Tag Archives: Pakistan

Pakistan targets separatists in Iran

Iran-Pakistan-border

Important Takeaways:

  • Pakistan carries out military strikes on separatist targets in Iran following deadly attack on its own soil by Tehran
  • Pakistan carried out a series of deadly military strikes on what it said were separatist militant hideouts inside Iran, in the latest incident across their shared border that has sent tensions between the two neighbors soaring.
  • The new strikes mean both Pakistan and Iran have now taken the extraordinary step of attacking militants on each other’s soil this week at a time of expanding conflict in the Middle East and wider region.
  • Islamabad said Thursday its forces launched a “series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes” in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province as part of an operation called “Marg Bar Sarmachar” — a phrase which loosely translates to “death to the guerrilla fighters.”
  • It said the hideouts targeted in the operation were used by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch

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Shipment of Uranium seized at UK’s Heathrow airport: Officials race to trace those involved

Radioactive Sign Emblem

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • NUKE PLOT SMASHED Deadly shipment of uranium seized at Heathrow en route to Iranians based in UK sparking terror probe
  • It was destined for Iranian nationals in the UK, originated from Pakistan and arrived on a flight from Oman.
  • A source said: “The race is on to trace everyone involved.”
  • The package suspected of being smuggled to UK-based Iranians arrived in the hold of a passenger jet.
  • Specialist scanners detected the potentially-lethal uranium as it was ferried to a freight shed, triggering alarms.
  • Officials will want to rule out any fears that a dirty bomb — a mixture of explosives with radioactive power — was being built here.
  • A former army chief has claimed the deadly shipment could have been used for a Litvinenko-style assassination plot.
  • Officials believe they have prevented any immediate threat to the public. They are being assisted by security services as they investigate the suspected plot
  • The Home Office said: “We do not comment on live investigations.”
  • Oman Air were contacted for comment. There is no indication the airline or Swissport is responsible for any wrongdoing.

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Major Flooding in Pakistan ’33 million displaced or effected’

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘A catastrophe on a scale I have never seen’: A THIRD of Pakistan could be underwater before floods that have killed 1,061 people begin to recede, country’s experts warn
  • More than 1,000 dead by drowning and building collapses amid ‘unprecedented’ two-month monsoon season
  • Foreign minister Zardari described ‘floods from the sky’ and ‘water, water and more water’ in his hometown
  • He added: ‘It is a catastrophe on a scale that I have never seen before’, imploring other nations for urgent help
  • Politicians blame ‘horrors of climate change’ – but residents cite lax construction laws and state corruption
  • Dramatic footage shows navy helicopter rescuing stranded boy and family transported over tiny bed frame
  • Entire villages have been washed away as 33 million Pakistanis displaced or affected, foreign minister said
  • Queen writes to Pakistani PM: ‘UK stands in solidarity with Pakistan as you recover from these terrible events’

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In Pakistan lynching has become the norm as Court upholds Death Sentence for brothers charged with Blasphemy

Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Pakistani High Court Upholds Death Sentence of Christian Brothers Charged with Blasphemy
  • They were accused of posting blasphemous contents on the internet… Judge Javed Iqbal Bosal sentenced them to death, with a 100,000 rupee (USD $719) fine.
  • “This will be the 3rd case of blasphemy which will be heard by the Supreme Court. We still believe that the brothers are innocent and it has not been proved that they had published any blasphemous contents.”
  • Lynching and vigilante justice have become everyday phenomena in Pakistan. Because of the government’s inaction and support from hardline religious groups, criminals are encouraged and continue killing innocent people with impunity.

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‘Ashamed’: Pakistan grapples with fallout from mob killing

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A shocking and deadly mob attack on a Sri Lankan factory manager accused of blasphemy in eastern Pakistan last week prompted days of soul searching as the man’s remains were flown to his home country.

The violence, which was condemned by rights watchdogs including Amnesty International, also drew intense responses from politicians, celebrities and journalists on social media.

“Ashamed!! Sick to my stomach!!,” actress Mahira Khan wrote on Twitter shortly after the lynching.

The mob of factory employees in Pakistan’s Punjab province tortured and burned a Sri Lankan manager on Friday in an attack that Prime Minister Imran Khan said brought shame on the country.

The killing raised alarm over the potential for accusations of blasphemy to fuel crowd violence in Pakistan, coming just weeks after at least seven policemen were killed in clashes with the radical TLP movement, which has built its identity on fighting what it sees as blasphemy.

Mob killings over accusations of blasphemy are frequent in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where the crime can carry the death sentence.

Other politicians and the country’s powerful military also released statements condemning the attack.

“Mob violence cannot be acceptable under any circumstance as (the) state has laws to deal with all offences,” said Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari on Twitter.

The victim’s body was returned to Sri Lankan officials over the weekend and then flown to his home country, a government source in Punjab province told Reuters.

Punjab’s police said arrests were continuing.

“In the last 12 hours, police have arrested seven more key figures, including one involved in planning an attack on a Sri Lankan manager,” they said in a statement.

Some politicians and activists argued that broader societal and political change was needed, beyond legal consequences for those involved.

