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‘Silent revolution’: Pakistan hosts first Asian MMA Championship, marking ‘new era’ for combat sport

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Updated 22 August 2024
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‘Silent revolution’: Pakistan hosts first Asian MMA Championship, marking ‘new era’ for combat sport

  • Late entrant into MMA, the event in Pakistan has brought 180 athletes from 23 countries
  • Pakistan has done well in the sport globally though MMA remains entirely self-funded
Updated 22 August 2024
Haseeb Asif

LAHORE: Over 180 athletes from 23 countries participated this week as Pakistan hosted the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Asian Championship for the first time, with the Pakistan MMA Federation calling it the “biggest sporting event in the country’s history.”

MMA is a full-contact combat sport that combines techniques from various martial arts disciplines, including boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and karate. Competitors use both striking and grappling techniques in a regulated environment, often within a cage or ring, to determine the most skilled fighter.

Pakistan is a late entrant to the sport though it has no shortage of fans, many of whom regularly train at MMA-dedicated gyms equipped with experienced coaches and specialized facilities. Gyms and training centers have been popping up all over the country in recent years as the youth of Pakistan embrace the world’s fastest growing sport.

The MMA Asia championship in Lahore also opened to a packed house on Sunday with a fight between Pakistani and Indian fighters, allowing the fierce cross-border rivalry to not only set the tone for the competition but also pique the interest of fans in other parts of the world.

The event, which was aired by American broadcasters and streamed on multiple platforms, has attracted participants from regions such as the Middle East and Central Asia and will run from Aug. 18-22.

“Since [Asian championship] is being broadcast in 180 countries, translated in 25 languages and hitting 10 million households, so for Pakistan, it’s the biggest sporting event in its history,” Omer Ahmed, the president of the Pakistan MMA Federation, told Arab News. 

Pakistani fighters displayed impressive performances against their Indian counterparts with Zia Mashwani, a local fighter, winning the first-round submission over Bharat Khandare during the inaugural match on Sunday.

Pakistan’s 24-year-old Bano Butt also beat her Indian counterpart in the 47-kilogram atomweight category in the semifinal on Wednesday.

“I started MMA in 2019, and I’m undefeated in Pakistan, my record is 12-1 [with only one international defeat],” said Butt, who was an amateur boxer before training for MMA at a gym that provides combat training. “I thank my coaches and Mr. Omer Ahmed at the MMA Federation for supporting me.”

Ahmed is the driving force behind the tournament in Pakistan and forged global partnerships with entities like the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation to bring the first MMA Asian Championship to the South Asian nation. 

“This is the only event in Pakistan’s history where 16 teams and 300 foreign nationals have shown up,” he said, giving a count of fighters, coaches and support staff and pointing out that even in cricket, the most popular game in the country, only about eight teams joined major tournaments.

“We’ve been winning medals in both the [MMA] Asian Championships and World Championships for the last three years [but] this has been somewhat of a silent revolution,” Ahmed added. “Because even though our Pakistani MMA federation is [globally] recognized, it is a self-funded federation. The best thing is that we’ve learned how to monetize our content.”

“BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY”

Visiting athletes and teams from Pakistan, Middle East, India and other nations praised the arrangements and hospitality at the event. 

“This is the first time I’ve come to Pakistan,” Khushboo Nishad, an Indian MMA fighter, told Arab News. “There was a lot of [negative] hype about Pakistan, but I really enjoyed my time here.

“Coming here to Pakistan, I felt like I was back in my hometime, in India. It’s a beautiful country, Pakistan, it’s just like India.”

Another fighter visiting Pakistan for the first time was Nour Al Fliti from Lebanon.

“I have been a Lebanese flyweight MMA champion twice,” she told Arab News. “I have just finished my fight, and I won by decision after facing team Pakistan.”

Al Fliti said she was aiming for gold like her Lebanese compatriot, Mohammad Fakhreddine who won in the male 55-kg featherweight category.

