Current Final

Tag: terrorism

  • ‘Murder of school van driver in Swat was honour killing’: police

    Inspector General (IG) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police, Moazam Jah Ansari, has said that the case of an attack on a school van in Swat on October 10 was actually an “honour killing incident”.

    Addressing a press conference, the IG said that the murder killed his sister’s husband [the van’s driver] for honour. “We have collared one of the three suspects, while the other two will soon land in the hands of police”, he added.

    Earlier, the police had also claimed that the van driver was in fact the target of the shooting incident which happened while there were 10 to 11 children in the van.

    Moreover, Ansari said, another incident of firing in which children were apparently targeted in Lower Dir was also an armed clash between two rival groups.

    It is pertinent to mention that following the incident of October 10, protestors in Swat valley took to the streets to condemn the attack, believing it was an act of terrorism.

    Many journalists and politicians also expressed concern after the horrifying attack on a school van which left one child injured.

  • ‘Balochistan’s issues must be resolved’: NA addresses fake encounters

    Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) Chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal raised the matter of fake encounters in the National Assembly (NA) in which, he alleged, innocent people were killed and presented as terrorists.

    Three missing persons were found dead in Kharan on Monday. They were allegedly killed in fake encounters by the Balochistan Counter Terrorism Department.

    Mengal told the lower house that the people killed by the department have been identified and all of those people were “picked up”.

    “Wasim Tabish was a student who wrote a poem for missing persons. Those who speak and write are picked up,” said the BNP-M chief.

    “Do not push us to a point of no return”, warned Mengal, as he urged the end of fake encounters in Balochistan.

    Later, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif described the issue as “Wounds of the state that have been bleeding for years”. He called for measures to address and resolve the issues and acknowledged that the problem had existed for a long time.

    “Balochistan’s issues must be resolved”, stressed the federal minister.

    Not only Khwaja Asif, but Minister for Climate Change, Sherry Rehman, also called for constituting a “truth and reconciliation commission” to address the unrest in Balochistan.

    The federal ministers also highlighted growing concerns over the situation in Swat.

    “A terrorist is a terrorist and he remains one because he took up weapons. And when he agrees to talk to you, he has pre-conditions,” said Rehman.

    The PPP senator recalled multiple incidents of terrorism and said it was beyond her understanding how a compromise could be reached with terrorists. Moreover, she urged the house to call a joint session again.

    Khawaja Asif called for the members to sit together on the situation in Swat, among other issues of grave importance.

    He recalled that a similar situation in Swat was seen 11 to 12 years ago when concerns were raised that “those in Swat may not be too far away from Islamabad”. He warned that “Whatever is happening in Swat and elsewhere, those flames can reach us as well”.

  • Pakistan likely to exit FATF grey list after 4 years

    Pakistan likely to exit FATF grey list after 4 years

    Pakistan is expected to leave the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list on October 21 after topping the dreaded chart for over four years.

    According to Dawn, a 15-member team of the money-laundering watchdog concluded its onsite visit to Pakistan on September 2, with the final decision on the country’s grey list status now expected at its next meeting set to take place in Paris this week.

    According to an official statement, panellists from 206 Global Network members and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank, Interpol, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will attend the Working Group and Plenary meetings in Paris.

    The outcome of the two-day deliberations on Pakistan’s status would be announced. The FATF Onsite team’s report on Pakistan is scheduled to be reviewed at the plenary meetings.

    Pakistani authorities believe that after four years of hard effort, the country has achieved not just a high level of technical compliance with FATF standards, but also a high degree of efficacy through the implementation of two comprehensive FATF action plans.

    It is worth noting that the FATF found Pakistan generally compliant on all 34 issues in June of this year and opted to send an onsite team to verify it on the ground before formally declaring the country’s removal from the grey list in August and September.

    Pakistan was rated “compliant or generally compliant” with FATF criteria in 38 of 40 recommendations, putting the country among the top FATF-compliant countries in the world.

    Pakistan was officially placed on the FATF grey list for the third time on June 28, 2018, and has been working to remove itself off the list ever since.

    The country was originally placed on the FATF grey list in 2008 after failing to meet international anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) requirements. Pakistan was removed from the list in 2010 after upgrading its AML/CFT regime. However, Pakistan was placed on the grey list again in 2012 and remained there until 2015.

