PESHAWAR: Authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Peshawar have temporarily restricted the movement of Afghan refugees due to security concerns ahead of religious processions scheduled next week, according to a notification that came to light on Saturday.
The decision was made as the city’s Shia population plans to mark the 40th-day mourning ritual by taking out processions, following the observance of the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), last month.
The notification issued by Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, Captain (retired) Sarmad Saleem Akram, mentioned “substantive threats” to Shia processions and gatherings that could lead to loss of lives and affect the security situation in the district.
“In exercise of powers conferred on me u/s 144 CrPC [Criminal Procedure Code], [I] do hereby order and impose ban on the movement of Afghan Refugees out of their camps and not be allowed to move around within the jurisdiction of District Peshawar,” he said in a notification issued on Friday.
“Anyone found violating this order shall be proceeded against,” he added.
The notification specified the order will remain in force for a period of six days starting August 24.
Pakistan launched a deportation drive against “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghans, last year following a spike in suicide bombings, which the government blamed on Afghan nationals without providing evidence. Pakistan also claimed that Afghan citizens were involved in smuggling and other crimes in the country.
According to the state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, the government has so far repatriated over 691,000 Afghans since initiating the expulsion last year, amid criticism from international rights organizations.
Responding to the development, Khan Muhammad, the focal person for refugees at the Afghan Commissionerate in Peshawar, expressed concern, noting that most of these people were daily wage laborers.
“We will abide by the law of the land,” he told Arab News. “But these restrictions also multiply our problems. Most of the refugees go out to find work in the morning to make a livelihood and feed their children in the evening.”
However, Haider Ali, the Commissionerate’s security chief, said imposing such restrictions was an annual practice by the provincial administration to prevent untoward incidents.
“Yes, the ban multiplies the problems of refugees,” he said. “But we can’t compromise people’s security, especially under the current security environment in neighboring Afghanistan.”
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks in recent years, which it blames on armed groups in Afghanistan, while accusing the interim Taliban administration in Kabul of facilitating cross-border attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The Afghan authorities have frequently denied these charges, calling Pakistan’s security challenges an internal issue of Islamabad.
Until the government initiated the deportation drive against Afghans last year, Pakistan was home to over four million refugees, of which around 1.7 million were undocumented, according to government figures.
Authorities temporarily restrict Afghan refugee movement in Peshawar amid security concerns
https://arab.news/yebrt
Authorities temporarily restrict Afghan refugee movement in Peshawar amid security concerns
- The decision has been made as the city’s Shia community plans religious processions in the coming week
- Peshawar’s DC says there are threats to these processions while restricting Afghan movement for six days
Gunmen kill three border guards in attack in southeastern Iran near Pakistan frontier
- IRNA state news agency reported that militant group Jaish Al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack
- At least 22 policemen were killed in April in two separate clashes in Sistan and Baluchistan province
TEHRAN: Gunmen killed three border guards and wounded one other person Thursday in restive southeastern Iran, state-run media reported.
IRNA news agency reported that gunmen in a car opened fire on a border regiment vehicle in Mirjaveh county in southeast Sistan and Baluchistan province, near the Pakistani border, killing two soldiers and an officer. A civilian was wounded.
IRNA said the militant group Jaish Al-Adl, which allegedly seeks greater rights for the ethnic Baloch minority, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In April, in two separate clashes in the province, at least 22 Iranian policemen died.
The province, bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been the site of occasional deadly clashes involving militant groups, armed drug smugglers, and Iranian security forces. In December, militants killed nearly a dozen police officers in an attack on a police station in the province.
Sistan and Baluchistan province is one of the least developed parts of Iran.
Pakistan clinch big 5-1 hockey win against China in Asian Champions Trophy
- With this win, Pakistan have moved up to second spot on points table
- Pakistan will now play their last pool match against India on Saturday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continued to remain unbeaten as they registered a well-earned 5-1 win against hosts China at the ongoing Hero Asian Champions Trophy at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China, on Thursday, the International Hockey Federation said.
With this win, Pakistan have moved up to the second spot in the points table. With another day’s play remaining in the league stage, Pakistan continue to stay in contention for a spot in the semifinal. India continues to lead the points table with Pakistan placed second and Korea third while Malaysia have managed to squeeze past China after Thursday’s loss.
On the Pakistan said, goals were scored by Rehman Abdul, Ahmad Nadeem and Hannan Shahid while Jiesheng Gao scored the lone goal for China.
“It is a collective team effort, we are learning by each match,” Shahid, who was named the ‘hero’ of the match, said in a statement after the win.
“We were conceding too many cards in the start of the tournament but today we conceded only one card. Hero of the team award is a result of my team’s effort, they created chances for me to score and I am happy how we have progressed in the tournament.”
Pakistan will now play their last pool match against India tomorrow, Saturday. The match will begin at 12:45 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.
Pakistan cabinet orders 50% of wheat, sugar and fertilizer imports through Gwadar port
- China Overseas Port Holding Company plans to eventually expand port’s capacity to up to 400 million tons of cargo per year
- Gwadar underutilized for import and export due to distance from marketplaces of the country, security and services availability
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet on Thursday approved directives to government agencies to source 50 percent of wheat, sugar and fertilizer imports through the southwestern deep sea port of Gwadar, state-run media reported.
Gwadar is on the Arabian Sea in the southwestern province of Balochistan, a mineral-rich region plagued by a decades-long separatist insurgency. China has invested heavily in the province, including by developing Gwadar, which is key to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that also encompasses infrastructure and energy projects and is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), which operationally handles Gwadar, plans to eventually expand the port’s capacity to up to 400 million tons of cargo per year. Long term plans for the port require a total of 100 berths to be developed by 2045. For now, Gwadar is underutilized for commercial import and export due to reasons such as distance from the marketplaces of the country, security and services availability.
