Top cleric among six killed in suspected suicide blast in Pakistan’s northwest

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Updated 28 February 2025
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Top cleric among six killed in suspected suicide blast in Pakistan’s northwest

  • The incident happened at a seminary with close links to the Afghan Taliban, who condemned the attack
  • Nine people, including a paramilitary solider, have also been killed in a separate IED attack in Balochistan

PESHAWAR: A top cleric from a renowned religious seminary, along with five others, was killed in a suspected suicide blast at a mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, confirmed the provincial administration spokesman and a rescue official.
Darul Uloom Haqqania, one of Pakistan’s largest and most influential seminaries, was founded in 1947 and is located in the town of Akora Khattak in KP’s Nowshera district. It has played a key role in shaping religious discourse in the region and has been linked to the Afghan Taliban.
Until a few years ago, the seminary was run by Maulana Samiul Haq, a Pakistani cleric and politician often referred to as the “Father of the Taliban” due to his seminary’s ties with the group. Haq led his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) party before being assassinated in 2018 in Rawalpindi.
Friday’s blast at the mosque occurred when a large number of worshippers were present for the prayer congregation.
“Today, during Friday prayers, a blast took place inside Darul Uloom Haqqania Akora Khattak, in which Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) and a prominent cleric, has embraced martyrdom amid reports of other people martyred with him,” Barrister Muhammad Ali, KP government spokesperson, said in a video statement.




People gather near the site of a suicide bomber attack, on the day of Friday prayers, at an Islamic seminary in Akora Khattak, Pakistan on February 28, 2025. (REUTERS)

“A number of people were also wounded,” he continued. “This tragic incident apparently seems to be a suicide attack, but details of the nature of the blast are still coming.”
Speaking to Arab News, Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for Rescue 1122 in KP, said a total of six people had died in the blast.
“Hamid-ul-Haq is among the dead,” he informed. “Twelve other people are also wounded.”
KP’s provincial cabinet expressed condolences for those who died in the explosion while praying for the swift recovery of the injured.




In this combination of photo people gather inside the mosque, targeted during the day of Friday prayers, at an Islamic seminary in Akora Khattak, Pakistan on February 28, 2025. (Screengrab/Viral Video)

Earlier, as the blast took place, Maulana Yousuf Shah, the seminary’s spokesperson who is currently in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News that Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani was the apparent target of the attacker.
“It was a suicide blast targeting Maulana Hamid-ul-Haq Haqqani, who suffered serious injuries among others in the attack,” he said. “Haqqani has been rushed to the Combined Military Hospital in Nowshera and is struggling for life.”
Darul Uloom Haqqania is widely believed to have been a launching pad for the Taliban movement in the 1990s and is still often described as an incubator for militants, though the seminary denies the claims.
Mullah Muhammad Omar, who founded the Taliban movement following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, was a student of the seminary.
The Afghan Taliban administration expressed shock at the development in a statement.
“We strongly condemn the attack, we know them [the perpetrators] as the enemies of the religion, we have tried our best to eliminate them successfully,” said the Taliban interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani, blaming the suicide bombing on Daesh militants.
The Afghan embassy also described the attack as “a cowardly act,” extending condolences to the families of the victims and the seminary management.




People inspect damage, at the site of a suicide bomber attack, on the day of Friday prayers, at an Islamic seminary in Akora Khattak, Pakistan on February 28, 2025. (REUTERS)

IED BLAST IN QUETTA
In a separate incident, nine people, including a paramilitary solider of the Frontier Corps, were injured in a remotely controlled explosive device in Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital, on Friday.
Abid Mengal, Station House Officer at the Industrial Police Station, told Arab News the blast took place when an improvised explosive device mounted on a motorbike went off at Jan Muhammad Road.
“The IED exploded with a remotely controlled device when a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps was passing through the area,” he said.
“Nine people, including one soldier of FC Balochistan, were injured in the attack on security forces,” he added.
The responsibility for both attacks has yet to be claimed by any militant group, but Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies — one mounted by religiously motivated groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the other by ethnic separatists in Balochistan.
With inputs from Saadullah Akhter in Quetta


New Karachi-based private airline receives license, plans launch with three aircraft

Updated 5 sec ago
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New Karachi-based private airline receives license, plans launch with three aircraft

