PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a senior army officer and two of his brothers in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said on Thursday.
One of the three brothers is a lieutenant colonel in army, another is serving as an assistant commissioner at a Cantonment Board and the third is an official of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), according to senior police officer Aziz-ur-Rehman.
The three brothers arrived in their ancestral village of Khadrkhel in Kulachi — a restive town on the periphery of the Dera Ismail Khan district — a day ago for the funeral of their father and were receiving people coming to offer their condolences at a mosque when they were kidnapped.
“At around 6pm yesterday (Wednesday), around 12 to 15 armed suspected militants on motorbikes forced their way inside the mosque and kidnapped the three brothers,” Rehman told Arab News.
There was no clue of where the kidnappers fled, but a vast track of nearby mountains leads to the volatile South Waziristan tribal district, according to the police official. A manhunt is ongoing to locate the kidnappers and rescue the abductees.
Rehman said the abducted officers had not informed the police prior to their arrival in the restive region.
No group has claimed the kidnapping, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have intensified their activities in the region in recent months.
This month, two policemen were killed when a convoy of judges came under attack in the region, according to police. In February, 10 policemen were killed and six others injured in an attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan.
In April last year, Judge Shakirullah Marwat was abducted by unidentified kidnappers near a village at the junction of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts, but was recovered after a few days.
Pakistan has faced deadly attacks by the TTP since an uneasy, months-long truce with the group collapsed in November 2022.
Islamabad blames the latest surge in violence on neighboring Afghanistan, saying Pakistani Taliban militants have taken refuge there and run camps to train insurgents to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad and it does not allow militants to operate on its territory.
Gunmen kidnap senior army officer, two brothers in Pakistan’s restive northwest — police
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Gunmen kidnap senior army officer, two brothers in Pakistan’s restive northwest — police
- The brothers were visiting their ancestral village in the Dera Ismail Khan district for the funeral of their father
- No group has claimed the kidnapping, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants
Pakistan stocks bounce back strongly a day after ‘massacre’ at bourse
- The KSE-100 index gained 3238 points to close the weekend trading session at 109,513 points
- Stock analysts attribute strong recovery of the market to easing pressure at local mutual funds
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Market on Friday bounced back strongly and gained more than 3,000 points, stock analysts said, a day after it witnessed a “massacre” on the back of significant redemptions from local mutual funds and year-end profit-taking.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 3238.17 points to close the weekend trading session at 109,513.14 points. On Thursday, the index plummeted by 5,132 points, or 4.32 percent, to close at 106,274.97 points, compared to Wednesday’s close of 111,070.29 points.
Stock analysts attributed the strong recovery to easing pressure at local mutual funds.
“Likely easing redemption pressure at local mutual funds together with the opening up of attractive valuations encouraged value buyers to reenter the market,” Raza Jafri, head of equities at Intermarket Securities, told Arab News.
Thursday’s slump was led by Hub Power Company Limited, United Bank Limited, Oil and Gas Development Company, and ENGRO, cumulatively contributing a staggering 1,556 points to the index’s overall decline, according to Topline Securities.
The sharp sell-off was triggered by significant redemptions from local mutual funds, compounded by year-end profit-taking by institutions, that dragged the market into a “turmoil,” it added.
The decline came days after Pakistan’s central bank cut its key interest rate by 200 basis points to 13 percent, marking the fifth straight reduction since June.
Yousuf M. Farooq, head of research at Chase Securities, said the market had entered a corrective phase, following a significant rally over the past year.
“We believe that earnings will now drive market performance rather than valuation rerating,” he added.
Pakistan province aims to collect weapons to stem clashes, tribesmen may resist
- Kurram, a tribal district near the border with Afghanistan, has been a flashpoint for sectarian tensions for decades
- Last month’s clashes between Sunni and Shiite tribes have triggered a humanitarian crisis with reports of starvation
PESHAWAR: Provincial authorities in northwestern Pakistan said on Friday they planned to collect heavy weapons to stop sectarian clashes that have killed hundreds, but tribesmen in the historically lawless region said they would not give up their arms.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 near the border with Afghanistan where federal and provincial authorities have traditionally exerted limited control, has been a flashpoint for sectarian tensions for decades.
Fresh clashes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims erupted last month, triggering a humanitarian crisis with reports of starvation, lack of medicine and oxygen shortages following the blocking of the main highway connecting Kurram’s main city of Parachinar to the provincial capital Peshawar.
Mohammad Ali Saif, spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, said authorities had decided to dismantle private bunkers — observation posts used in the fighting by both sides — and collect heavy weapons from tribesmen in Kurram to stop the violence.
However, local tribesmen have refused to surrender their weapons, citing concerns about their safety.
“Our weapons are for self-defense, not against the state,” said Jalal Hussain Bangash, a local tribal leader.
Another tribal elder, Zakir Hussain, warned that disarmament would leave the Shiite community vulnerable to attacks. “The government is ignoring ground realities in Kurram,” he said.
“We don’t have medicine in medical stores and edibles in the markets. Previously we would use Afghanistan when the road was closed, but now the Afghan border is also closed for us after the Taliban took over the country.”
Mehdi Hussain, a doctor at the District Headquarters Hospital in Parachinar, told Reuters that more than 80 people, including children, had died in recent weeks due to the lack of medical supplies.
