PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A landslide struck a passenger bus in northern Pakistan on Monday and killed three people, including two security officials, police said.
An additional passenger was injured in the accident in Kohistan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local police chief Abdul Rahim.
The bus was heading to Dasu district, where Pakistan’s biggest hydropower project is being built with Chinese help.
Local police official Abdul Rahim said the bus was struck by a landslide triggered by rains, and not by a land mine as was initially thought. Such road accidents are common in Pakistan during the rainy weather.
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A landslide hits a bus in northern Pakistan and kills 3 people
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A landslide hits a bus in northern Pakistan and kills 3 people
- The deceased include two security officials, police said
- Such accidents are common in Pakistan during rainy weather
Indian army says talks with Pakistan’s military operations chief delayed
- There were no reports of explosions or projectiles overnight, with Indian army saying Sunday was first peaceful night in recent days
- Before ceasefire on Saturday, Pakistan and India had fought with missiles and drones during four days of intense confrontation last week
ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan have delayed until Monday evening talks between their military operations chiefs to discuss the next steps after a ceasefire, the Indian army said, as New Delhi reopened airports and shares rose in the nuclear-armed rivals.
A fragile 48-hour-old truce appeared to be holding on Monday after both sides blamed the other for initial violations on Saturday night, hours after the US-brokered deal was first announced. There were no reports of explosions or projectiles overnight, after some initial ceasefire violations, with the Indian Army saying Sunday was the first peaceful night in recent days along their de facto Line of Control border.
Saturday’s ceasefire followed four days of intense fighting with drones and missiles and gun fire exchanges across the Line of Control that divides the disputed Kashmir valley into parts administered by India and Pakistan. Dozens were reported killed.
The Indian army said on Monday both sides’ director generals of military operations would speak by telephone in the evening, a delay from an initial timing of noon (0630 GMT), but gave no reason.
“In spite of some minor damage, all our military bases and systems continue to remain fully operational,” India’s director general of air operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, told a media briefing.
A day earlier, Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai, the director general of military operations, said India’s armed forces struck nine militant infrastructure and training facilities, including sites of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group that India blames for carrying out major militant strikes in India and the disputed region of Kashmir.
At a televised news conference on Sunday, Pakistan military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan’s armed forces targeted a total of 26 Indian military installations in response to India’s missile strikes which were launched before dawn Wednesday.
He said the military had vowed it would respond to the Indian aggression, and it has fulfilled its commitment to the nation. Sharif warned that any threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty or territorial integrity would be met with a “comprehensive, retributive, and decisive” response.
He said Pakistan exercised “maximum restraint” during the counterstrike, employing medium-range missiles and other munitions, and that no civilian areas were targeted inside India.
MARKETS INCH UP
Pakistan halted trading on Monday for an hour after its benchmark share index rose nearly 9 percent, having recovered most of its losses in the past three sessions after India’s first strikes last Wednesday.
Late on Friday, the International Monetary Fund approved a fresh $1.4-billion loan to Pakistan under its climate resilience fund and approved the first review of its $7 billion program.
Pakistan’s benchmark share index closed up 9.4 percent on Monday, while India’s blue-chip Nifty 50 index closed 3.8 percent higher in its best session since February 2021.
Before the ceasefire took hold on Saturday, the arch rivals had targeted each other’s military installations with missiles and drones, as relations turned sour after India blamed Pakistan for a militant attack that killed 26 tourists on Apr. 22. Pakistan denies the accusations and has called for a neutral investigation.
Saturday’s truce was first announced by US President Donald Trump. US officials also said the two nations had agreed to hold talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site though no date has been announced yet.
Kashmir has been a bone of contention between the two countries since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. Both countries claim the Muslim-majority region in full but govern only parts of it. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over the disputed territory.
Islamabad has thanked Washington for facilitating Saturday’s ceasefire and welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute with India but New Delhi has not commented on US involvement in the truce or talks at a neutral site.
- With inputs from Reuters
Normalcy slowly returns to Azad Kashmir as ceasefire holds
- India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after exchanging drone, artillery and missile attacks
- Residents return to homes near contested border in Azad Kashmir but remain skeptical of lasting peace
CHAKOTHI, AZAD KASHMIR: Shops began reopening in Azad Kashmir on Sunday (May 11) after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along their contested border, but residents expressed doubts about how long the peace would last without a political solution to the decades-old Kashmir dispute.
The border town of Chakothi, which had borne the brunt of recent cross-border shelling, showed tentative signs of normalcy as shopkeepers returned to assess damage and restart businesses. Many residents who had fled the violence remained hesitant to return.