  • Air Karachi is backed by prominent Pakistani business leaders and modeled on Air Sial
  • It plans to expand its fleet to seven aircraft and begin international flights within a year

KARACHI: A new private airline based in Karachi received its Regular Public Transport (RPT) license from Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week, one of its key stakeholders confirmed on Monday, expressing hope the carrier would begin operations soon.
Air Karachi, spearheaded by prominent business leaders from Pakistan’s southern port city, is modeled after the success of Air Sial, another airline launched by industrialists in Sialkot.
The idea, conceived amid growing challenges faced by the country’s national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), is to develop a business-backed airline that can operate with efficiency and financial autonomy.
“Yes, we got the license from CAA,” Hanif Gohar, one of the airline’s shareholders, told Arab News. “We are looking for aircraft and will start with three aircraft soon.”
Gohar said Air Karachi was issued the RPT license by the CAA on June 5.
According to a copy of the approval letter seen by Arab News, the airline has been directed to deposit a license issuance fee of Rs500,000 ($1,750) and a security deposit of Rs100 million ($350,000). It must also raise its paid-up capital to Rs600 million ($2.1 million) before commencing operations, in line with the National Aviation Policy 2023.
Air Karachi has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and plans to raise Rs5 billion ($17.5 million) by pooling Rs50 million ($175,000) from each of its 100 shareholders.
Last year, Gohar told Arab News the response from Karachi’s business community was so overwhelming that some families proposed contributing as multiple shareholders.
He informed that aviation veteran Air Vice Marshal (r) Imran Qadir had been appointed chief operating officer of the airline, supported by a team of retired Pakistan Air Force officials.
Once operational, Air Karachi will begin domestic flights with three aircraft and later expand its fleet to seven before launching international flights to the Middle East after the mandatory one-year domestic run.
 


Brushstrokes on a budget: How Islamabad Sunday Bazaar stall became thriving art academy

Updated 09 June 2025
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Brushstrokes on a budget: How Islamabad Sunday Bazaar stall became thriving art academy

  • Husband and wife Azhar and Shagufta Qureshi run Knowledge Art Academy from Itwar Bazaar stall 
  • Students at the school range from ages 5 to 81 and can get classes for nominal three-month fee of $12

ISLAMABAD: Several works of Islamic calligraphy, landscape art and whirling dervish paintings hung on the walls of the stall while around a dozen students sat bent over canvases while husband and wife duo Azhar Qureshi and Shagufta watched over them.

The scene is from the Knowledge Art Academy, located in a quiet corner between a long row of stalls at Islamabad’s Sunday, or Itwar, Bazaar, a popular spot for the capital city’s middle classes who come for the affordable shopping and to buy used and cheap items. 

Here, nestled between toys, crockery and ceramics kiosks, the Knowledge Art Academy, a tin roof supported by wooden sticks, offers art classes at the affordable price of around $12 for three months of lessons. 

The teachers are Shagufta and Qureshi, who has a fine arts diploma from Lahore, and has been running the academy for the past 14 years, offering an attractive alternative to pricey art schools in Islamabad.

“Our aim was to start this so that people who are interested in art can easily join our classes,” Shagufta told Arab News at the stall. “Our fee is also very reasonable. Art is a very expensive hobby which not everyone can afford. Since people from all backgrounds come here, that’s why we opted to arrange our setup here.”

Azhar Qureshi (left) poses for Arab News in his art school, Knowledge Art Academy, in Islamabad's Sunday bazaar on May 30, 2025. (AN Photo) 

The academy has students ranging from age five to those in their eighties.

“I was interested in learning how to paint,” Zamad Ahmed, a second year intermediate student who attends the academy with his 15-year-old sister Fatima, told Arab News. “But due to affordability I never learned it. But after my mother stumbled upon this place, I knew I had to attend it.”

Another student is Abdul Bari, an 81-year-old retired bank manager, who visits the academy weekly to pursue his passion for Islamic calligraphy.

“After retiring as a bank manager and marrying off my kids, I have been coming here for a year-and-a-half to learn from the maestro himself,” Bari said. 

“It has been 1.5 to 2 years that I have come here to learn. I am retired so I come here to spend time, and by the grace of Allah, I have learned a lot from here also.”

