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US official Natalie Baker takes charge as deputy chief of mission to Pakistan

The image shared by the U.S. Embassy Islamabad on August 15, 2024, shows the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Pakistan, Natalie Baker. (@usembislamabad/X)
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Updated 15 August 2024
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US official Natalie Baker takes charge as deputy chief of mission to Pakistan

  • Baker has previously served as deputy chief of mission at American embassy in Doha, says US embassy in islamabad
  • Once close allies, ties between Pakistan and US have been tested by divergent priorities on various issues 
Updated 15 August 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Seasoned US diplomat Natalie Baker has assumed charge of the key post of deputy chief of mission to Pakistan, the American embassy in Islamabad announced on Thursday amid strained ties between the two countries who were once close allies. 

Pakistan and the US cultivated strong defense ties during the Cold War days, yet their relationship was also tested by divergent priorities on various issues. However, more recent times have seen tensions escalate, particularly after 9/11, when US officials criticized Pakistan for not sufficiently supporting the American military efforts against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

While Islamabad and Washington enjoyed close cooperation during the so-called “War on Terror,” the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan strained relations between the two countries as Washington suspected Pakistan of sheltering Taliban fighters, a charge Islamabad strongly denied. 

The perception of US interference in Pakistani politics has also been a contentious issue between the two countries, highlighted by former prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations that Washington orchestrated his ouster in April 2022, a claim the US authorities have denied.

“The US Mission to Pakistan welcomes the arrival of Deputy Chief of Mission Natalie A. Baker,” a statement from the US embassy in Islamabad said. 

“Prior to assuming the duties of Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy Islamabad, Natalie served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar. “

Baker has also served as the US deputy chief and charge d’Affaires of the US Mission to Libya, deputy director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US Consulate in Dubai and as economic counselor at the US Embassy in Kuwait.

“Natalie’s previous other assignments included Special Assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Consular Officer in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Cultural Officer in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan,” the US Embassy said. 

Baker also holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. She is a 2017 Distinguished Graduate of the National War College, National Defense University of the United States of America.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Natalie Baker

Pakistan launches ‘massive’ crackdown against smuggling along border with Iran

Updated 8 sec ago
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Pakistan launches ‘massive’ crackdown against smuggling along border with Iran

  • Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association says up to 35 percent diesel sold in Pakistan arrives illegally from Iran 
  • Energy ministry says 4,000 tons a day of smuggled fuel causing monthly revenue loss of Rs10.2 billion 
Updated 8 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday announced it had launched a “massive” crackdown on smuggling along its porous border with Iran, as its illicit economy continues to pose a major economic and security challenge for the country.

Experts say the illicit economy in Pakistan relies on collusion among Pakistan’s law enforcement institutions, political elites, and criminal and militant networks operating in the border regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

In May last year, an association of petroleum dealers flagged a surge in the smuggling of Iranian fuel to Pakistan, saying that up to 35 percent of diesel sold in the South Asian country had arrived illegally from Iran. The association said in the past, the smuggling of fuel was limited to the Pakistani province of Balochistan, but that it had now spread to the rest of the country.

In April, Pakistan’s energy ministry asked security forces to clamp down on fuel smuggling from Iran, according to an official memo, which said diesel sales had slumped “more than 40 percent” due to smuggled products.

Pakistan mostly meets its demand for fuel from the Middle East, but it is also smuggled in through its western border with Iran.

“The federal government has launched a massive crackdown against smuggling in line with its efforts to further strengthen economy,” state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday. 

“According to latest statistics, 126.4 metric tons of sugar, 4 metric tons flour, 3252 sticks of cigarettes, and approximately one million liters of Iranian oil were seized by the relevant departments during the first week of this month. The concerned departments are committed to continue their operations to prevent smuggling.”

The country is facing an acute balance of payment crisis and undertaking several measures, including raising fuel prices, to get clearance for a $7 billion International Monetary Fund bailout signed in July. 

