Security forces have shot down an Indian drone in Lahore’s Manawan area, media reports quoted police sources as reporting on Friday.
According to details, security forces immediately targeted the drone after its movement was detected in Pakistani territory. The device appeared to be a surveillance drone, as no explosives were found on it.
Intelligence agencies have taken the drone into custody and launched an investigation into the matter, reports have stated.
This is a developing story.
Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday acknowledged his country’s role in providing support to India during the conflict with Pakistan in May, when the latter illegally attacked multiple cities in Pakistan, including Muridke and Bahawalpur, a media report has stated.
The Israeli Premier, in a post on X, announced that he met the Indian ambassador to their country, JP Singh, in Jerusalem, where the duo “discussed strengthening and expanding cooperation between Israel and India, particularly in the fields of security and economics”.
“Afterward, I held a meeting with a group of senior journalists from India and answered their questions,” Netanyahu added.
He confirmed the use of Israeli weapons during India’s confrontation with Pakistan in May, including the deployment of HARPY drones and the Barak-8 missile, which is jointly developed with New Delhi, according to an Indian news channel.
“The things we provided before worked very well on the field… we develop our weapons in the field and they are battle-tested,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the channel. “They worked fine and we have a pretty solid foundation.”
Reports suggest that New Delhi has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Tel Aviv over the last decade, including radars, drones, and missiles.
Israel is the fourth largest supplier of military hardware to India over the last decade, followed by Russia ($21.8 billion), France ($5.2 billion), and the US ($4.5 billion).
Following the April 22 Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), New Delhi accused Islamabad of orchestrating the attack, a claim Pakistan firmly denied and offered a transparent investigation into the incident.
New Delhi, while breaching the sovereignty of Pakistan, launched missiles into the country in May, leading the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to shoot down six of India’s fighter jets, including Rafales. Then, the nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone and air strikes.
The four-day confrontation came to an end when United States (US) President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire on his Truth Social account on May 10.
A husband and wife lost their lives after falling from the Akbar Chowk flyover in Lahore’s Faisal Town on Thursday.
According to police, 65-year-old Afzal suffered a heart attack while descending from the flyover.
The couple was on their way back home on Ferozepur Road from Iqbal Town when the incident occurred. Afzal lost control of his motorcycle, which collided with the boundary wall, causing both him and his wife to fall from the flyover.
Police said Afzal died while being transported to the hospital, while his 60-year-old wife, Abida Noor, died on the spot.
In separate incidents, five more people, including a woman, were killed in road accidents across the city.
A motorcyclist was killed and two others injured after being hit by a car on Shahkam Flyover. In another accident at Shahkam Chowk on Canal Road, three people were killed and two injured when a car rammed into them.
Pakpattan Saddar police arrested Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Malik Ijaz on Thursday after a case was registered against him for slapping a woman suspect during a raid in 39/SP village on July 12.
According to media reports, the action was ordered by District Police Officer (DPO) Javed Chadhar after a video of the incident appeared on social media 25 days later, sparking public outrage.
According to police, ASI Ijaz, posted at Chowki Farid Town, raided the house of Amina Akram, a divorced woman wanted in a case filed by her ex-husband, Shabbir Ahmed, a motorcycle mechanic. The case accused Amina and two men, Muzamil and Munir, of illegally occupying Shabbir’s house and stealing his tools along with Rs500,000 in cash.
During the raid, Amina locked herself inside the house. The ASI entered the property by jumping in from a neighbour’s house. After a heated exchange of words, he slapped her.
Following the release of the video, FIR No. 1260/25 was registered against ASI Ijaz under sections 354 and 155-C of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Saddar police Station House Officer Khizer Hayat.
The Punjab Education Department has extended the summer holidays.
According to Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar, schools across the province will now reopen on September 1 instead of August 15.
He said the decision was made keeping in mind the intense heat and humidity.
Earlier, it was reported that the department was considering extending the holidays until August 31 due to the weather.
The minister had also said that discussions were ongoing and a final decision would be taken soon.
It’s worth mentioning that Punjab has seen intermittent rainfall, but when it doesn’t rain, the weather becomes extremely hot and humid. The final decision was made keeping all these factors in view.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday auctioned off Bahria Town properties owned by real-estate mogul Malik Riaz to settle his defaulted plea bargain from 2019.
The legal saga began almost six years ago when the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) reached a £190 million settlement with Riaz’s family. That same year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) accepted Riaz’s offer of Rs460 billion to settle a case involving the illegal acquisition of thousands of acres in Karachi’s Malir district by Bahria Town. Riaz had said at the time that the recovered amount would be used to pay off the apex court’s settlement, and the funds were subsequently transferred to the court’s accounts rather than the federal treasury.
On October 20, 2023, the Supreme Court noted that only Rs60.72 billion out of Rs460 billion had been paid, out of which Bahria Town had paid just Rs24.26 billion.
According to a press release issued by NAB Rawalpindi on Thursday, the anti-graft watchdog carried out public auction of six commercial properties linked to Malik Riaz and Bahria Town to recover defaulted funds pertaining to the court-approved plea bargain.
Among the properties were Rubaish Marquee that was auctioned for Rs508 million – Rs20 million higher than the reserved price; Corporate Office-I, which received conditional offers of Rs 876,000,000 and Corporate Office-II that received offers of Rs 881,500,000.
While a final approval from NAB on acceptance of the conditional offers remained pending by the time this report was filed, at least three properties remained unsold due to lack of qualifying bids, for which a re-auction will be announced.