“HEALTHY ACTIVITY”

Art schools in Pakistan, particularly those offering undergraduate programs, can be quite expensive, with some institutions charging upwards of $2,500 per year for tuition alone. The National College of Arts (NCA) is a notable example of a public university that offers art programs and has relatively high tuition fees. Other expenses, such as accommodation and transportation, can further contribute to the overall cost of attending art school in Pakistan. 

This attracts many to the low-cost Knowledge Art Academy. 

Azhar Qureshi (left) poses for Arab News in his art school, Knowledge Art Academy, in Islamabad's Sunday bazaar on May 30, 2025. (AN Photo) 

A middle-aged corporate professional who only identified himself by his first name Ijaz said he had admitted his three daughters to the academy so they could do something “productive” during their summer vacations at an affordable price. 

“We have come to generate healthy activities for them,” he said. “Rather than sitting at home and wasting time on gadgets, on mobile or watching movies. I just want to generate some healthy activity so that they can learn something.”

While Qureshi said he had received various offers from prestigious art schools and institutions, he was committed to remain focused on his humble setup.

“I’ve even been told to move to a proper building or classroom and teach from there,” Qureshi said. “But that would increase the fees and affect my students who come here to follow their passion. I don’t want to disturb them.”

And his dedication has borne fruit, with several of his students pursuing fine arts formally while others have become art teachers and freelance artists.
 
Rabiya Noureen, 34, who learnt to paint at the Knowledge Art Academy, now runs her own classes. 

“I learned painting from here and now have my own academy,” she said. “Now, my students even take commissioned painting work and earn money.”


Pakistan economy to grow 2.7 percent in FY25, economic survey shows

Updated 09 June 2025
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Pakistan economy to grow 2.7 percent in FY25, economic survey shows

  • The government initially targeted 3.6 percent GDP growth, but lowered it last month
  • Pakistan’s finance chief says the national economy is on an upward trajectory

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy is likely to expand 2.7 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025 after growing 2.5 percent during the previous year, the government’s economic survey showed on Monday, a day before the country’s federal budget is unveiled.

The government initially targeted 3.6 percent GDP growth, but lowered it to 2.7 percent last month. The IMF expects real GDP to grow by 2.6 percent in FY25 and for the economy to grow 3.6 percent in FY26.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government aims for 4.2 percent GDP growth next year, the country’s planning minister said last week, amid competing priorities, including stimulating investment, maintaining a primary surplus, and managing defense expenditure amid heightened tensions with India.

Pakistan’s central bank, in a bid to encourage growth, cut its policy rate by more than 1,000 basis points in the current fiscal year. Its latest cut last month brought the key rate to 11 percent, resuming an easing cycle that had brought rates down from 22 percent after a brief pause in March.

Pakistan had a current account surplus of $1.9 billion in the July to April period of the current fiscal year compared to a deficit of $200 million in the same period last year, the survey showed.

“Pakistan’s economy has been globally acknowledged for achieving macroeconomic stabilization in the outgoing fiscal year,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in his foreword to the survey.

“Pakistan is consistently advancing on an upward trajectory, built upon investment friendly reforms, enhanced domestic savings, and increased foreign direct investment, with GDP growth projected at 5.7 percent over the medium term,” he said.

The economic survey, a key pre-budget document, comes at a time when Pakistan’s economy is stabilizing but remains fragile as the country navigates reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program.

Pakistan’s federal budget for the next fiscal year starting July will be released on Tuesday.

The government’s total revenue for the first three quarters of the current year stood at 13.37 trillion rupees, the survey showed.

Increasing revenue to trim the fiscal deficit, a key demand of the IMF program, is considered challenging for Islamabad.

Other key performance indicators mentioned in the economic survey include fiscal deficit at 2.6 percent of GDP during the first three quarters of the fiscal year.

Inflation was seen at 4.6 percent for the year.


India-Pakistan conflict threshold at historic low after military flare-up — Bhutto-Zardari

Updated 09 June 2025
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India-Pakistan conflict threshold at historic low after military flare-up — Bhutto-Zardari

  • Former Pakistani foreign minister emphasizes dialogue, diplomacy in interview with Sky News
  • He says Pakistan acted against militant groups by working with the Financial Action Task Force

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned on Monday the threshold for war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan had significantly dropped following last month’s military standoff during an interview with an international news outlet.