The energy ministry said last year according to the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), around 4,000 tons per day of fuel smuggled into Pakistan was causing a total revenue loss of around 10.2 billion rupees a month.

Pakistan’s government has also ordered a clampdown on smuggling of flour, wheat, sugar and fertilizer to Afghanistan.

Topics: Pakistan Iran Ties Drugs crackdown Iran Pakistan

Parts of Pakistan rattled by 5.7 magnitude quake, no immediate reports of damage

Updated 48 min 38 sec ago
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Parts of Pakistan rattled by 5.7 magnitude quake, no immediate reports of damage

  • Tremors felt in capital, northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eastern Punjab provinces
  • 7.6 magnitude quake northeast of Islamabad killed at least 73,000 people in 2005
Updated 48 min 38 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck parts of Pakistan on Wednesday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in a statement, with no immediate reports of damage.

The epicenter of the earthquake was Dera Ghazi Khan in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and the depth was 10 kilometers. 

“PDMA received preliminary reports about the earthquake from all districts of Punjab [province],” it said in a statement. “Earthquake tremors felt in other areas of Punjab including [provincial capital] Lahore.”

The quake also shook buildings in the capital, Islamabad. Local media reports said tremors were felt in the cities of Lahore, Islamabad, Mianwali, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Swat, North Waziristan, Hangu, Mardan and Malakand, among others. 

The PDM did not report any damage, nor did authorities in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

“Administration across Punjab is busy checking buildings,” PDM said, adding that district emergency centers were on high alert. “Machinery and staff have been put on alert to deal with the aftershocks of the earthquake.”

A 7.6 magnitude quake northeast of Islamabad killed at least 73,000 people in 2005. The quake also rocked Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 1,244 there. 

In 2013, twin earthquakes, measuring 7.7 and 6.8 magnitude, rattled Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least 825 people.

Topics: Pakistan earthquake Islamabad Arab News Pakistan

Police sit-in against ‘army presence’ in Pakistani northwestern district enters third day

Updated 11 September 2024
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Police sit-in against ‘army presence’ in Pakistani northwestern district enters third day

  • Lakki Marwat police demand “army should withdraw from district and police should be given back their full powers”
  • At least 75 policemen have been killed in ambushes and target killings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year, as per police data
Updated 11 September 2024
REHMAT MEHSUD

Dera Ismail Khan: A sit-in by police in the northwestern Pakistani district of Lakki Marwat entered a third day, police said on Wednesday, as protesters demanded the military withdraw from the region and hand over “full powers” to civilian law enforcers.

The Pakistan army has a heavy presence in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, where it has been battling militants from the Al-Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban and other groups for nearly two decades. 

There have been protests in several districts of KP since July, when Pakistan’s cabinet announced that a new military operation would be launched amid a surge in terror attacks across the country. People in the northwestern region have rejected plans for an armed operation and demand that civilian agencies like the provincial police and the counter-terrorism department be better equipped. 

“Lakki Marwat police sit-in protest against Pakistani army continues for the third day in intense heat at Taja Chowk,” district police said in a statement to media, saying the Peshawar-Karachi Indus Highway had been completely closed for all types of vehicular traffic for 72 hours. 

“Police only have one demand and a one point agenda that the army should withdraw from the district and police should be given back their full powers.”

The sit-in by policemen, who have been joined by representatives of civil society and political parties as well as tribal elders and members of the public, comes days after unidentified gunmen attacked a police van in Lakki Marwat, killing an officer. Two brothers of a serving police man in Lakki Marwat were also gunned down last week. Similar protests were also held in KP’s Bannu district in July. 

Pakistan has seen a rise in militant attacks in recent weeks, with many of them taking place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where groups like the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, have stepped up attacks, daily targeting security forces convoys and check posts, and carrying out targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.

At least 75 policemen have been killed in ambushes and target killings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2024, according to police data. 

