ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistani health authorities confirmed a third mpox case in the country on Saturday, saying the patient, a resident of Peshawar, was diagnosed after the airport screening process following his return from another country.
Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. The World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries around the world to take precautionary measures after declaring the disease a public health emergency on August 14, as a new offshoot of the virus, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to other neighboring states.
Pakistan also announced precautionary measures against the disease, putting airports and border entry points on alert and calling for strict monitoring to prevent the spread of the virus.
The government confirmed two mpox cases in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent weeks, saying these individuals had a travel history and emphasizing that there had been no reports of local transmission.
“Yesterday, two suspected cases of M-pox at Peshawar Airport were isolated by the Border Health Services staff,” the health ministry said in a statement. “Samples were sent to the Peshawar Reference Public Laboratory at Khyber Medical University for diagnosis. One of the two samples tested positive. The affected individual is from Peshawar.”
The ministry informed contact tracing and screening of the affected person were being conducted, adding that the patient’s travel history includes Gulf countries.
“Following the recent emergency, the number of M-pox cases in Pakistan has reached three,” the statement added.
The spokesperson for the Public Health Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Atta Ullah Khan, said the patient was 51-year-old who was traveling abroad before returning to his country.
Khan said the patient arrived at the Peshawar Airport on Thursday where the medical team identified the symptoms.
“The Rapid Response Team took wound swabs from the patient at the Police Hospital and sent them to the laboratory and the results of the test returned from the National Institute of Health on Friday late night,” he told Arab News.
He informed the infected individual was subsequently transferred to the Police Services Hospital, where a six-bed ward has been allocated specifically for mpox patients.
Reacting to the development, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Bhart said Pakistan had formulated an effective strategy for the prevention of mpox.
“Border Health Services staff at all airports are working diligently,” he maintained. “Pakistan’s surveillance system for monitoring diseases is strong worldwide.”
He noted the federal and provincial administrations were jointly ensuring effective measures for the prevention of the disease.
Bhart also said the ministry of health and its subordinate institutions were actively engaged in ensuring all preventive measures.
Pakistan confirms third mpox case in Peshawar resident after airport screening
https://arab.news/256gr
Pakistan confirms third mpox case in Peshawar resident after airport screening
- Medical team at Peshawar airport identified mpox symptoms in the 51-year-old patient before running the tests
- Health ministry says contact tracing is in progress as the patient has been moved to the Police Services Hospital
Pakistan dismisses US travel ban reports as ‘speculative’
- Foreign Office says Pakistan has not received any such indication in this regard so far
- A media report said last week a travel ban by Trump could prevent Pakistanis from entering the US
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan on Thursday rejected reports of a US travel ban on Pakistani nationals as “speculative,” saying that Islamabad had received no such indication so far.
A Reuters report last week, citing sources, suggested that a new travel ban under US President Donald Trump could bar travelers from Afghanistan and Pakistan based on a government review of security and vetting risks.
Amid the speculation, Pakistani Ambassador to Turkmenistan K.K. Ahsan Wagan was detained and denied entry into the US this week. However, the Foreign Office clarified that he was traveling for personal reasons, was not eligible for diplomatic immunity and that officials were looking into the matter.
“As of now, this is all speculative and hence does not warrant a response,” Khan said in response to a question at the weekly media briefing.
“So far we have not been given any indication of such a ban on the Pakistan nation.”
He added the foreign ministry and Pakistan’s mission in Washington were in constant contact with relevant US authorities to obtain further details on the matter.
On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order mandating intensified security vetting for foreigners seeking admission to the US.
The order instructed US cabinet members to submit a list by March 12 of countries from which travel should be partially or fully suspended due to inadequate vetting and screening information.
The Reuters report also said the new ban could affect tens of thousands of Afghans who had been cleared for resettlement in the US as refugees or on Special Immigrant Visas, adding these people were at risk of Taliban retribution for working for the US during a 20-year war in their home country.