India and Pakistan engaged in their most intense military exchange only a few weeks ago, prompting fears of a full-scale war under the nuclear overhang. Over four days, both countries traded missile strikes, drone attacks and air combat before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on May 10.

The crisis erupted after a militant assault killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based elements, a charge Islamabad strongly denied, calling instead for an impartial international investigation.

As the situation escalated, the global community moved quickly to ease tensions and avert the risk of a nuclear confrontation.

“At the moment, the threshold for conflict between India and Pakistan is the lowest than it’s ever been in our history,” Bhutto-Zardari said in an interview with Sky News in London. “We’ve achieved the ceasefire, but we have not achieved peace as it stands today.”

“If there’s a terrorist attack anywhere in India or India-occupied Kashmir, proof or no proof, that means war,” he added. “That’s not a tenable situation. Pakistan believes there needs to be dialog and diplomacy, where we discuss all issues — terrorism, Kashmir, water — and start moving forward.”

Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had long advocated peace through dialogue, as he pointed to India’s refusal to engage diplomatically.

He also criticized New Delhi’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a World Bank-brokered agreement signed in 1960 governing water rights over rivers shared by the two countries.

While India has not stopped water flows entirely, he said, it had delayed releases, a tactic, which he noted, could devastate Pakistan’s agricultural output.

“Even a week’s delay in water supply can destroy crops in a country like Pakistan, which depends heavily on agriculture,” he said, warning that any move by India to build new canals or dams on rivers allocated to Pakistan would cross a red line.

“That would be war,” he said.

Bhutto-Zardari further rejected the idea that Pakistan harbored militant groups involved in cross-border militancy, noting the country had taken significant action under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework, a global watchdog that monitors money laundering and terrorism financing.

“When I was foreign minister, Pakistan was on the FATF grey list. By the end of my term, we had successfully moved off that list,” he said, calling the removal an endorsement by the international community of Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts.

Responding to Indian claims over the recent Kashmir attack, he reiterated that Pakistan had no role in the incident and challenged New Delhi to present credible evidence if it had any.

“They went to war with a nuclear power and still cannot name a single terrorist involved,” he said. “If India was being honest, we’d know who they were, where they came from, which border crossing they used. These are basic questions that remain unanswered.”

Bhutto-Zardari is currently leading a nine-member Pakistani delegation to various world capitals to present Islamabad’s position on the recent conflict with India.

The delegation held meetings in recent days with representatives of the United Nations, its member states and US officials before arriving in London a day earlier to continue its mission.


New warehouse fire breaks out in Karachi as factory blaze continues for second day

Updated 09 June 2025
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New warehouse fire breaks out in Karachi as factory blaze continues for second day

  • Karachi hosts thousands of industrial units but struggles with outdated firefighting infrastructure
  • The new warehouse fire near Mauripur follows factory blaze in Landhi that injured five on Sunday

KARACHI: A fire broke out at an oil warehouse near Karachi’s Mauripur truck terminal on Monday, rescue officials said, as firefighters continued battling a separate blaze that erupted a day earlier at the city’s Landhi Export Processing Zone and has yet to be fully extinguished.

Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, is home to thousands of industrial units but suffers from outdated firefighting infrastructure and lax safety enforcement.

“Fire and rescue teams were dispatched with one ambulance and two fire brigade trucks immediately upon receiving the alert,” Rescue 1122 said in a statement. “Efforts are under way to bring the blaze under control.”

Meanwhile, firefighting operations at the Landhi zone, which began on Sunday, entered their second day, with flames still active inside some of the affected factories.

Authorities said the fire has been partially contained but full extinguishment and cooling may take additional time.

At least five people were injured on Sunday after part of a building collapsed at the industrial site, which houses multiple textile factories, officials confirmed.

The injured were moved to a nearby hospital.

A total of 11 fire brigade trucks and a snorkel were involved in efforts to control the blaze, which were hindered by thick smoke and water shortages in the city of over 20 million.

Hundreds of fire incidents are reported every year in Karachi.

Last November, a shopping mall blaze killed a dozen people.

In April 2023, four firefighters died responding to a garment factory fire, and in 2021, a chemical factory blaze claimed 10 lives.

The deadliest such incident in the city’s history occurred in 2012, when 260 workers were killed in a garment factory fire.