Category: National

Chief Minister (CM) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Sunday announced a subsidy for registered motorcycle riders across the province following the federal government’s increase in petroleum prices.

Speaking at a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House, Afridi said that the provincial government will provide Rs2,200 to registered motorcyclists, with Rs1,100 to be released immediately and the remaining Rs1,100 at a later stage. He said that the subsidy was aimed at reducing the financial burden on low and middle-income households affected by the rise in fuel prices.

According to a statement, Afridi stated that the provincial government could not support policies that placed additional pressure on people and rejected the recent increase in petroleum prices. He said that the decision could affect around 100 million people living below the poverty line.

Afridi said that the provincial government would bear the additional operational cost of the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit and confirmed that fares would not be increased.

He added that the Rs55 per litre increase in petrol prices placed a burden on the public and added that the provincial government rejected the decision.

Afridi also criticised what he described as inconsistent positions by ruling parties, saying some political actors had previously described a Rs12 increase in petrol prices as a “petrol bomb” but had now approved a larger increase.

The chief minister stated that the governments should reduce unnecessary expenditure instead of shifting the burden onto the public.

Referring to the energy situation, Afridi added that global oil prices influenced domestic pricing but raised concerns about the scale of the increase and the policy approach adopted by the federal government.

He mentioned that the petroleum levy had been increased from Rs85 to Rs105 per litre and that the federal government had collected Rs822 billion in petroleum levies during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. He said that the projections suggested the total could reach around Rs1.7 trillion by the end of the fiscal year.

Afridi stated that reducing the levy could have provided relief to consumers and described consultations between federal ministers and provincial governments as a positive step.

However, he warned that worsening global conditions could lead to shortages of petrol and diesel and said the KP government would submit written proposals to the federal government to address supply concerns.

“Our commitment is not to any government but to Pakistan itself, because Pakistan belongs to all of us,” he said.

Afridi said that the provincial government had introduced austerity measures, including a ban on foreign visits and the purchase of new official vehicles. He added that salaries of members of the KP Assembly had not been increased.

He also added that the government had not yet purchased a replacement helicopter after a crash during flood relief operations, stating that public welfare had been prioritised over administrative spending.

The chief minister said that a monitoring dashboard had been established to track petrol pumps across the province. Through the system, authorities could monitor fuel availability and detect hoarding or supply disruptions in real time.

Afridi remarked that the province was leading the country in developing fuel monitoring systems.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has sentenced 47 proclaimed offenders in the May 9 GHQ attack case to 10 years in prison each.

ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah delivered the verdict, which also included a fine of PKR 500,000 for each convict and an order for the confiscation of their properties.

Those sentenced include Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Umar Ayub, Zartaj Gul, Murad Saeed, Shibli Faraz, Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shauzab and Rashid Shafiq. Other accused named in the verdict are Shahbaz Gill, Zulfi Bukhari, Muhammad Ahmad Chattha, Rai Hassan Nawaz and Rai Muhammad Murtaza.

Shaukat Ali Bhatti, Usman Saeed Basra and Ijaz Khan Jazi were also among those served fines.

The court said that the accused were involved in attacks on the GHQ gate, Hamza Camp and the Army Museum.

According to the verdict, a joint investigation team (JIT) had identified the individuals as central figures in planning violent protests.

The charges included arson, vandalism, assault on police personnel and damage to government property on May 9. Initially, charges were framed against a total of 118 accused, including PTI founder Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in December 2024.

The ATC noted that statements of 44 witnesses had been recorded. During the trial, 18 accused remained continuously absent, while 29 others did not appear in court after case registration.

The court clarified that under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a separate trial was conducted for 47 proclaimed offenders. The prosecution had filed a plea for action against these absconding accused on January 6 this year. On January 8, notices were issued for the 47 individuals.

The court stated that the accused were given seven days to surrender. Despite the notices and court orders, none of them appeared before the court.

Prime Minister’s spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi has said that there will be no talks with the Afghan Taliban, emphasising that the country’s position on dialogue has been “crystal clear”. 

The statement comes as Russia expressed concern over fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that clashes involving aircraft and heavy weapons had taken place across “virtually the entire border area.”

She added that there have been casualties on both sides and that civilians, including Afghan refugees who returned from Pakistan and Iran, have suffered. Zakharova called on Islamabad and Kabul to refrain from hostilities and to resolve differences through dialogue based on mutual respect.

