Category: National

A man posing as a colonel in the army has been arrested after attempting to pressure Daska Assistant Commissioner (AC) Sadia Jaffer into a favourable ruling on a land dispute.

According to reports citing official sources, the suspect initially contacted AC Jaffer over the phone, falsely identifying himself as a serving army officer. He tried to influence a property matter and followed up with multiple messages, urging her to decide in his favor.

However, reports said, AC Jaffer became suspicious due to grammatical mistakes and inconsistencies in his communication, which raised doubts about his identity. When the impersonator told the AC that his “representative” would soon visit her office, she alerted Daska DSP (City) and called for a formal inquiry.

The police then traced the suspect’s phone number and location, leading to his arrest.

A case has been registered against him on charges of impersonation, fraud and attempting to interfere in official matters.

A new report has revealed that the aerial combat between Pakistan and India on the night of May 6–7 involved around 110 aircraft, marking it as the world’s largest air battle in decades.

During the conflict, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down as many as six Indian fighter jets, including Rafales, the French-made aircraft considered the crown jewel of India’s fleet, which had never been downed in combat before.

An interview of two Indian officials by Reuters and three Pakistani counterparts reveals that a major factor behind the Indian losses was an intelligence failure regarding the range of the China-made PL-15 missile, launched from Pakistan’s J-10 fighters.

Citing the Indian officials, the report states that erroneous intelligence gave Rafale pilots a false sense of confidence that they were outside Pakistani missile range, which they estimated to be only about 150 km.

“We ambushed them,” the PAF official was quoted as saying, adding that Islamabad conducted an electronic warfare assault on New Delhi’s systems in an attempt to confuse Indian pilots. Indian officials have disputed the effectiveness of those efforts.

An air warfare expert at London’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank told Reuters, “The Indians were not expecting to be shot at,” adding, “the PL-15 is clearly very capable at long range.”

According to Pakistani officials, the PL-15 missile that struck the Rafale was fired from a distance of approximately 200 km (124 miles), while Indian officials claim it was launched from even farther away. That would make it one of the longest-range air-to-air strikes recorded.

Delhi has not acknowledged the downing of a Rafale; however, France’s air chief told reporters in June that he had seen evidence confirming the loss of that fighter, along with two other Indian aircraft, including a Russian-made Sukhoi.

Multi-domain operation

While four Pakistani officials told Reuters that they created a “kill chain,” or a multi-domain operation, by linking air, land and space sensors, the two officials explained that the network included a Pakistani-developed system, Data Link 17, which connected Chinese military hardware with other equipment, including a Swedish-made surveillance plane.

Experts say the system lets the J-10s flying near India get radar data from a surveillance plane farther away, allowing the Chinese-made fighters to switch off their own radars and fly without being detected.

With five Pakistani officials claiming that an electronic assault on Indian sensors and communications systems reduced the Rafale pilots’ situational awareness, two Indian officials have disputed this, saying the Rafales were not blinded during the skirmishes and that Indian satellites were not jammed. However, they acknowledged that Pakistan appeared to have disrupted the Sukhoi’s systems, which India is now working to upgrade.

The long-hour battle occurred following the April 22 Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), killing 26 people, including a Nepalese national.

New Delhi accused Islamabad of orchestrating the attack, a claim Pakistan vehemently denied, and offered a transparent international investigation into the incident, which India rejected.

A group of friends exploring the glaciers of Lady Valley were left stunned after spotting a human body, remarkably well-preserved despite the passage of nearly three decades.

Umar Khan, who lives in Palas, Kohistan, and works as a livestock trader, visits Lady Valley every summer. On a recent trip with his friends, he found the body amidst the snow-capped mountains. “The body was completely intact. Even the clothes weren’t torn,” he told the International media outlet. 

While checking the body, the group found an identity card with the name Naseeruddin printed on it.

District Police Officer (DPO) of Kolai Palas, Amjad Hussain, confirmed that the case traces back 28 years, when a man was believed to have fallen into the glacier.

 He said an inquiry was conducted at the time, but later closed, as no formal missing person report had ever been filed by the family.

The discovery of the preserved body is all the more shocking because the Lady Valley region is always covered in snow.

According to Umar Khan, “People with me immediately recalled the story of Naseeruddin and his family, who had once left Palas due to a family feud and were never seen again after heading toward the glacier.” 

Naseeruddin had left behind two children and a widow.

According to locals, Naseeruddin was not travelling alone when he disappeared; his younger brother Kaseeruddin had also accompanied him. 

The two were among several residents of Palas who were forced to flee the region after developing a longstanding enmity within the family.

According to retired police officer Abdul Aziz and other community members, the family’s troubles deepened when another brother Gardeiz was allegedly killed in the name of honour.

“That was a time when accessing Palas was incredibly difficult,” said Aziz. “There were no proper communication networks, and most incidents like this never reached the police. Even families avoided reporting them.” 

He added, “Police sometimes learned about such cases through unofficial sources, but without a report from the affected party, we couldn’t intervene.”

Though officially labeled as an accident, the resurfacing of Naseeruddin’s body has reopened painful memories for locals, many of whom still believe that the roots of the tragedy lie in the bitter family feud that once gripped their community.

The Bajaur Amn (Peace) Jirga and the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have agreed to a ceasefire during the third round of negotiations held on Sunday in Lowi Mamund tehsil, to remain in effect until the conflict is fully resolved through dialogue.

A leading English newspaper reported, citing two members of the jirga, that the third round of talks was held following the TTP leaders’ conditional agreement during Saturday’s meeting to vacate civilian areas, one of the two key demands of the Bajaur Amn Jirga.

According to details, the third round of talks between the two sides aimed to push the militants to either return to Afghanistan or retreat to the mountains if they intended to continue fighting security forces.

“Officials expressed satisfaction over the outcome of Saturday’s talks between both sides in a meeting with Bajaur Amn Jirga leaders headed by Sahibzada Haroon Rashid and decided to give negotiations another chance to resolve the conflict peacefully, leading to third round of talks,” the media report quoted sources as saying.

In a social media post shared just before meeting with officials on Sunday, Rashid said, “I’m satisfied with today’s meeting, which lasted for seven hours.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the residents of the Thangi area of Salarzai tehsil called on authorities not to abandon a security post in their locality, fearing that the move would endanger their lives.

Addressing a jirga held at Toot Shah Chowk, local elders claimed that authorities were planning to abandon the security post established in the area several years ago. The participants urged the relevant authorities to reconsider the decision.