“Arrests should of course be made, but there has to be a clear appraisal of why mobs feel the impunity,” said Senator Sherry Rehman, a member of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

In an editorial entitled “Horror in Sialkot,” leading newspaper Dawn on Sunday criticized Pakistan for “appeasing religious extremists.”

“Once again, we are reminded how far this nation has descended into the abyss,” the editorial said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Pakistan foreign minister makes first trip to Kabul since Taliban takeover

By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam

KABUL (Reuters) -Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday for the first time since the Taliban victory in August, following weeks of tension over transport links between the neighboring countries.

The visit comes after prolonged problems at the Chaman border crossing, one of the main trade transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has been closed for more than two weeks, causing severe problems for truckers and exporters.

Qureshi said Pakistan was determined to help Afghanistan avoid a collapse of its economy and had agreed measures to ease some border restrictions and facilitate trade, including on-arrival visas for Afghan business travelers.

“We have taken steps that will benefit Afghanistan financially,” he told reporters.

Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from Afghanistan would also be allowed duty free, Qureshi said, in a move aimed at helping Afghan fruit producers hurt by the border closures.

Farmers near the southern city of Kandahar have been forced to leave pomegranates and other export produce to rot because trucks cannot get through to their markets across the border.

But there was no agreement to restart flights by Pakistan International Airlines, which suspended operations from Kabul last week after it accused Taliban officials of interference.

The airline has faced local anger after it raised the price of a one-way ticket to as much as $2,500, citing the cost of the premiums it was forced to pay for operating in what insurers consider a war zone.

Qureshi’s delegation on Thursday included the head of the ISI intelligence service, Faiz Hameed, who had also visited Kabul in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the city.

Before the meeting, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Qureshi would focus in his talks with Muttaqi and other Taliban leaders “on ways and means to deepen cooperation in diverse areas”.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie in Islamabad and Gibran Peshimam in Kabul; Editing by Gareth Jones)

16 killed in Pakistan chemical factory fire

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – At least 16 people were killed in a factory fire on Friday in Pakistan’s largest city and financial hub, Karachi, raising questions about the industrial safety in a country not new to such accidents.

The fire broke out at a multi-story chemical factory in eastern part of the city, and most windows of the factory were blocked, police and fire officials said.

Many factory workers died after being trapped on the second floor in the fire, which broke out on the ground floor of the three-story factory.

“At least 16 people have died in the fire,” Saqib Ismail Memon, deputy inspector general of Karachi’s eastern part, told Reuters.

Private television channels’ footage showed thick grey smoke billowing out from the top floors of the factory.

“The factory had only one entry point, which was also being used as exit, and the roof exit was blocked, which badly hampered rescue efforts,” Mubeen Ahmed, chief fire officer of the fire department, told a Geo, a private television channel.

Over 260 workers were burnt alive when a multi-story garment factory was set on fire in September 2012 in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.

Blazes and accidents are common in South Asia’s factories, many of which operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures.

(Reporting by Raza Hassan; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Trucks rolling across Afghanistan border as trade resumes

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Commercial traffic across Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan at the Spin Boldak/Chaman crossing picked up on Thursday, traders said, as the shock of the Taliban’s lightning seizure of power began to ease and confidence returned.

Despite the Ashura religious holiday, truckloads of agricultural produce from Kandahar province were driven across the border, a sign that trade was beginning to return to normal.

“Today, many trucks loaded with fresh fruit (from Afghanistan), including famous ‘Sunder-Khani’ grapes, were cleared at Customs House Chaman,” a senior Custom Officer told Reuters via WhatsApp.

He said movement was strong in both directions, with long-bodied trucks loaded with export and Afghan transit goods also going from Pakistan to Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak and the nearby provincial capital of Kandahar.

Along with the Tokham crossing near Peshawar, Chaman is one of the main trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan, providing a clear picture of economic activity between them.

The Pakistani official, who could not be quoted by name, said trade had picked up over recent days after fighting ended in Kandahar last week and the fall of Kabul on Sunday gave the Taliban complete control of the country.

“After the Taliban took control over Kabul, trade was increased from both sides and empty trucks were also coming back to Chaman without any difficulty,” he said.

The Vice President of Pak-Afghan joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Imran Khan Kakar, told Reuters that Pakistani drivers had previously faced problems returning from Afghanistan.

He said the police and other armed people had been allowing empty trucks to proceed only after taking payments ranging from 10,000-20,000 Pakistani rupees ($61-$122).

“Since the return of the Taliban, there have been no such problems,” Kakar added.

($1 = 163.6000 Pakistani rupees)

(Reporting by Gul Yousafzai; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Catherine Evans)

U.S. finds Pakistan useful only to clean up mess in Afghanistan -Khan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the United States of seeing his country as useful only in the context of the “mess” it is leaving behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting.

Washington has been pressing Pakistan to use its influence over the Taliban to broker an elusive peace deal as negotiations between the insurgents and Afghan government have stalled, and violence in Afghanistan has escalated sharply.