The United Nations (UN) refugee agency said that over 115,000 Afghans and around 3,000 Pakistanis have been displaced due to the conflict along the border. UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) said that clashes have forced thousands of families to flee and warned that internal displacement continues in both countries.

Reports quoted security sources as saying that Pakistani forces responded to unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban along the Kurram-Paktika border. Multiple Taliban posts and those of Fitna al-Khawarij were reportedly destroyed.

State broadcaster PTV reported that Pakistan’s armed forces also destroyed terrorist hideouts near the Pak-Afghan border in the Zhob and Qila Saifullah sectors. Reports quoted the sources as saying that during the operation, Afghan Taliban fighters were forced to abandon their posts and flee.

Reports quoted officials as saying that Pakistan has no issue with Afghanistan or its people, but that the Afghan Taliban regime has become a “proxy master” facilitating terrorist groups. Officials said the Taliban leadership must choose between maintaining relations with Pakistan or continuing to support militants. 

They added that the operation will continue until practical steps and credible assurances are provided to end cross-border terrorism.

Officials rejected claims that civilian areas were being targeted in Afghanistan, calling such reports misleading and noting the loss of innocent Pakistani lives in terrorist attacks. 

They said that groups facing persecution under the Afghan Taliban regime have welcomed the operation and accused Afghan official accounts and Indian-backed media of spreading false narratives.

 
Reports quoted security sources as saying that more than 200 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) are carried out daily across Pakistan to counter terrorist threats. Officials stressed that national unity and full implementation of the National Action Plan are essential to eliminating terrorism.

According to the recent updates, Pakistan’s military continues its operations against the Afghan Taliban and affiliated militant groups under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on March 4 in a post on X that the Taliban have suffered 481 fatalities and over 696 injuries so far. The army has destroyed 226 check posts, captured 35 posts, and neutralised 198 tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery guns. Airstrikes have targeted 56 locations across Afghanistan, Tarar said.

Pakistan’s military continued its operations against Afghan Taliban and affiliated militant groups under Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar reported on March 4.

The Taliban have suffered 481 fatalities and more than 696 injuries so far. The army has destroyed 226 check posts, captured 35 posts, and neutralised 198 tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery guns. Airstrikes have targeted 56 locations across Afghanistan, Tarar said.

State broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported that in the Chaman sector, the army conducted an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) against an armed Taliban group. 

Reports quoted security sources as saying that one Afghan Taliban fighter was killed, while three others were captured alive but wounded. The area was cordoned off and cleared, with security further tightened.

In the latest phase of the operation, hideouts at 50 different locations were destroyed using heavy weapons. Operations were carried out in the Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Sambaza, Ghudwana, Jani, and Ghaznali sectors, with Afghan Taliban, Fitna al-Khawarij, and Fitna al-Hindustan reportedly suffering significant human and material losses.

Separately, an infiltration attempt near Torkham was foiled, with an Afghan Taliban ringleader and his associates killed while attempting to cross the border.

The ongoing operations follow previous strikes inside Afghanistan targeting camps linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan, carried out after a series of attacks inside Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has refused permission for appeal in a libel case brought by former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officer Rashid Naseer against former Pakistan Army major-turned-blogger Adil Raja, leaving in place a damages award of £50,000 and an injunction issued by the High Court.

According to an order dated March 3, Lord Justice Warby dismissed Raja’s applications seeking to challenge a 2025 High Court judgement that held him liable for defamatory posts published on social media in June 2022.

The case centres on nine posts in which Raja accused Naseer of involvement in election rigging, fraud, bribery, corruption and abuse of power.

During the trial held in July 2025, the High Court considered whether the social media posts had caused “serious harm” to Naseer’s reputation under Section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013. The court also reviewed whether Raja’s claims could be protected under the public interest defence provided under Section 4 of the same law.

In a reserved judgement issued on October 9 last year, the trial judge concluded that the requirement of serious harm had been met.

The court subsequently ordered Raja to pay £50,000 in damages to Naseer. It also issued an injunction preventing him from repeating the allegations and directed that a summary of the judgement be published.

Raja later sought permission to appeal the decision before the Court of Appeal. However, in the March 3 order, Lord Justice Warby rejected the applications and declined to grant permission to challenge the High Court ruling.

With the refusal of permission to appeal, the earlier judgement awarding damages, issuing an injunction against further publication of the allegations, and requiring publication of a summary of the ruling remains in effect.