It may be noted that the auction took place despite Bahria Town on Wednesday filing an appeal with the SC against the auction that was allowed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
“The impugned order … passed by honourable Islamabad High Court … as well as the order dated [March 19] passed by Accountability Court No.1 are contrary to the express provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, as amended by the Second Amendment Act, 2022, which provides that ‘upon failure of an accused to comply with a plea bargain Agreement, the Agreement becomes inoperative with respect to the rights and obligations of the parties immediately’,” argued the petition.
It said that NAB “initiated a series of baseless and vexatious legal proceedings with mala fide intent to harass, pressurise and coerce the petitioner”, calling the manner in which NAB acted “discriminatory and prejudicial”.
“The courts … failed to appreciate that [NAB] does not have any authority to auction or sell the properties of the petitioner, in view of Section 33-E (recovery of amount of fines, etc as arrears of land revenue) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 and the provisions of the West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967,” the petition read, requesting that the apex court granted leave to appeal the IHC’s order.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has accused bureaucracy of amassing billions in corruption, going on to allege that more than half of the country’s bureaucrats have acquired property in Portugal and are preparing to obtain its citizenship.
While the Establishment Division and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) – the two institutions responsible for civil service discipline and accountability – maintain having no knowledge or evidence supporting the claims, reports have quoted bureaucrats as saying that the minister’s remarks have caused widespread resentment within the civil bureaucracy.
Amid uproar and speculation since after Asif’s statements, and newfound interest of Pakistanis in obtaining Portuguese citizenship, here is everything you need to know about the process and its requirements.
Portugal does not offer direct citizenship by investment. Instead, investors can apply for the Golden Visa, which leads to permanent residency and eventually citizenship after five years.
To qualify, applicants must make a minimum €500,000 investment in property or €350,000 in property requiring renovation in idesignated areas.
Among other investment opportunities are a transfer of €1.5 million to Portugal, creation of at least 10 jobs in Portugal, investment of €500,000 in a Portuguese business, €250,000 in arts, culture or scientific research. Applicants can also invest €500,000 in approved venture capital funds.
A golden visa is renewable every two years and can make you eligible for citizenship after five years of legal residency with basic Portuguese language proficiency as long as you have a clean criminal record and proof of investment.
Don’t have the money? Here’s what else you can do…
Pakistani citizens can also pursue Portuguese citizenship through naturalisation after residing in the country for a minimum of five years.
This route requires fulfilling various conditions, including a clean criminal record, sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language, and demonstrating integration into Portuguese society. According to various consultants, continuous legal stay for a full ten years may be required for naturalisation under new criteria.
While residency permits need to be renewed during the period of stay in Portugal, other routes to obtain citizenship include family reunification and birth or descent.
With Independence Day just around the corner, the Islamabad district administration has imposed a citywide ban on the sale and use of bajas – vuvuzelas or toy horns.
According to reports, the decision was aimed at curbing public nuisance and maintaining order ahead of August 14.
Islamabad deputy commissioner has directed all field officers to carry out immediate on-ground operations to seize bajas being sold at stalls across the city.
The administration has also ordered daily monitoring and strict enforcement until Independence Day. Anyone found selling or using bajas will face legal action, including fines and confiscation of the items, reports said.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has made a startling revelation, accusing real estate tycoon Malik Riaz and Bahria Town of involvement in large-scale money laundering. These claims add to the number of legal troubles Riaz is already facing, according to reports.
In a televised press statement, the information minister revealed that a raid conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) led to the discovery of documents he described as ‘incontrovertible proof’ of Malik Riaz and Bahria Town’s corruption. The evidence suggests that the real estate mogul was involved in a staggering Rs1.12 billion money laundering scheme.
According to details, the FIA raided Safari Hospital in Rawalpindi, which was being used as a front office for maintaining records and storing cash. The minister stated that Bahria Town staff present at the hospital attempted to “burn some of the records” when the FIA began its raid.
The hospital’s “ambulances were being used to transport the money and records” to avoid arousing the suspicion of authorities, the minister added.
During the raid, officers were able to link the two individuals present at the scene, who were running the hawala and hundi operation, to the chief financial officer of Bahria Town. The information minister alleged that Bahria Town’s senior leadership was operating a large-scale “money laundering racket through which amounts were being sent abroad”.
While the Rs1.12 billion money laundering scheme is already colossal, the information minister suggested the actual scale is even greater, stating, “there will be more amounts besides the Rs1.12bn that will come forth.”
According to the minister, the hospital was used to send billions of rupees out of the country, causing significant harm to Pakistan’s economy. The federal government is expected to continue its crackdown on money laundering schemes allegedly operated by Bahria Town, as the FIA reportedly has information on the individuals involved.
The information minister has urged all those implicated to “turn themselves in.” It merits a mention that neither Bahria Town nor Malik Riaz has responded to the minister’s statements.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir will visit the United States of America again this week, a leading news daily has reported.
The visit will reportedly be a return visit after General Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) visited Pakistan where he was conferred with Nishan-i-Imtiaz (military).
This will be General Asim Munir’s second visit to DC as COAS after his previous visit in June where he had lunch with American President Donald Trump, a rare feat for any Pakistani army chief.
Although there has been no confirmation from the military’s media wing of the visit, the COAS had hinted during the previous visit that he will return to the US later in the year.
The visit will be the latest in a growing thaw of relations between Pakistan and the US, with General Kurilla calling the South Asian country a “phenomenal partner” in countering terrorism during a congressional hearing earlier in the year.
Days before the visit, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the head of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), addressed rumours of the COAS desiring to become the President of the country, calling such rumours “nonsense”.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had also denied such speculation, stating in July that there was no truth in the “President being asked to resign or the COAS desiring to assume the Presidency.”