Pakistan urges Afghanistan to bring militant masterminds to justice after deadly train attack
- Separatist militants took over 200 passengers hostage in Balochistan after targeting a passenger train
- Pakistan says it is taking a ‘multifaceted approach’ involving diplomacy, military action to deal with the threat
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday called on the interim administration in Afghanistan to bring to justice the masterminds behind a militant attack on a passenger train in Balochistan, asking Afghan authorities to take action against those responsible for orchestrating the assault since they were based on its soil.
The attack, which took place in the southwestern Bolan region, saw separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militants bomb a railway track and storm the Jaffar Express, taking over 200 passengers hostage.
This was followed by a security forces rescue operation, which led to the killing of 33 BLA fighters who had stationed suicide bombers near civilians to prolong the standoff.
The separatist group accuses the government of exploiting Balochistan’s natural resources while leaving its people in poverty. Government officials deny the allegation and say they are developing the province through multibillion-dollar projects, including those backed by China.
“Terrorists were in direct communication with Afghanistan-based planners throughout the incident,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly news briefing. “Pakistan has repeatedly asked the interim Afghan government to deny the use of its soil for a terrorist group like BLA to attack Pakistan.”
“We urge Afghanistan to hold perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and cooperate with the government of Pakistan to bring all those who are concerned with this attack, including the real sponsors of terrorism, to justice,” he added.
Pakistan has frequently attributed the recent surge in militant violence in the country to cross-border attacks originating from Afghanistan, alleging that such incursions are “facilitated” by authorities in Kabul. The Afghan government has denied these allegations.
The foreign office spokesperson said Pakistan was addressing the threat through a multifaceted approach, combining military action, intelligence-based operations and diplomatic efforts to expose foreign sponsors of terrorism.
“So it’s a complex and multifaceted approach,” he said. “This is not a one-track approach.”
Pakistan urges global action to stop Israel’s ‘genocidal campaign’ in Gaza, calls for accountability
Pakistan urges global action to stop Israel’s ‘genocidal campaign’ in Gaza, calls for accountability
- The foreign office says Israel is ‘weaponizing humanitarian aid’ by stopping global agencies to operate in Gaza
- Gaza war began in October 2023 and continued until an uneasy ceasefire was brokered in January 2025
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan urged the international community on Thursday to bring an end to Israel’s “genocidal campaign” against Palestinians in Gaza while calling for it to be held accountable for its “war crimes.”
Israel’s war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, and continued until an uneasy ceasefire was brokered earlier this year in January. The war completely devastated the Palestinian territory, with Israeli military attacks destroying houses, schools and hospitals, leading to more than 48,000 deaths.
Pakistan is among the countries that have raised concerns about the potential resumption of hostilities between Hamas and Israel.
“The international community must step in to end Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly press briefing.
“We also urge the international community to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Khan condemned Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, the disruption of Gaza’s electricity supply and the ongoing assault, which has led to the tragic loss of lives, including women and children.
Calling Israel’s actions to dismantle humanitarian agencies “unacceptable,” he said preventing aid agencies from carrying out their tasks was a “manifestation of Israel’s systematic campaign to weaponize humanitarian aid and dehumanize Palestinians.”
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar attended the extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, where he reiterated his country’s support for the Palestinian cause and condemned a recent American proposal to permanently displace the residents of Gaza, stressing the need for a two-state solution for lasting peace.
Israeli officials confirmed on Sunday they had cut off Gaza’s electricity, impacting a desalination plant that provides drinking water, with Hamas denouncing it as part of Israel’s “starvation policy.”
Pakistan, which does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, has consistently called on the United Nations to enforce resolutions supporting a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Pakistan advocates for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
At least 25 bodies retrieved from Pakistan train siege
- The deceased include 19 military passengers, one police and a railway official
- Security forces freed more than 340 passengers in a two-day rescue operation
MACH, Pakistan: The bodies of at least 25 people, including 21 hostages, killed in a train siege by separatist gunmen in Pakistan were retrieved from the site on Thursday ahead of the first funerals, officials said.
Security forces said they freed more than 340 train passengers in a two-day rescue operation that ended late on Wednesday after a separatist group bombed a remote railway track in mountainous southwest Balochistan and stormed a train with around 450 passengers on board.