From Bahrain, Ali Mahroon put in walkover performances on his way to the 77-kg welterweight final.

“I won today with two submissions,” he told Arab News. “Tomorrow [Thursday], let’s go [for] gold.”

Mahroon said he had a “wonderful” time in Lahore, praising Pakistani hospitality and the tournament arrangements.

Mohammad Ghorbani, Iran’s Head Coach, called Pakistan a “beautiful” country.

“The people are nice. It’s a great experience and I would like to be back in this country very soon.”

Ahmed from the MMA federation thanked Rana Mashood of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program and the foreign office for facilitating the event.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave us a desk through which we were able to get these 300 visas … [they] arranged all of these visas within a day or two,” Ahmed said. “The government has supported us in this event, through logistics, through security, through getting visas, but we have not taken any financial support from them.”

Relying mainly on brands and sponsors, the federation had been successful in supporting Pakistani athletes at events around the world, Ahmed said. 

“In Abu Dhabi, Ismail Khan won a bronze medal. Bano Butt picked up a medal in Serbia, which was a big success being the first female [MMA] athlete from Pakistan. We won four medals, in two female and two male categories [3 silvers and a bronze] in Bahrain last December.”

“We will continue to win medals in [international] competitions and want people to watch this sport and make it even bigger than it already is,” the MMA Federation president said, saying hosting the Asian championship would go a long way in putting MMA on the sporting map in Pakistan.

“It’s a big deal, and hopefully if events like these continue to happen, you’ll also see the economy for this sport develop in Pakistan.”

Topics: Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Asian Championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Two police officers killed, two wounded in ambush in Pakistan’s Balochistan province

Updated 5 sec ago
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Two police officers killed, two wounded in ambush in Pakistan’s Balochistan province

  • Attack, claimed by BRA separatists, took place late on Saturday in Sui, mountain town about 50km from Dera Bugti city
  • Police were ambushed after had rushed to the area in two vehicles to respond to reports of a grenade explosion
Updated 5 sec ago
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: Two police officers were killed and two others injured when gunmen ambushed a police patrol in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said on Sunday. 

The attack took place late on Saturday in Sui, a mountainous town about 50km from Dera Bugti city where police had rushed to respond to reports of a grenade explosion.

Jalab Khan, station house officer at Sui Police, said officers were traveling in two vehicles when they were ambushed.

“Nearly a dozen armed men were hiding behind a large rock and attacked our vehicles with heavy gunfire, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades,” Khan told Arab News.

“Two policemen were killed on the spot and two sustained bullet wounds,” he said, adding that the attackers fled under the cover of darkness.

The Baloch Republican Army (BRA), an ethnic Baloch separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The BRA has been involved in multiple attacks on security forces and gas infrastructure in Dera Bugti, one of Pakistan’s key natural gas-producing districts.

The group emerged after the killing of veteran Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti during a military operation in 2006.

Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is a mineral-rich region that is home to Beijing’s investment in the Gwadar deep water port and other projects. It is Pakistan’s largest province by size but smallest by population and the most impoverished. It has long been the site of a separatist insurgency by groups like the BRA, who are fighting for independence.

Pakistan accuses neighboring India and Afghanistan of supporting Baloch separatist militants, a claim they deny. Islamabad also says neighboring Iran does not do enough against militants operating on their shared border. 

“The slain policemen were local residents of Dera Bugti and their bodies have been handed over to families for burial,” said Atta Tareen, the district police officer for Dera Bugti.

A first information police report hasd been registered and Balochistan’s Counter Terrorism Department was leading the investigation, Tareen added.