  • Khan pleads innocence: ‘Threats to female judge don’t fall under terrorism’

    Khan pleads innocence: ‘Threats to female judge don’t fall under terrorism’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Friday that the threats he issued to a female judge in a rally do not fall under “terrorism” and the case should be dismissed as he is “innocent”.

    “I am the chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf, I have been the prime minister of Pakistan. This government tortured [my aide] Shahbaz Gill due to political opposition. The report filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) proved that Gill had been tortured,” Khan told the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), calling for the dismissal of his case in the written reply submitted.

    Khan was asked to appear before the JIT at the Margalla Police Station on Friday but he did not show up.

    Last week, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad extended the interim bail of the PTI chairman till September 12 in the terrorism case related to his controversial remarks about the female sessions court judge Zeba Chaudhry and the capital city police.

    The court directed the ex-prime minister to submit Rs100,000 as surety against the bail.

    A case was registered against the former prime minister under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening the additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police during a public rally.

  • We have not invested enough in education, health and infrastructure: PM Shehbaz

    In an interview to The Economist on Pakistan’s Independence Day, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the root problems of the economic crisis gripping the nation nowadays.

    Titled “Pakistan’s prime minister on his drive to modernise the country“, PM Shehbaz mainly talked about critical structural flaws that hindered the state’s economy. According to him, the first reason is that Pakistan’s political environment has become increasingly polarised.

    “Instead of debating how to run Pakistan better and rid the country of poverty, political parties have been at each other’s throats,” he pointed out.

    “We have not invested enough in the nuts and bolts of development: education, health and infrastructure. This is in part due to an abysmally low tax take, but it also reflects our priorities in public spending.”

    PM Shehbaz further highlighted the fact that Pakistan has not enjoyed the benefits of globalisation.

    “Today, we hardly make anything that the world wants and our companies remain very comfortable only operating within our borders, often protected by barriers to competition,” he stressed.

    He pointed out that Pakistan’s exports are just 10 per cent. Shehbaz said that where “two out of every three people are below the age of 30 and full of aspirations and where every third person lives on less than $3.20 a day and less than a quarter of our women work outside the home,” it is a moment that merits “serious introspection”.

    ‘Pakistan was one of the biggest victims of state-sponsored terrorism’: PM Shehbaz

    In an interview with Newsweek’s senior foreign policy writer Tom O’Connor, PM Shehbaz said it was no secret that Pakistan was “one of the biggest victims of state-sponsored terrorism that is planned, supported and financed by hostile intelligence agencies”.

    He went on to say that terrorist attacks against Chinese nationals were “aided and abetted by forces inimical to the Pakistan-China strategic partnership”.

    Talking about friction between the US and China, the premier said: “While the Pakistan-China relationship is very special, Pakistan and the US have also maintained a long-standing historic bilateral relationship which covers all issues of mutual interest.”

    He was of the view that the world cannot afford to go back into another “era of Cold War or bloc politics”.

    The premier called for all parties to agree to the “minimum rules of the game in which the welfare of the people remains paramount”.

    “Systematic problems can be fixed through engagement and consultations among all political stakeholders. This course may take time, but is the only way forward for the system to become strong, resilient and efficient.”

     

  • Pakistan wants to ensure rights to the women of Afghanistan: Bilawal Bhutto

    Pakistan wants to ensure rights to the women of Afghanistan: Bilawal Bhutto

     Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that Pakistan wants to ensure rights to the women of Afghanistan.

     The foreign minister in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said, “I see women’s rights or women’s rights to education as rights granted to us in Islam. We’ll be emphasising that the Taliban keep their international commitments and ensure rights to the women of Afghanistan because these are rights guaranteed to women in Islam,” Bilawal said when he was asked if Islamabad had engaged with the Afghan Taliban on how Muslim countries can give rights to women.

    The minister said it wasn’t an issue of the West. He also said that the first word in Quran is ‘Iqra’, which means to read. “Nowhere is it written that only men should read. We are all meant to pursue our path to education.”

    FM Bilawal said that Islamabad is looking to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to play its role in discouraging the increase in terrorist activity on Pakistan’s side of the border.

