwadar fish harbor last year when he spotted the new species. The team was there to study the black king cobia or Rachycentron canadum, a commercially popular large fish found around the world.
Fresh specimens weighing between 4 and 7 kg were immediately cooled in dry-ice and packed into ice boxes for transportation to the fisheries laboratory at the University of Karachi, some 650km away from the Gwadar harbor.
Back at the laboratory, Dr. Panhwar and his colleague Dr. Kashani analyzed the unusual cobias, examining their appearance, dissecting them, and comparing them with the typical species.
The two new species have been named the Blotchy Cobia, a nod to the large gray markings found on its body as well as to the Balochi language spoken in the region. The other one will be called Makran Cobia, named after the Makran coast where it was found.
“At this time, these species of cobia have only been spotted in Pakistan,” Panhwar told Dawn.
After bail in state gifts case, new charges filed against Pakistan’s Imran Khan
- Khan has been named in case relating to alleged violence by his supporters during a rally in September
- Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, says all cases against him are politically motivated
ISLAMABAD: Rawalpindi police said on Thursday they had filed fresh charges against former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan related to violence at a party rally in September, a day after a court granted the ex-premier bail in a case involving the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository.
On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court granted Khan bail in the new Toshakhana case, filed in July and involving a jewelry set worth over €380,000 gifted to the former first lady by a foreign dignitary when Khan was prime minister from 2018-2022. The couple is accused of undervaluing the gift and buying it at a lesser price from the state repository.
Before the new case was filed, Khan, who has been in jail since last August, was convicted in four cases. Two of the cases have since been suspended, including an original one relating to state gifts, while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
“A case has been registered for arson, stone pelting, resisting the police, damage to government property and other incidents,” Rawalpindi Police announced on X, reading the charges against Khan in connection to a protest held by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in September.
“Investigation team headed by SSP Investigation is investigating Imran Khan. Khan will be produced in court to obtain physical remand.”
Charges have also been filed in the case against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and a number of PTI leaders, including Seemabia Tahir, Amir Mughar and Aliya Hamza.
The police report of the case, which was filed on Sept. 28, the day of the rally, lists terrorism, attempted murder, vandalism, destruction of public and state property, and interference in government operations as the main charges. It says participants of the PTI rally created unrest, obstructed public access by burning tires and caused difficulties for citizens.
It also charges PTI leaders and supporters of raising anti-government slogans, hurling stones at the police and attacking them with iron rods during the protest.
Several police vehicles were damaged by PTI rallygoers and one police officer was injured, the report says.
Khan was in prison when the Sept. 28 rally took place. The former premier denies any wrongdoing, and alleges all the cases registered against him since he was removed from power in 2022 are politically motivated to keep him in jail.
Pakistani PM thanks King Salman, Gates foundations for global anti-polio efforts
- Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains last polio-endemic country in the world
- This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan so far, a majority in Balochistan province
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met a delegation of the Polio Oversight Board in Islamabad and thanked the King Salman and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, among others, in their global efforts for polio eradication.
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that has prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
“The Prime Minister thanked the King Salman Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary Foundation, UNICEF and CDC, which are partners with the Government of Pakistan in the polio eradication campaign,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after the meeting.
“The role of all these organizations reflects the global efforts in the polio eradication campaign.”
This year, 50 cases have been reported in Pakistan: 24 from Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, 10 from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994, and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then. But efforts to eradicate the virus have for years been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.
Pakistan’s chief health officer this month said an estimated 500,000 children had missed polio vaccinations during a recent countrywide inoculation drive due to vaccine refusals.
