ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has formed a joint task force to identify the one involved in “propaganda against the state,” following last week’s violent protests in Islamabad by supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Nov. 24 led thousands of supporters to Islamabad, seeking to pressure the government to release the ex-premier from jail. The protests resulted in clashes that Pakistan’s government says killed three paramilitary soldiers and a police officer, and injured hundreds of others. The PTI has named 12 people and says it has evidence they lost their lives during the crackdown, however, several PTI members have given varied accounts of casualties during the protests. Pakistani authorities deny the claims.
The Pakistani interior ministry said on Sunday said it would hold social media users accountable for propagating “fake” deaths during the anti-government protests, reiterating that law enforcers deployed to disperse violent protesters did not have live ammunition. It said the army, deployed under Article 245 of the constitution to secure key government installations and foreign diplomats in Islamabad’s Red Zone, neither came in direct clash with the protesters, nor was it employed for riot control.
In a notification issued late Sunday, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s office said the “malicious campaign” was aimed at discrediting the state in general and security forces in particular, for which multiple local and foreign media platforms were being used to “perpetrate concocted, baseless and inciting news” implicating the state apparatus for committing serious human rights violations.
“This campaign is aimed at creating serious law and order situation in the country and foment provincialism and ethnic cleavages for specific vested political interests. To attract foreign audience, perpetrators of this inimical campaign attempted to create serious human rights violations through fictitious violent images and contents,” it said.
“The prime minister has desired to form a joint task force (JTF) to inquire and pursue defaulters.”
The task force will include officials from the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, ministries of information technology, interior and information and broadcasting, police and the Federal Investigation Agency as well as civilian and military intelligence agencies, according to the notification.
It will identify individuals, groups and organizations involved in creating and spreading “fake and misleading news” relating to the Islamabad protests, track and trace individuals and groups in the malicious campaign both in Pakistan and abroad, and bring them to justice. The task force will also suggest measures to bridge policy gaps and share its findings with the government within 10 days.
Khan’s PTI party has staged several protests this year to demand the release of the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, as well as to challenge results of the Feb. 8 national election, which it says were manipulated to keep the party from coming to power in the country. The Pakistani government and election authorities deny this.
Last week’s protest was by far the largest to grip the capital since the poll and the Pakistani government said it caused Rs192 billion per day indirect losses to the economy.
Pakistan forms task force to identify suspects behind ‘propaganda’ over Islamabad protests
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Pakistan forms task force to identify suspects behind ‘propaganda’ over Islamabad protests
- Ex-PM Imran Khan’s party last week led supporters to Islamabad, resulting in clashes with law enforcers at several locations
- The government says the campaign against it aims to create law and order situation, foment provincialism and ethnic cleavages
Pakistan calls for united Muslim strategy to counter Israel, pledges diplomatic support to Iran
- Defense Minister Khawaja Asif urges Muslim countries to sever diplomatic ties with Israel
- Iran refuses to join nuclear negotiations with the United States while Israeli strikes continue
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday urged Muslim nations to adopt a unified strategy to counter Israel, warning that failure to act collectively would leave them vulnerable, as he expressed full diplomatic support to Iran in a speech to the National Assembly following Israeli strikes.
Israel launched surprise attacks on Iranian nuclear and military facilities in the early hours of Friday amid Tehran’s negotiations with Washington over its nuclear program. The strikes killed several senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Iranian media, and also caused civilian casualties.
Israel, at war in the region since October 2023, initially launched a military campaign against Gaza following a Hamas assault, which the Palestinian group said was retaliation for decades of oppression. Since then, the Israeli government has expanded its military operations to neighboring Muslim states such as Syria and Lebanon before targeting Iran.
Pakistan condemned the Israeli action and said Iran had the right to defend itself under international law.
“Just as Israel is currently targeting Yemen, Iran, and Palestine, if the Muslim world does not unite today and continues to prioritize its own interests and agendas, then everyone’s turn will come,” Asif told lawmakers.
“An OIC meeting should be convened, and all Muslim countries must come together to devise a strategy through which Israel can be confronted collectively,” he continued. “There is a need for an initiative that reflects the unity of the Islamic world. Wherever there are diplomatic ties with Israel in the Muslim world, they should be severed.”