“We’ll restart business but it will take time,” said Shabbir Abbasi, a shopkeeper and head of the local traders’ union. “People won’t come back until there’s a proper ceasefire agreement.”
The nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to stop cross-border firing in Kashmir, but locals said temporary truces were not enough.
“The Kashmir issue must be resolved now if they want real peace,” Abbasi told Reuters.
Some residents welcomed the pause in violence but remained skeptical.
“A ceasefire is good, but talks to resolve Kashmir would be better,” said Mohammad Aslam, a Chakothi resident.
Muhammad Munir noted that people don’t rely much on ceasefire agreements.
“Today there is a ceasefire but by evening there may be firing here,” he said. “That’s why people don’t rely on this too much, they don’t think this is a final thing.”
Hafiz Muhammad Shah Bukhari, a resident of district Poonch in India, was also happy at the cessation of hostilities.
“There is a lot of joy in the village [after ceasefire],” he said. “Personally, I am very thankful to Allah. It is a very good decision that the shelling has stopped.”
Saturday’s ceasefire marks the temporary end to fighting that started on Wednesday (May 7), two weeks after 26 men were killed in an attack targeting Hindus in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan welcomes Kurdish PKK’s disbandment, ending 40-year Turkiye insurgency
- Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984, the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, exacted huge economic losses
- PKK’s decision will give President Tayyip Erdogan the opportunity to boost development in Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday welcomed the decision by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) group, which has been locked in bloody conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, to disband and end its armed struggle.
Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984, the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, exerted a huge economic burden and fueled social tensions. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye and its Western allies.
Taking to X, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the PKK’s dissolution a “historic development.”
“Pakistan welcomes the announcement of PKK’s dissolution, a significant step toward lasting peace and a terror-free Turkiye,” he wrote.
The Firat news agency, which is close to the group, reported on Monday that the PKK 12th Congress decided to “dissolve the PKK’s organizational structure and end the armed struggle.”
The PKK held the congress in response to a February call to disband from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island south of Istanbul since 1999. It said on Monday that he would manage the process.
On Mar. 1, the PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire, but attached conditions, including the creation of a legal framework for peace negotiations.
“The PKK has completed its historic mission,” the PKK statement said. “The PKK struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation of our people and brought the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics.”
The PKK’s decision will give President Tayyip Erdogan the opportunity to boost development in Turkiye’s mainly Kurdish southeast, where the insurgency has impaired the regional economy for decades.
A deputy leader of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the third largest in Turkiye’s parliament and which played a key role in facilitating Ocalan’s peace call, told Reuters the PKK decision was significant not just for Kurdish people but for the Middle East as a whole.
“It will also necessitate a major shift in the official state mentality of Turkiye,” DEM’s Tayip Temel said.
- With inputs from Reuters
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia reaffirm commitment to strengthen bilateral ties
- Pakistan’s deputy premier and foreign minister meets Saudi ambassador to Pakistan in Islamabad
- Saudi Arabia was actively involved in de-escalating tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
The development took place as Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki called on Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad. Their meeting took place days after Pakistan and India agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after exchanging lethal missile, drone and artillery strikes.
“They discussed the full gamut of bilateral ties and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen already existing fraternal relations across all sectors,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said about Dar’s meeting with Malki.
Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries that were actively engaged in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan last week after the former launched missile strikes against the latter on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Dar over the phone on May 10, expressing condolences over the loss of lives due to India’s strikes. The two had spoken after Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir visited Pakistan after his surprise stop in New Delhi for talks with Indian officials.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan share close diplomatic and strategic relations. The Kingdom has extended significant support to Pakistan during prolonged economic challenges faced by Islamabad in recent years, including external financing and assistance with International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programs.
The two regional and economic allies signed 34 agreements worth $2.8 billion in October last year. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates, serving as the top destination for remittances for cash-strapped Pakistan.
India reopens 32 airports after ceasefire with Pakistan
- From Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir to Bhuj in the western state of Gujarat, airports now available for civil operations “with immediate effect“
- They were closed last week after fierce fighting erupted between India and Pakistan for four days, setting off global alarm it could spiral into full-blown war
NEW DELHI: India reopened 32 airports on Monday following a weekend ceasefire that ended the worst fighting with neighboring Pakistan since 1999.
The Airport Authority of India said the 32 — from Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir to Bhuj in the western state of Gujarat — were now available for civil operations “with immediate effect.”
They were closed last week after fierce fighting erupted between India and Pakistan for four days, setting off global alarm it could spiral into full-blown war.
Leading Indian airline IndiGo said it would “progressively commence operations on the previously closed routes.”
The truce was announced on Saturday, but both sides immediately accused the other of breaking it.
However, both India and Pakistan said the border areas were calm on Monday.
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