The provincial government and Edhi Foundation have started sending medicines to the region via helicopters.
Pakistan PM orders action against officials aiding human traffickers after Greek boat tragedy
- Five Pakistani nationals drowned last week after a boat carrying migrants capsized off Greece
- Four districts of eastern Punjab province identified as ‘most vulnerable’ to human traffickers
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed action against government officials who were facilitating human traffickers, his office said, following the death of five Pakistani nationals in a migrant boat capsize off Greece.
The boat tragedy, which occurred last week, underscored the perilous journeys many migrants undertake due to conflicts around the world. In the case of Pakistani nationals, the movement is mostly driven by economic reasons, with many young individuals attempting to reach European shores in search of better financial prospects.
Sharif presided over a meeting on Friday to discuss the measures the government needed to take to prevent human trafficking, which he said had brought disgrace to Pakistan worldwide.
“PM directs identification of Federal Investigation Agency officials involved in facilitating human traffickers and strict action against them,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
The participants were briefed on the Dec. 14 boat incident off Greece and the steps taken to combat human trafficking, including parliamentary efforts to improve legislation on the issue.
The prime minister was informed that only five Pakistanis had been identified so far, while the identities of the others were still being verified, according to his office. The Pakistani embassy in Athens was in constant contact with Greek authorities regarding the migrant boat incident.
“For information and assistance regarding boat accident, Pakistan Embassy in Athens can be contacted on helpline +30-6943850188 and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Crisis Management Unit number 0519207887,” the statement read.
Sharif directed government authorities improve coordination to prevent human trafficking, highlighting that the Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin districts of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province were the “most vulnerable” to traffickers.
He ordered action against officials who conducted a delayed investigation into those responsible for a 2023 boat capsizing incident in Greece that involved hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, according to the statement.
The migrants drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sharif directed authorities complete the ongoing investigation into human traffickers at the earliest and submit a report in this regard.
Pakistan plans to set up 35 special economic zones to facilitate businesses, industry
- Pakistani officials say over 200 B2B agreements reached with several Chinese companies, signed MoUs worth $70 million
- PM Shehbaz Sharif calls for accelerating work on regulatory reforms to provide a conducive environment for businesses
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to establish 35 special economic zones (SEZs) to facilitate businesses and industry, officials said on Friday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to boost foreign investment.
The statement came at a meeting of Board of Investment (BOI) officials, presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to review progress of various ongoing projects, according to Sharif’s office.
Officials briefed the prime minister that they had conducted a survey of the 35 SEZs under the Geographical Information System (GIS) and had extensive data to accelerate the progress of projects in these zones.
More than 200 business-to-business (B2B) agreements have been reached with several Chinese companies and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth $70 million have been signed, they added.
“Work on regulatory reforms should be accelerated to provide a conducive environment for business in the country,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
“An effective and comprehensive roadmap should be created for the completion of B2B agreements with international investors and the implementation of signed memorandums of understanding.”
Pakistan, which has been facing an economic crisis, has been making attempts to boost foreign direct investment in a bid to support its $350 billion fragile economy, with Islamabad seeing a flurry of high-level exchanges with China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Qatar and other countries in recent months.
During the BOI meeting, PM Sharif instructed officials to set investment targets that could be achieved at the earliest.
“Effective marketing of investment opportunities in Pakistan is essential to attract foreign investors,” he said. “Construction of business facilitation centers, organization of road shows and other such measures are very important to bring foreign investment to the country.
Pakistan announces tariff cuts on imports under Azerbaijan trade deal
- Imports from Azerbaijan exempted from all kinds of customs and regulatory duties from Dec. 16
- Pakistan and Azerbaijan signed trade agreement in July during President Aliyev’s visit to Islamabad
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has waived off customs and regulatory duties on imports from Azerbaijan under the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Preferential Trade Agreement, the finance ministry said in a notification this month.
During Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s two-day visit to Pakistan in July, both nations agreed to enhance the volume of bilateral trade to $2 billion, vowing to strengthen ties and increase cooperation in mutually beneficial economic projects. They also signed the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Preferential Trade Agreement to boost economic cooperation through the reduction of tariffs on goods like Pakistani sports equipment, leather, and pharmaceuticals as well as Azerbaijani oil and gas products.
“The federal government is pleased to exempt with effect from Dec. 16, 2024, the import into Pakistan from Azerbaijan of the goods specified,” the finance ministry said in a notification. adding that imports from Azerbaijan would be exempted from all kinds of tariffs including customs duty, additional customs duty and regulatory duty.
“Provided that where the rates of customs duty, additional customs duty, and regulatory duty [...] are higher than specified rates, the lower rates [...] shall apply,” it added.
The tariff concessions cover items including shelled hazelnuts or filberts, apricots, vegetable saps and extracts, non-stemmed tobacco, polyethylene, propylene copolymers, casing, tubing, drill pipes and refined copper wire with a maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeding 6 mm.
In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of visits, investment talks and economic activity between officials from Pakistan and the Central Asian nations as well as other transcontinental and landlocked countries like Azerbaijan as Islamabad seeks to consolidate the South Asian nation’s role as a pivotal trade and transit hub.