The Pakistani minister added the Muslim world remained “militarily vulnerable” and voiced what he described as Pakistan’s unwavering solidarity with Iran.
Later in the day, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told the assembly Pakistan had presented a “robust position” at the United Nations Security Council a day earlier, where it denounced the Israeli strikes.
He said Iran’s permanent representative at the world body had acknowledged and praised Pakistan’s support.
Tarar reiterated that under the UN Charter, Iran had the right to self-defense and emphasized that Pakistan had consistently condemned the suffering of Palestinians.
“The Palestinian cause is close to our hearts,” he said. “We have always raised our voice for our Palestinian brothers and sisters at every international forum.”
The Iranian foreign ministry announced earlier in the day it would no longer take part in planned nuclear talks with the United States in Oman, calling them “meaningless” while Israeli attacks continued.
“It is obvious that in such circumstances and until the Zionist regime’s aggression against the Iranian nation stops, it would be meaningless to participate in dialogue with a party that is the biggest supporter and accomplice of the aggressor,” an Iranian spokesperson said according to international wire agencies.
Israel’s defense minister also warned “Tehran will burn” if Iran continued to launch missiles at Israeli cities.
Iran had retaliated on Friday night by launching a barrage of missiles at Israel, with explosions lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
A day earlier, Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, condemned Israel’s strike on Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure, calling it a violation of international law.
“Iran has the right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter,” he said, urging all sides to avoid further escalation and emphasizing the need to resolve tensions through diplomacy.
Pakistan PM calls for quick EV policy with stakeholder input to promote clean transport
- Shehbaz Sharif seeks ‘priority measures’ to promote electric motorcycles, scooters, cars and buses
- He says charging stations and battery-swapping centers must be ensured to strengthen EV rollout
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government on Saturday pledged to promote electric vehicles (EVs) across all segments of transport, with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif calling for a national policy on the subject to be finalized in consultation with stakeholders.
The move comes amid a steady rise in EV adoption in a market long dominated by Japanese automakers such as Suzuki, Toyota and Honda. Increasingly, Chinese and Korean brands are entering the space, with electric vehicles becoming more and more visible in cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
The government is hoping to ride this momentum to cut fuel imports and reduce emissions.
“Priority measures will be taken for the promotion of electric motorcycles, scooters, three-wheelers, cars and buses,” the prime minister said while chairing a meeting in Lahore to discuss the adoption of EVs.
The draft Electric Vehicles Policy 2025 was reviewed at the meeting, with Sharif calling for its urgent finalization “in consultation with all stakeholders” before being presented to the cabinet.
“Charging stations and battery-swapping stations must be ensured,” he said during the meeting. “Industries will also be facilitated to increase the manufacturing capacity of two- and three-wheelers.”
While EVs offer a way to reduce the country’s petroleum import bill and carbon footprint, the lack of infrastructure, frequent power outages and limited financing options remain key impediments to their widespread adoption and scale-up.
Yet industry experts believe existing players in Pakistan’s auto market will face stiff competition from various EV brands, with many seeing electric vehicles as poised to consolidate their place in the domestic market.
Pakistan delegation in Brussels says Islamabad can develop counterterror partnership with Delhi
- India blames Pakistan for supporting “terrorist” attacks in the part of disputed Kashmir it governs
- Islamabad, Washington thwarted attacks in Pakistan, US and Europe, says head of delegation
ISLAMABAD: The head of a delegation visiting Brussels to present Pakistan’s point of view regarding the country’s recent military standoff with India said on Saturday that Islamabad can develop a “phenomenal” counterterror partnership with Delhi, similar to the one it has with Washington.
India blames Pakistan for arming and funding militants who carry out subversive activities in the part of disputed Kashmir it governs, an allegation Islamabad has always denied. The two countries engaged in a military confrontation for four days last month after India accused Pakistan of supporting an attack at the Pahalgam tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed in the attack.