Topics: Balochistan Attacks militancy in Pakistan

Bitcoin pioneer Michael Saylor holds ‘landmark’ talks with Pakistan Crypto Council officials

Updated 15 June 2025
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Bitcoin pioneer Michael Saylor holds ‘landmark’ talks with Pakistan Crypto Council officials

  • Pakistan set up PCC in March to create legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in bid to lure international investment
  • Michael Saylor, bitcoin advocate and billionaire US business executive, speaks to Pakistani ministers for finance, crypto
Updated 15 June 2025
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Pakistani officials held a “landmark discussion” this week with Michael Saylor, bitcoin advocate and billionaire US business executive, on using digital currencies to strengthen Pakistan’s financial resilience and its digital economy, according to a statement released on Sunday. 

Pakistan set up the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) in March to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment. In April, Pakistan introduced its first-ever policy framework to set rules for how digital money like cryptocurrencies and the companies that deal in it should operate in Pakistan. The policy has been formulated to align with compliance and financial integrity guidelines of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Last month, the government approved setting up the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), a specialized regulatory body to oversee blockchain-based financial infrastructure, and separately also unveiled the country’s first government-led strategic bitcoin reserve at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.

Talks this week between Saylor and Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain Bilal Bin Saqib focused on how bitcoin could be used as part of sovereign reserves and monetary policy.

“Pakistan aspires to lead the Global South in the development and adoption of digital assets, setting a benchmark for innovation, regulation, and inclusive growth in the digital economy,” Finance Minister Aurangzeb, who is the chairman of the PCC, was quoted as saying in a statement released by Saqib’s office.

Saylor, one of the world’s most prominent corporate bitcoin investors, welcomed Pakistan’s move to explore digital assets, the statement added.

“Pakistan has many brilliant people. It also has commitment and clarity needed by businesses globally … Bitcoin is the strongest asset for long-term national resilience,” Saylor said during the meeting, according to the statement, adding that emerging markets like Pakistan could benefit from early adoption of blockchain finance.

Saylor also reportedly praised Pakistan’s efforts to take a “forward-looking, innovation-friendly stance” in the global digital economy and welcomed the opportunity to advise and support ongoing developments in the country related to digital assets. 

Saylor’s company, Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, is the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, reportedly holding about 582,000 BTC valued at over $62 billion as of June 2025. The company’s market capitalization has risen from $1.2 billion to over $105 billion since it adopted bitcoin as a core asset in 2020.

Topics: Pakistan Crypto Council bitcoin

Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

Updated 15 June 2025
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Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

  • Oil prices jump 7 percent on fears of disrupted Middle East exports
  • Analysts warn of economic and security risks for Pakistan
Updated 15 June 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee led by the finance minister to monitor any possible economic impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, a senior government adviser said on Sunday, as rising oil prices threaten to add new pressure on the South Asian nation’s fragile economy.

Oil prices have climbed about 7 percent since Friday, with Brent crude closing at $74.23 a barrel after hitting a session high of $78.50, amid fears of supply disruptions if Middle East tensions escalate further.

“The prime minister has constituted a committee under the supervision of the finance minister, which will monitor the situation,” Khurram Schehzad, an adviser at the finance ministry, told Arab News.

“The committee will assess the impact of the changes and volatility in oil prices on fiscal and external sides, and devise a strategy to pacify the impacts on Pakistan’s economy.”

Pakistan relies heavily on imported oil, and any sustained spike in prices could widen its current account deficit and push inflation higher at a time when the country is struggling with low foreign reserves and slow growth.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores. The conflict started on Friday when Israel launched a massive wave of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities but also hitting residential areas, sparking retaliation and fears of a broader regional conflict.

A 909 kilometer (565 mile) long international boundary separates Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. 

“Israel-Iran conflict presents complex challenges for Pakistan as rising oil prices may increase import costs and inflation, influencing monetary policy and growth, while disruptions to key routes like the Strait of Hormuz can affect energy supplies and critical projects,” said Khaqan Najeeb, an economist and former finance ministry adviser.

“It can potentially affect consumer purchasing power and production costs ... Possible disruptions to shipping routes and higher freight charges might result in delays to imports and exports, thereby exerting additional pressure on Pakistan’s external sector.”