    “We continue to not only monitor this situation but work on our side to ensure that we can try to tackle the threat of terrorism and hope that the regime in Afghanistan lives up to their international commitment to not allow their soil to be used for terrorism.”

    “We must prioritise, alleviate the humanitarian crisis, ensure there’s no economic collapse and hold the Taliban regime to the international commitments. It was not Pakistan, but the United States who had direct communication with the Taliban regime before their takeover of Kabul. Pakistan and the international community believe it will not serve any of our interests if we abandon the people of Afghanistan once again,” said Bilawal.

    “We all believe, Pakistan believes and the international community believes, they will not serve any of our interests if we abandon the people of Afghanistan, once again,” said Bilawal.

  • PM Shehbaz condemns the killing of Sikh citizens in Peshawar

    PM Shehbaz condemns the killing of Sikh citizens in Peshawar

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killing of two Sikh citizens in Peshawar.

    “Strongly condemn the killing of our Sikh citizens in Peshawar, KP. Pakistan belongs to all its people. Have ordered a high level inquiry to ascertain facts. The killers will be arrested & meted out exemplary punishment. My most sincere sympathies to the bereaved families,” PM said in a tweet.

    Unknown assailants killed two persons of the Sikh community at Sarband area in Peshawar. According to the police, two persons riding on motorbike opened fire on two shopkeepers of the Sikh community selling spices at Bata Tal Bazaar. They succumbed to their injuries on the spot.

    The deceased were identified as Kanwaljeet Sigh and Ranjeet Singh. According to journalist Iftikhar Firdous, the Islamic States Khurasan (ISKP) chapter says it carried out the attack targeting two Sikhs. In October 2021, ISKP also claimed another such attack in Peshawar.

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also condemned the killing of Sikh citizens.

  • COAS Bajwa orders tight security for OIC meeting, PDM changes long march dates

    COAS Bajwa orders tight security for OIC meeting, PDM changes long march dates

    In a Corps Commanders’ Conference held at General Headquarters (GHQ) on Monday, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered that the security in the federal capital must be increased and comprehensive security measures should be taken for the safe conduct of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting (March 22-23) and the March 23 Pakistan Day parade in the capital.

    For the OIC meeting in Pakistan, 48 countries have confirmed their participation.

    Due to the high-profile events taking place next week, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman reviewed their march dates. While talking to reporters, he announced that the participants would now enter Islamabad on March 25 instead of March 23.

    “OIC’s foreign ministers are our guests and it is our duty to respect them as they will remain in Islamabad till March 24,” Fazl added.

    PDM chief denied that the Opposition was copying the ruling party by holding the long march. He reminded everyone that they had given the call for the long march some three months ago.

    At the Corps Commanders’ Conference, the recent incident of India’s missile firing at Pakistan was also discussed. It was emphasised that despite Indian acknowledgment of the mistake, relevant international forums must take a serious view.

    Gen Bajwa also lauded the ongoing counter-terrorism operations, which is a major concern especially because of recent incidents.

  • UN Security Council condemns ‘heinous and cowardly’ terrorist attack in Peshawar

    UN Security Council condemns ‘heinous and cowardly’ terrorist attack in Peshawar

    The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemned the “heinous and cowardly” terrorist attack in Peshawar at a mosque on Friday (March 4). The attack was claimed by the Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K).

    The statement on Sunday said that the UNSC members expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims and the Pakistani government.

    “I condemn the horrific attack on a mosque in Pesh­awar during Friday prayers. My condolences to those who lost loved ones, and my solidarity with the people of Pakistan,” UN Secretary Gene­ral António Guterres tweeted on Friday.

  • At least 57 dead and several injured in Peshawar’s mosque blast

    At least 57 dead and several injured in Peshawar’s mosque blast

    At least 57 people have lost their lives and more than 190 have been injured in an explosion that took place during Jumma (Friday) prayers at a mosque in Peshawar’s Kocha Risaldar, one of the densely populated areas in the city.

    The injured have been moved to the Lady Reading Hospital. Police teams are at the site of the explosion and have sealed off the area.

    According to Capital City Police Peshawar, policemen on duty were shot at by the attackers.

    Officials are yet to confirm the nature of the explosion.

    This is a developing story.