The assault was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of a number of separatist groups that accuse outsiders of plundering natural resources in Balochistan near the borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
Death tolls have varied, with the military saying in an official statement that “21 innocent hostages” were killed by the militants as well as four soldiers in the rescue operation.
A railway official in Balochistan said the bodies of 25 people were transported by train away from the hostage site to the nearby town of Mach on Thursday morning.
“Deceased were identified as 19 military passengers, one police and one railway official, while four bodies are yet to be identified,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
A senior local military official overseeing operations confirmed the details.
An army official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, earlier put the military toll at 28, including 27 off-duty soldiers taken hostage.
Passengers who escaped from the siege said after walking for hours through rugged mountains to reach safety that they saw people being shot dead by militants.
The first funerals are expected to take place on Thursday.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was also expected to visit Balochistan, his office said.
“The Prime Minister expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel and train passengers during the operation,” it said in a statement.
The BLA released a video of an explosion on the track followed by dozens of militants emerging from hiding places in the mountains to attack the train.
Attacks by separatist groups have soared in the past few years, mostly targeting security forces and ethnic groups from outside the province.
Muhammad Naveed, who managed to escape, told AFP: “They asked us to come out of the train one by one. They separated women and asked them to leave. They also spared elders.”
“They asked us to come outside, saying we will not be harmed. When around 185 people came outside, they chose people and shot them down.”
Babar Masih, a 38-year-old Christian laborer, told AFP on Wednesday he and his family walked for hours through rugged mountains to reach a train that could take them to a makeshift hospital on a railway platform.
“Our women pleaded with them and they spared us,” he said.
“They told us to get out and not look back. As we ran, I noticed many others running alongside us.”
Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan but last year saw a surge in violence in the province compared with 2023, according to the independent Center for Research and Security Studies.
Father backs Pakistani-American daughter’s decision to reject Columbia over crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices
- Columbia University witnessed student protests over war in Gaza, with its administration acting against pro-Palestinian students
- Amara Khan, who got admission in its master’s program, says she can’t join the university in good conscience as a Muslim American
KARACHI: The father of a Pakistani-American student accepted into Columbia University’s Master’s program in Psychology said on Thursday he fully supported his daughter’s decision to decline the admission offer, citing the university’s suppression of marginalized voices amid disciplinary actions against pro-Palestinian students.
Columbia, a highly renowned and prestigious educational institution in New York, became a flashpoint for student protests after the outbreak of war in Gaza, with demonstrations both in support of and against Israel’s military action polarizing the campus. Pro-Palestinian activists accused the administration of silencing dissent, while critics of the protests argued they crossed into antisemitism.
Under mounting scrutiny, the university took disciplinary measures against pro-Palestinian students, suspending campus groups and initiating investigations into protest activities. The university framed these actions as efforts to maintain campus safety and prevent harassment, but activists saw them as a crackdown on free speech.
The newly admitted student, Amara Khan, wrote to the university administration and faculty on March 10, rejecting her offer of admission and saying that Columbia had failed to uphold its professed commitment to diversity, inclusion and academic freedom.
“Columbia was her top choice and we were all overjoyed when she got in,” Umair Khan, Amara’s father, told Arab News in response to a message. “So it was a tough decision and a brave decision — and one that we fully support. I am not sure if I would have had the courage at her age to make such a choice.”
“I am proud of her,” he added. “And I will follow her lead.”
His daughter said in her letter that the university told students during the admission process that a hallmark of the Columbia experience was being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives.
“However, in light of recent events, I find it deeply hypocritical for Columbia to continue promoting diversity and inclusion while failing to protect the voices of marginalized students,” she said.
“As a Muslim American, I cannot in good conscience choose to study at an institution that prioritizes appeasement over academic freedom and fails to stand by its students when it matters most,” she continued.
She maintained that a university that claimed to foster critical thinking and open dialogue should not silence or sideline those advocating for justice.
“For these reasons, I am declining my offer of admission,” she added.
Under the current administration of President Donald Trump, Columbia has experienced significant federal funding cuts, with an immediate cancelation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the university this month.