DIPLOMATIC BALANCING

As the crisis deepens, analysts widely believe Islamabad should maintain “careful diplomatic balancing” between its ties with Iran and its other partners in the Gulf, as well as the United States.

“Diplomatically, Pakistan has to navigate a balanced and principled stance, honoring its historic ties with Iran alongside its strategic relationships with the US and Gulf partners, emphasizing dialogue and regional stability.”

Former Defense Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Naeem Lodhi said Israel was unlikely to target Pakistan directly but an expanding conflict could complicate matters for Islamabad, adding that it should remain vigilant but avoid “deeper” involvement.

“If the war expands to include more Middle Eastern countries, some of which are friendly to Pakistan, then it would be a difficult proposition for Islamabad... whose side it takes,” Lodhi added. 

Former Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said Pakistan would respond “forcefully” if directly targeted.

“Israel knows that Pakistan has the capacity to hit back hard,” Chaudhry said, referring to a May 2025 military confrontation with India in which Islamabad retaliated to New Delhi’s strikes, taking down fighter jets and hitting airfields, air bases and other military facilities.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to Iran, Asif Durrani, warned that the crisis could spill over if not contained.

“Not only Pakistan, but the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can be engulfed if the ongoing spat between Israel and Iran turns into an all-out war,” Durrani said.

However, he said the likelihood of a refugee crisis was limited unless the conflict escalated into a ground invasion.

“A refugee influx is possible if it becomes a full-fledged war, but Israel or the United States are unlikely to commit boots on the ground in Iran,” Durrani added. 

Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute think tank, said Pakistani security forces should increase patrols and surveillance in border districts as the conflict could impact militant groups operating along the Iran-Pakistan border region, such as Baloch separatists and other sectarian outfits.

“Whenever such a situation arises, separatist and sectarian outfits often try to take advantage of it, either by increasing their activities or by shifting them from their hideouts inside Iranian territories,” he said. 

“Their movement is likely to intensify if the threat reaches the border region.”

Topics: Israel attack on Iran Pakistan economy

Pakistan launches new pharma export council to boost overseas sales

Updated 15 June 2025
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Pakistan launches new pharma export council to boost overseas sales

  • Industry aims to raise exports from $700 million to $3 billion
  • Government pledges policy support and facilitation desk
Updated 15 June 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has this month established a new Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (PharmEx Pakistan) in a bid to expand exports and enhance the global competitiveness of its drug manufacturers, the country’s commerce minister said.

Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry, valued at about $4 billion domestically, has recorded steady growth in exports in recent years but remains a relatively small player globally.

Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan announced the formation of the new council under the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) while addressing a gathering organized by the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PPMA) earlier this month. 

“The pharmaceutical sector has huge export potential, and PharmEx Pakistan is just one or two steps away from becoming operational,” Khan was quoted as saying by state-run Pakistan Television, adding that the government would continue to facilitate the industry in achieving higher international sales.

At the event, PPMA Chairman Touqeer ul Haq said the new council would work as a public-private initiative to strengthen compliance with international standards, improve market access, and showcase Pakistani products abroad.

Haq identified Afghanistan as a critical export destination and welcomed minister Khan’s assurance of better coordination to keep cross-border trade smooth.

In addition to the new council, the government will also set up an Exporter Facilitation Desk at the ministry of commerce to resolve urgent problems faced by pharma exporters and ensure direct support when needed, minister Khan said.

The setting up of PharmEx is part of Islamabad’s broader push to diversify exports beyond traditional sectors such as textiles, rice and sports goods, amid persistent current account pressures and the need to earn more foreign exchange.

According to PPMA data, pharmaceutical exports increased from $270 million in 2020–21 to about $355 million in the current fiscal year 2024–25, and industry leaders say the country has the potential to reach $3 billion in annual exports if regulatory hurdles and market access barriers are addressed.

Pakistan produces over 90 percent of its medicines locally, supplying a large portion of the country’s health care needs and serving niche markets in Afghanistan, Central Asia and parts of Africa and the Middle East.