“Pakistan is just considered only to be useful in the context of somehow settling this mess which has been left behind after 20 years of trying to find a military solution when there was not one,” Khan told foreign journalists at his home in Islamabad.

The United States will pull out its military by Aug. 31, 20 years after toppling the Taliban government in 2001. But, as the United States leaves, the Taliban today controls more territory than at any point since then.

Kabul and several Western governments say Pakistan’s support for the insurgent group allowed it to weather the war.

The charge of supporting the Taliban despite being a U.S. ally has long been a sore point between Washington and Islamabad. Pakistan denies supporting the Taliban.

Khan said Islamabad was not taking sides in Afghanistan.

“I think that the Americans have decided that India is their strategic partner now, and I think that’s why there’s a different way of treating Pakistan now,” Khan said.

Pakistan and India are archrivals and have fought three wars. The two share frosty ties and currently have minimal diplomatic relations.

A political settlement in Afghanistan was looking difficult under current conditions, Khan added.

He said he tried to persuade Taliban leaders when they were visiting Pakistan to reach a settlement.

“The condition is that as long as Ashraf Ghani is there, we (Taliban) are not going to talk to the Afghan government,” Khan said, quoting the Taliban leaders as telling him.

Peace talks between the Taliban, who view Ghani and his government as U.S. puppets, and a team of Kabul-nominated Afghan negotiators started last September but have made no substantive progress.

Representatives of a number of countries, including the United States, are currently in the Qatari capital of Doha talking to both sides in a last-ditch push for a ceasefire.

U.S. forces have continued to use air strikes to support Afghan forces against Taliban advances, but it remains unclear if such support will continue after Aug. 31.

Khan said Pakistan had “made it very clear” that it does not want any American military bases in Pakistan after U.S. forces exit Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Gibran Peshimam; editing by John Stonestreet and Jonathan Oatis)

Officials, Taliban strike ceasefire deal in western Afghanistan, says provincial governor

By Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Orooj Hakimi

KABUL (Reuters) -Government officials in a western Afghan province said on Thursday they had negotiated “an indefinite ceasefire” with the Taliban to prevent further attacks on the capital of the province.

The move came after fighters from the Islamist group secured complete control over all the districts in Badghis province, reflecting wider gains by the Taliban over territory and infrastructure in the weeks since U.S. President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops by Sept. 11.

“Ten tribal elders had taken the responsibility of ceasefire, so they first talked to the Taliban, and then talked to the local government and both sides reached a ceasefire,” the provincial governor, Husamuddin Shams, told Reuters.

The Taliban reached an agreement with the tribal elders to move to the outskirts of Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis, Shams said.

A spokesman for the Taliban denied they had agreed to a ceasefire but said they had left the city to avoid civilian casualties.

“Qala-e-Naw is the only city in Afghanistan where the Taliban announced a ceasefire,” said Abdul Aziz Bek, the head of the provincial council in Badghis.

Afghan officials in the capital, Kabul, were not available to comment.

There were conflicting reports on Thursday about who was in control of a major trading town on the border with Pakistan. The Spin Boldak-Chaman border post is the second most important crossing on the Pakistan border and a major source of revenue for the Western-backed government in Kabul.

A senior Afghan government official said on Thursday security forces had retaken control of the town hours after the Taliban seized it on Wednesday.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed that and said his forces still held it.

“It is merely propaganda and a baseless claim by the Kabul administration,” he told Reuters.

The defense ministry spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Pakistan, worried about a spillover of fighting, has shut its side of the Spin Boldak-Chaman border, which lies on the main commercial artery between the second Afghan city of Kandahar and Pakistani ports.

CLASHES HAVE INTENSIFIED

Clashes between the Taliban and government forces have intensified as U.S.-led international forces have been withdrawing. The Taliban have captured several districts and border crossings in the north and west.

The government has accused the Taliban of destroying hundreds of government buildings in 29 of the country’s 34 provinces. The Taliban deny accusations of extensive destruction by their fighters.

A senior Afghan government official in Kabul, Nader Nadery, said the security forces were working to push back Taliban fighters and regain control over 190 districts.

The deteriorating security situation has raised fears of a new Afghan refugee crisis. President Ashraf Ghani met regional leaders in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Pakistan said it would host a conference of senior Afghan leaders in an effort to find solutions.

Diplomatic efforts have focused on pushing the rival Afghan sides to make progress towards a ceasefire.

Pakistan was for years accused of backing the Taliban with the aim of blocking the influence of its old rival India in Afghanistan. But Pakistan denied that and now says it wants to encourage negotiations to ensure a peaceful outcome.

Pakistani information minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Twitter that Pakistan was arranging more talks and that important leaders including former President Hamid Karzai, who remains an influential figure, had been invited.

Chaudhry said Taliban leaders would not be attending as Pakistan was holding separate talks with them.

Karzai and some top Afghan political leaders are expected to fly to Qatar this weekend for talks with members of the Taliban who have an office in the capital, Doha.

The Islamist militants ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until they were ousted in 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. They have fought since to expel foreign forces and topple the government in Kabul.

(Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi in Kabul, Writing by Gibran Peshimam, Rupam Jain, Editing by Robert Birsel)