Last month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered that 50 percent of all public sector cargo be brought to Pakistan through Gwadar.
“The federal cabinet approved directives for all government agencies to ensure that 50 percent of their imports, such as wheat, sugar, and fertilizer, are accessed through the Gwadar Port,” Radio Pakistan said on Thursday after a meeting of the cabinet. “The cabinet also directed that the percentage of exports through Gwadar Port should be increased in the future.”
A sub-committee of the cabinet will be established to present a quarterly report on import and export activities at Gwadar, it said.
Beijing has publicly voiced concerns about the security of its workers and projects in recent months, particularly after March this year when a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Militants have also previously attacked Chinese nationals and targeted projects, viewing China as a foreign invader trying to gain control of the region’s resources.
The start of operations at a Chinese-funded airport in Gwadar was also pushed back for a security review last month after a string of deadly attacks by separatist militants in the area in which over 50 people were killed.
Pakistan court rejects Imran Khan acquittal plea in £190 million land bribe case
- Khan and his wife are accused of receiving land worth millions of dollars as a bribe from a real estate tycoon
- Khan aides say land donated to a trust for charitable purposes, real estate developer denies wrongdoing
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Thursday turned down acquittal pleas by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife in a case in which they are accused of receiving land worth millions of dollars as a bribe from a real estate tycoon through the Al-Qadir Trust.
The charitable trust was set up by Bushra Khan, Khan’s third wife, and Khan in 2018 when still in office. Pakistani authorities have accused Khan and his wife of receiving the land, worth up to 7 billion rupees ($25 million), from a property developer charged in Britain with money laundering.
Authorities accused Khan of getting the land in exchange for a favor to the property developer by using 190 million pounds repatriated by Britain in the money laundering probe to pay fines levied by a court against the developer. Khan’s aides have previously said that the land was donated to the trust for charitable purposes. The real estate developer has also denied any wrongdoing.
On Thursday, an accountability court turned down a plea by Khan and Bushra to be acquitted in the case. The plea was filed following a Supreme Court verdict last week restoring amendments to the country’s anti-graft laws approved in 2022 that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said had put the land bribe case outside the jurisdiction of the National Accountability Bureau, which had filed and is currently investigating it.
“After hearing the arguments of the parties concerned, the court rejected Imran Khan’s acquittal petition and fixed the cross-examination of the last witness for tomorrow,” Pakistan’s Samaa News reported. Other Pakistani media also widely reported on the ruling.
The National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2022 limited the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) jurisdiction to cases involving corruption of over Rs500 million, reduced the term of the chairman of the bureau and prosecutor general to three years and transferred all pending inquiries, investigations and trials to other authorities. The amendments were passed by the then coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his first term as PM from 2022-2023.
Imran Khan, who had at the time recently been ousted as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence in parliament, petitioned the top court against the amendments, claiming they were passed to benefit the influential, including top politicians, and would legitimize corruption in the country.
In September last year, the Supreme Court, led by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, declared changes to the National Accountability Ordinance unlawful and ordered the restoration of corruption cases against public office holders that were withdrawn after amendments in the law came into effect.
The federal government led by PM Sharif and other parties filed intra-court appeals against the judgment, which were accepted by a five-member Supreme Court bench led by the current chief justice, Qazi Faez Isa.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it was restoring all the changes to the accountability law.
Khan, who has been in jail since August last year in a slew of cases, had also become a beneficiary of the restored amendments, his party said at the time, arguing that he could now move the courts for acquittal in at least two major corruption cases, namely the land bribe case and an investigation involving the illegal sale of state gifts while he was PM.
“Detailed verdict is awaited but in the light of short order, it’s safe to say new Toshakhana [state gifts] case against Imran Khan can no longer continue as it exceeds Rs500 million cap, making it ineffective, as per the new amendments,” Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said in a statement to media after Friday’s SC judgment. “It will also impact the £190 million case.”
Pakistan finance minister says all matters relating to bailout program ‘settled amicably’ with IMF
- The statement came after the IMF said its executive board will meet on September 25 to discuss new loan to Pakistan
- PM Shehbaz Sharif said “friendly countries” had played a major role in helping Pakistan meet the IMF requirements
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday that matters relating to Pakistan’s fresh $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program will be finalized this month, hours after the lender said its executive board will meet on September 25 to discuss the bailout.
The IMF statement allayed fears of a prolonged delay in much-needed funds for Pakistan. The South Asian nation struck a staff level agreement with the global lender in June, but board approval for the 37-month program has been pending since then.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said earlier on Thursday that “friendly countries” had played a major role in helping meet requirements placed before Islamabad by the IMF, which included arranging additional external financing and rolling over debt.
Islamabad has for years relied on China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for financial assistance to meet external financing requirements and avoid sovereign default, which it came close to last summer.
“All matters with the IMF have been settled amicably,” Finance Minister Aurangzeb said in a statement. “These matters will be finalized in the meeting of the IMF board this month.”
Pakistan’s last $3 billion IMF program helped avert a sovereign default last year, amid a decline in foreign exchange reserves to critical levels, currency devaluation and record inflation.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s sovereign dollar bonds rallied, with the 2031 maturity trading 1 cent higher to bid at 79.93 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data.
Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust cycles for decades, leading to 22 IMF bailouts since 1958. The latest economic crisis has been the most prolonged and has seen the highest-ever levels of inflation, pushing the country to the brink of a sovereign default last summer before an IMF bailout.
The conditions of the fresh IMF bailout have become tougher such as higher taxes on farm incomes and electricity prices. The bailout is aimed at cementing stability and inclusive growth in the crisis-plagued South Asian country.
