ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur have been named in a police complaint after the death of a constable in Islamabad during the recent protest by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Clashes erupted in the federal capital and nearby cities on Friday and Saturday as police tried to stop PTI supporters from entering Islamabad, with officials accusing protesters of throwing stones, firing bullets and launching tear gas shells, causing dozens of injuries and one death.
PTI supporters, mainly arriving from KP under Gandapur’s leadership, were responding to Khan’s call to gather in Islamabad and protest near the parliament building.
The police complaint, filed over the weekend and reported by the media on Tuesday, also named PTI stalwarts Omar Ayub, Azam Swati and Islamabad president Aamir Mughal, accusing some of inciting the violent protests while others of actively participating in them.
“Through court orders, Imran Khan has been given unusual and unnecessary contact and meeting facilities outside of the jail manual, due to which he continues to incite his political workers to violence against the state and its institutions,” the police complaint read.
“He directs the PTI to lead such violent crowds that could create chaos and disorder in the country,” it added. “Acting on these orders, Ali Amin Gandapur, using provincial government resources, provided support and directly and indirectly led the protesters, ordering them to reach D-Chowk [in Islamabad for protest] and attack or kill any security personnel who stood in their way to free Imran Khan.”
The official document particularly mentioned the PTI’s Islamabad president, accusing him of direct involvement in the death of the police constable.
“Aamir Mughal, along with other participants, forcibly grabbed Constable Abdul Hameed and assaulted him with kicks, punches, sticks and stones,” it said while referring to a clash at the entry point of the capital.
The police said that violence occurred despite warnings to PTI supporters that the government had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits large gatherings.
It claimed that Constable Hameed was “kidnapped” and tortured.
He was later found unconscious by his colleagues but succumbed to his injuries.
Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad
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Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad
- The cop lost his life during a clash with PTI supporters who wanted to protest for Khan’s release in the capital
- Police specifically mention the PTI president of Islamabad, accusing him of torturing the constable who died
Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities
- Pakistan’s Interior Ministry recently declared the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement a ‘proscribed organization’
- Information minister says PTM ‘burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistani embassies’ in other states
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar announced on Tuesday that the government’s decision to ban the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) stemmed from its alleged links to militant groups and involvement in anti-state activities.
PTM, a prominent Pashtun rights group, has long advocated against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan. While its leaders have contested and won national elections in the country’s northwestern region, the movement has yet to gain significant influence in Pakistan’s parliament.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry declared the PTM a “proscribed organization,” citing activities harmful to the nation’s peace and security.
“If you look at the activities of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement over the past six months, [you will see] how they have burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistan’s embassies abroad and not only attacked embassies but also actively funded the promotion of an anti-Pakistan narrative,” Tarar said in a televised statement.
He said the PTM had carried out such activities with the help of Afghan nationals.
“Not only do they have links with TTA or Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan but also Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” he continued while referring to the Taliban administration in Kabul and a banned militant network reportedly operating from Afghanistan while targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces.
Earlier this year in July, a group of Afghan nationals stormed the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, pelting stones at the building and desecrating the Pakistani flag.
The administration in Islamabad formally lodged a protest with the German authorities, urging them to arrest and prosecute those responsible and to ensure better security for its diplomatic missions.
PTM has previously denied any links with militant groups or violent entities, pointing out that it believes in waging peaceful struggle for the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
“Whenever an organization is declared proscribed,” the minister added, “it is done on the basis of evidence.”
The PTM alleges Pashtuns have faced rights abuses during Pakistan’s war against militants, mainly in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It blames Pakistan’s powerful military for rights abuses in the northwestern province, a charge the institution has consistently denied.
Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister
- Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs
- A top security official in Islamabad said the latest attack in southern city of Karachi was a security failure
ISLAMABAD: Two Chinese nationals who were killed in an explosion near Pakistan’s Karachi international airport on Sunday worked for a power plant, Pakistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
It was the most serious attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in March, which prompted Beijing to call on Islamabad to implement more stringent security measures.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan’s foreign ministry have described Sunday’s blast as a “terrorist attack.”
In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was a suicide attack carried out by them, using a vehicle-borne bomb.
Pakistani media has reported that nearly a dozen people were injured in the blast.
A top security official in Islamabad told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the latest attack was a security failure and that all senior staff responsible for Chinese security in Karachi had been removed from service.
Pakistan’s interior ministry is primarily responsible for the Chinese nationals’ security.
There has been little information released about the identities of the Chinese nationals who were killed in a highly secured area of the southern port city.
“They were engineers who belong to those IPPs (Independent Power Producers) with whom we were negotiating tariff revision,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a video statement broadcast by local TV news channels.
Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs as households and businesses buckle under soaring energy costs.
The Chinese embassy said a convoy from the Port Qasim Electric Power Company was attacked near the airport.
The BLA is one of many separatist militant groups, which seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.
BLA specifically targets Chinese interests — in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit local resources. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
The port is part of Beijing’s $65 billion investment in Pakistan’s road and infrastructure building called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative.
Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon
- After 12 months of Gaza war, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas
- An all parties conference in Pakistan on Monday called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to convene a summit on the situation in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has approved the establishment of a special relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Tuesday, a day after the South Asian country held an all-parties conference on Israel’s war on Gaza which has widened to Lebanon and other regional countries.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
After 12 months of war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas. The Israeli military has also conducted strikes in Yemen and Syria.