The industry, however, faces challenges such as high input costs, regulatory bottlenecks, and tough global competition.

Topics: Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan Pakistan pharmaceutical industry

‘This is a culture’: TikTok murder highlights Pakistan’s unease with women online

Updated 15 June 2025
AFP
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‘This is a culture’: TikTok murder highlights Pakistan’s unease with women online

  • Sana Yousaf was shot dead outside her house in the capital Islamabad by a man whose advances she had repeatedly rejected
  • Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan, according to the country’s Human Rights Commission
Updated 15 June 2025
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Since seeing thousands of comments justifying the recent murder of a teenage TikTok star in Pakistan, Sunaina Bukhari is considering abandoning her 88,000 followers.

“In my family, it wasn’t an accepted profession at all, but I’d managed to convince them, and even ended up setting up my own business,” she said.

Then last week, Sana Yousaf was shot dead outside her house in the capital Islamabad by a man whose advances she had repeatedly rejected, police said.

News of the murder led to an outpouring of comments under her final post — her 17th birthday celebration where she blew out the candles on a cake.

In between condolence messages, some blamed her for her own death: “You reap what you sow” or “it’s deserved, she was tarnishing Islam.”

Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media, where she shared her favorite cafes, skincare products and traditional shalwar kameez outfits.

TikTok is wildly popular in Pakistan, in part because of its accessibility to a population with low literacy levels. On it, women have found both audience and income, rare in a country where fewer than a quarter of the women participate in the formal economy.

But as TikTok’s views have surged, so have efforts to police the platform.

Pakistani telecommunications authorities have repeatedly blocked or threatened to block the app over what it calls “immoral behavior,” amid backlash against LGBTQ and sexual content.

TikTok has pledged to better moderate content and blocked millions of videos that do not meet its community guidelines as well as at the request of Pakistan authorities.

After Yousaf’s murder, Bukhari, 28, said her family no longer backs her involvement in the industry.

“I’m the first influencer in my family, and maybe the last,” she said.

Only 30 percent of women in Pakistan own a smartphone compared to twice as many men (58 percent), the largest gap in the world, according to the Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2025.

“Friends and family often discourage them from using social media for fear of being judged,” said a statement from the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF).

In southwestern Balochistan, where tribal law governs many rural areas, a man confessed to orchestrating the murder of his 14-year-old daughter earlier this year over TikTok videos that he said compromised her honor.

In October, police in Karachi, in the south, announced the arrest of a man who had killed four women relatives over “indecent” TikTok videos.

These murders each revive memories of Qandeel Baloch, dubbed Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian and one of the country’s first breakout social media stars whose videos shot her to fame.

After years in the spotlight, she was suffocated by her brother.

Violence against women is pervasive in Pakistan, according to the country’s Human Rights Commission, and cases of women being attacked after rejecting men are not uncommon.

“This isn’t one crazy man, this is a culture,” said Kanwal Ahmed, who leads a closed Facebook group of 300,000 women to share advice.

“Every woman in Pakistan knows this fear. Whether she’s on TikTok or has a private Instagram with 50 followers, men show up. In her DMs. In her comments. On her street,” she wrote in a post.

In the fifth-most-populous country in the world, where 60 percent of the population is under the age of 30, the director of digital rights organization Bolo Bhi, Usama Khilji, says “many women don’t post their profile picture, but a flower, an object, very rarely their face.”

“The misogyny and the patriarchy that is prevalent in this society is reflected on the online spaces,” he added.

A 22-year-old man was arrested over Yousaf’s murder and is due to appear in court next week.

At a vigil in the capital last week, around 80 men and women gathered, holding placards that read “no means no.”

“Social media has given us a voice, but the opposing voices are louder,” said Hira, a young woman who joined the gathering.

The capital’s police chief, Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, used a press conference to send a “clear message” to the public.

“If our sisters or daughters want to become influencers, professionally or as amateurs, we must encourage them,” he said.

Topics: Sana Yousaf

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