The volatile Lakki Marwat district is located on the edge of Pakistan’s restive tribal regions that border Afghanistan, from where Islamabad says militants mainly associated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan frequently launch attacks, targeting police and other security forces. Islamabad has even blamed Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers of facilitating anti-Pakistan militants. Kabul denies the charges.

Topics: Pakistan police LAKKI MARWAT Arab News Pakistan

Pakistan appoints Amna Baloch as new foreign secretary, second woman to hold top post

Updated 11 September 2024
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Pakistan appoints Amna Baloch as new foreign secretary, second woman to hold top post

  • Baloch was last serving as Pakistan’s ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg
  • Before Baloch, the last and only woman to serve as foreign secretary was Tehmina Janjua from 2017-2019
Updated 11 September 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appointed Ambassador Amna Baloch as its 33rd foreign secretary, the foreign office said on Wednesday, making her only the second woman in the country’s history to hold the top slot in the Foreign Service. 

Baloch takes over from Ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi who has concluded a 34-year career with the foreign service and is retiring. The last and only woman to serve as foreign secretary was Tehmina Janjua from 2017 to 2019.

“A veteran diplomat, Ambassador Baloch has held several important assignments both in Islamabad and in Pakistan’s Missions abroad,” the foreign office said as it announced the new foreign secretary’s appointment.

“She served as Pakistan’s Consul General to Chengdu, China (2014-2017); High Commissioner to Malaysia (2019-2023); Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg (2023-2024).”

Baloch has a master’s degree in history and joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1991. She has served on various important assignments at the headquarters and missions abroad during her career including Minister Counsellor at Colombo, Sri Lanka, Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office and Additional Secretary at the Foreign Minister’s office.

Baloch is married and has two daughters.

Topics: Amna Baloch Pakistan Pakistan foreign office

US embassy urges citizens to reconsider travel to Pakistan amid militancy surge

Updated 11 September 2024
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US embassy urges citizens to reconsider travel to Pakistan amid militancy surge

  • In new travel advisory, US warns citizens not to travel to Azad Kashmir, KP and Balochistan provinces
  • Says militants can launch attacks with “little or no warning,” advises citizens against attending protests
Updated 11 September 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: The US embassy in Islamabad this week warned citizens to reconsider traveling to Pakistan “due to terrorism” and “increased risks” of violence in some parts of the country as the South Asian nation faces a surge in militant activity.

Pakistan has seen a number of high-profile attacks in recent months, including when separatist militants killed over 50 people in the country’s largest province of Balochistan in a string of coordinated attacks on army and paramilitary camps, police stations, railway lines and highways last month. Elsewhere in the country, particularly the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, religiously motivated groups like the Pakistani Taliban have also stepped up attacks, daily targeting security forces convoys and check posts, and carrying out targeted killings and kidnappings of security and government officials.

“Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism,” the US Embassy said in a new travel advisory issued on Tuesday. “Some areas have increased risk. Do not travel to Balochistan province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to terrorism [and] the immediate vicinity of the India-Pakistan border and the Line of Control due to terrorism and the potential for armed conflict.”

Highlighting risks, the embassy said militants could launch attacks with “little or no warning,” targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist attractions, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and government facilities. 

It advised its citizens against going to protests, saying Pakistani law prohibited protests without an official permit and US citizens could be detained for participation or for posting “critical” social media content against the Pakistan government and military.

“Pakistan’s security environment remains fluid, sometimes changing with little or no notice,” the advisory said. “There are greater security resources and infrastructure in the major cities, particularly Islamabad, and security forces in these areas may be more readily able to respond to an emergency compared to other areas of the country.”

If US citizens did decide to travel to Pakistan, the embassy advised them, among other measures, to monitor local media for breaking events, remain aware of surroundings, particularly around public markets, restaurants, police installations, places of worship, government and military institutions and other locations, avoid demonstrations or other large gatherings, have evacuation plans that did not rely on US government assistance and keep travel documents up to date and easily accessible.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties US Embassy Militancy

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