Pakistan enjoys counterterror cooperation with several countries, including the US, which includes intelligence sharing and other forms of coordination to thwart militant attacks. The head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Kurilla, this week praised Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counterterrorism efforts during a testimony.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is the head of the Pakistani delegation, pointed out that the US and Pakistan have thwarted “terrorist attacks” in Europe, the US and Pakistan through counter-terror coordination.
“Will we be more effectively able to combat terror if India and Pakistan sat together and coordinated, conducted intelligence sharing,” Bhutto Zardari asked in response to a question.
Citing Kurilla’s statement, Bhutto Zardari said Islamabad can develop a counter-terror partnership with New Delhi similar to the one it enjoyed with Washington.
“We can develop that phenomenal partnership with India as well,” he added.
He lamented that there was no cooperation or coordination between the two nuclear-armed nations on combating “terrorism,” adding that the two countries last had a dialogue on counter-terror in 2012.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the nine-member diplomatic group last month, headed by Bhutto Zardari, who is a former foreign minister and the head of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
He has been leading a team to visits in New York, Washington DC, London and Brussels since June 2. Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, has visited Moscow.
While the ceasefire between the two countries continues to remain in place, tensions continue to simmer as India says it is holding in abeyance a decades-old water-sharing treaty with Pakistan.
Islamabad had said after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty that it considered any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan to be an “act of war.”
About 80 percent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.
Pakistan and India, bitter rivals, have fought two out of three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir that they both claim in full but govern only parts of.
Pakistan says 700 army personnel killed in militant attacks in last 2 years
- Pakistan has suffered a surge in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces recently
- Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif blames New Delhi for supporting militant outfits in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Around 700 army personnel have been killed in various militant attacks over the past two years, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Saturday, accusing India of supporting terror outfits in the country.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November 2022 in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces bordering Iran and Afghanistan. In KP, the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against law enforcers.
In Balochistan, separatist ethnic Baloch militant groups demand independence from the state, accusing Islamabad of denying locals a share in the province’s mineral resources. Islamabad denies the allegations.
“In the past two years, 700 of our soldiers have been martyred,” Asif told lawmakers during a televised parliamentary session. “Our civilians have been martyred. Several districts of a province of ours are being targeted by terrorism.”
The minister said that militant outfits such as the TTP or the separatist Baloch Liberation Army are “agents of India,” alleging that they were fighting New Delhi’s war on Pakistani soil.
“Any person who even has a speck of sympathy toward them is not a Pakistani,” Asif said, vowing that Islamabad would win its war against militancy.
India and Pakistan have traded allegations of supporting militant groups for years. New Delhi blames Islamabad for supporting militant outfits who carry out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, an allegation that Pakistan has always rejected.
The two countries engaged in a military confrontation for days last month after India attacked Pakistan with missiles, accusing it of supporting an April 22 attack in the Pahalgam tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan denied the allegations and called for an international, credible probe into the incident.
The defense minister expressed solidarity with Iran over Israel’s recent attacks against it, vowing to extend support to the neighboring country.
“In this hour of trial, we are with them in every way,” Asif said. “Whatever help they need at the international level, at the United Nations or any other institution or at the Islamic conference, we will defend their interests there.”
Pakistan calls for enhancing aid, educational assistance for Palestinians
- Pakistan’s foreign minister chairs meeting to review status of ongoing assistance for Palestinians
- Palestinian death toll from 20-month Israel-Hamas war has passed 55,000, official figures say
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday stressed the need to enhance humanitarian relief and educational assistance for Palestinians bearing the brunt of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has passed 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said this week. Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90 percent of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
Pakistan has dispatched several aid consignments for the people of Palestine since last year and also granted scholarships and admissions to hundreds of Palestinian students in Pakistani universities since the war began in 2023.
“Reaffirming Pakistan’s unwavering moral, political, and diplomatic support for the Palestinian cause, the DPM/FM emphasized the need to enhance the provision of humanitarian relief to the Palestinian people as well as to extend educational assistance to the Palestinian students,” the foreign office said.
The statement was issued after Dar chaired a meeting to review the status of the ongoing assistance provided by Pakistan to the people of Palestine.
“The DPM/FM expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza & West Bank, resulting from Israel’s blatant violations of human rights,” the statement said.
The war between the two sides began when Hamas fighters killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel’s military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes.