In the aftermath of the destruction in Palestine and Lebanon, the Pakistani cabinet approved the establishment of the PM’s Relief Fund for Palestine and Lebanon and instructed the Pakistani central bank to open an account, according to PM Sharif’s office.
“Federal Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal will supervise the relief operations regarding Palestine and Lebanon,” the PM’s office said in a statement.
The development came a day after an all parties conference (APC) in Pakistan called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency summit to address the situation in Palestine.
“Pakistan has decided to form a special working group which will go to different lobbies and reach out to other countries in the Islamic world to raise a collective voice against Israeli atrocities,” PM Sharif said at the APC.
“The first priority should be to stop the bloodshed in Palestine, which is a foremost duty and for this, the platform of the OIC is available.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza. The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.
England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test
- Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and were spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82
- England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Crawley smashed 11 fours in unbeaten 64, Joe Root was not out on 32
MULTAN: England chipped at Pakistan’s massive 556, three-centuries total by reaching 96-1 at stumps on day two Tuesday of the first Test.
Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and was spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82.
On a pitch which still looks good for batting with little help for fast bowlers or spinners, England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Zac Crawley smashed 11 fours in his unbeaten 64. Joe Root was not out on 32.
England lost stand-in captain Ollie Pope without scoring in the second over to a stunning one-handed catch by a diving Aamer Jamal at midwicket off Naseem Shah. England trails Pakistan by 460 runs.
Pope had to open the innings after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb while grabbing a sharp chest-high catch of No. 11 Abrar Ahmed in the slips that finally ended England’s heat-sapping 5 1/2 sessions on the field at Multan Stadium.
Whether Duckett bats was yet to be determined.
England’s Jack Leach took 3-160 and Shoaib Bashir 1-124 but Pakistan dominated both spinners.
Brydon Carse’s long wait for his first wicket in his debut test came on Tuesday, which he finished with 2-74. Gus Atkinson (2-99) and Chris Woakes (1-69) toiled without finding any reverse swing on the green square.
England did well in the first session and allowed Pakistan only 69 runs with Carse breaking the resistance of nightwatchman Naseem, who gloved a legside catch after scoring his test-best 33.
Naseem denied England a breakthrough for 1 1/2 hours and braved a couple of blows. He got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by an Atkinson short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter’s right thumb off another short ball before round-the-wicket worked for the right arm fast bowler.
Leach had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck.
Shakeel, who began the day on 35, showed plenty of resistance and raised his half-century with a swept boundary off Bashir. Shakeel was undone by the off-spinner after lunch and feathered a low catch to Root in the slips.
Agha took charge with meticulous drives and sweeps. His third test century followed tons by captain Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) on day one.
Agha gave Pakistan an ideal finish on the benign pitch. In the company of Shaheen Shah Afridi (26), Agha hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock to propel Pakistan past 550.
England was scratchy late in Pakistan’s innings as wicketkeeper Jamie Smith missed an easy stumping of Abrar, and Atkinson couldn’t judge a catch over his shoulder before Root folded the innings.
Pakistan to sign agreements worth over $2 billion with Saudis later this week — PM
- Saudi Arabia’s investment minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan from Oct. 9-11 with high-level delegation
- PM Shehbaz Sharif vows government will not let opposition “sabotage” Pakistan’s economic progress
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will sign agreements worth over $2 billion with an incoming delegation from Saudi Arabia later this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, vowing that his government will not let the opposition derail the country from its path to economic progress.
Saudi Arabia’s Investment Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih is scheduled to visit Pakistan with a high-level delegation from Oct. 9-11, Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed on Monday. The Saudi delegation will arrive in Islamabad ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled to be held in the capital from Oct. 15-16. Pakistan’s foreign office said the Saudi delegation’s visit is aimed at boosting economic cooperation between the two countries.
Addressing his cabinet members, Sharif took aim at former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, saying that its protests last week were aimed at hurting the country’s current economic gains.
“And now that a Saudi delegation is coming and we are to sign agreements or MoUs worth more than $2 billion with them, to sabotage all these efforts is the biggest enmity against Pakistan,” the prime minister said during his televised address.
“We will not allow this, we will not tolerate this and under no circumstances this will be allowed. Under any rate, under any cost,” he added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working in recent months to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite an investment package of $5 billion to the South Asian country earlier this year.
Pakistan has been eyeing closer cooperation in trade, defense, energy and other sectors of the economy with regional allies as it seeks to escape a prolonged economic crisis that has drained its foreign exchange reserves and weakened its currency.
The South Asian country formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a hybrid civil-military body, last year to fast-track decisions related to investment. The SIFC seeks to attract foreign investment, particularly from Gulf countries, for its viral economic sectors.
‘UNBREACHABLE SECURITY’
The Pakistani prime minister also spoke about the Karachi blast on Sunday night that killed three people, including two Chinese nationals. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which routinely targets Chinese interests in Pakistan, had claimed responsibility for the incident.
Sharif said when a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in Pakistan during March this year, the Chinese government sent Pakistan a “concerning” message, asking Islamabad to strengthen security measures for its citizens.
The Pakistani prime minister said he had informed Chinese officials that Pakistan regretted the incident and was embarrassed by it.
“But this does not mean that we will let go of matters. Our spirits are higher than they were before,” Sharif said. “And we will not spare any effort in strengthening these matters and to make security unbreachable [for Chinese nationals],” he added.
The Pakistani prime minister said he had informed China’s ambassador in Islamabad regarding the security measures being taken by Pakistan ahead of the SCO summit.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan, having pledged over $65 billion in road, infrastructure and development projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, that aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
