Pakistani mafia kingpin spied for Iran in 2014 — investigation report

In this file photo, Uzair Baloch flanked by Rangers personnel in Karachi in January 2016. (Photo courtesy: EPA)
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Updated 10 July 2020
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Pakistani mafia kingpin spied for Iran in 2014 — investigation report

  • Uzair Jan Baloch, long on the run from Pakistani authorities, was arrested by Interpol from Dubai in 2014
  • Karachi Central Jail correspondence shows a military court convicted Baloch for espionage and sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment this April

KARACHI: An investigation report released by Pakistan’s provincial government in Sindh this week has said a Pakistani ganglord, long suspected of building a business empire through extortion, kidnapping and drugs, had confessed to spying for Iranian intelligence agencies in 2014. 

Uzair Jan Baloch was also convicted for spying this April by a military court and sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to a June 13 letter written by the senior superintendent of Karachi Central Jail to an anti-terrorism court that had ordered Baloch to be produced before it. A copy of the letter is available with Arab News, though the Pakistan military could not be reached to confirm if Baloch had indeed been convicted by an army tribunal. 

Baloch, for years considered close to politicians within Sindh’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), is currently nominated in at least 59 criminal cases, according to police records, and is being held at a makeshift jail at the Karachi office of the paramilitary Rangers force. The PPP denies it currently has any links to the gang leader. 

In 2016, Baloch was interrogated by a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising representatives of police, Rangers, and a number of civilian and military intelligence agencies during which officials say he confessed that he had spied for Iran and was involved in 59 acts of murder, kidnapping, extortion and attacks on law enforcement.

According to the report, Baloch had told the investigation team that he obtained a fake Iranian birth certificate in the late 1980s and an Iranian identity card and passport in 2006.

The report details how Baloch met a man named Hajji Nasir in Iran’s Chabahar city in 2014, who offered to arrange his meeting with Baloch and Iranian intelligence officers. 

“On the consent of the accused a meeting with Iranian intelligence officers was arranged by Hajji Nasir in which the accused was asked to provide certain information about [Pakistan] armed forces officials,” the JIT report, which is publicly available, said. 

It added: “The accused is found involved in espionage activities by providing secret informations/sketches regarding Army installations and officials to foreign agents (Iranian intelligence officers) which is a violation of Official Secrets Act, 1923.”

Ahmad Mohammadi, Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karachi, did not comment on the Baloch case in an email sent to Arab News in response to queries for this piece, but said Iran “defined and arranged it’s relationship with Pakistan in accordance with mutual respect and mutual benefits.”

“Tehran emphasises on essential and urgent need of removing any possible misunderstanding which mainly happens due to the deceptive and malicious efforts of third parties. For sure, developing relations between Tehran and Islamabad don’t comply with their desire,” the consul general’s email said. 

For years, Baloch thrived in Sindh’s teeming capital of Karachi, a key figurehead in the city’s notorious gang wars. However, in 2006 he fled to Iran to escape an operation against street gangs in Lyari, one of Karachi’s most dangerous neighborhoods at the time. 

He returned to Pakistan for a number of years during which he even contested in a local government election but once again escaped to Iran in 2013 when Pakistan’s powerful paramilitary Rangers launched an armed operation to bring down Karach’s soaring crime rates.

Baloch is believed to have also lived in Oman briefly before being arrested by Interpol in Dubai in December 2014. 

In January 2016, Rangers announced that they had taken Baloch into custody in Karachi, an arrest that surprised many who had thought he was already in jail after being detained in Dubai. 

The JIT report said after Baloch confessed to spying for Iran, he was handed over to the Pakistani military to be tried “under Pakistan Army Act for his Involvement in espionage activities which falls under the Official Secrets Act 1923.”

In a Twitter post on April 12, 2017, the head of the Pakistani military’s media wing said Baloch had been taken into custody under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. However, the army has not revealed any details of his subsequent trial before a military court, nor made a verdict public. 

But a letter written by the senior superintendent of the Karachi Central Prison in response to an anti-terrorism court order that Baloch appear before it for hearings in a number of cases says he was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in April this year after being convicted for spying.

The letter, dated June 13, said: 

“[Uzair Ali] was convicted by the Lt. Col. Commanding Officer 1st (Self Propelled) Medium Regiment Artillery on April, 4, 2020 in Pakistan Army Act section 59 (civil offenses) read with section 3 (penalties for spying) of the Official Secret Act and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 12 years.” 

Pakistan’s military courts hold secretive trails but verdicts are often publicly announced by the army’s media wing, called ISPR.

Arab News sent written queries to ISPR about Baloch’s conviction but did not receive a response. Sindh Home Secretary Usman Chachar also did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment, and a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign office did not reply to text messages asking whether Pakistan had taken up the issue of Baloch’s confessed espionage with Iran. 


Karachi beat Peshawar by 23 runs as PSL returns with glitzy ceremony

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Karachi beat Peshawar by 23 runs as PSL returns with glitzy ceremony

  • Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam scores 94 runs from 49 balls in Zalmi’s chase attempt 
  • Pop stars Sahir Ali Bagga and Asrar Shah enthralled fans as PSL returned after May 9 

ISLAMABAD: Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam’s 94-run innings came to naught as his team lost to Karachi Kings at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium by 23 runs on Saturday, as the Pakistan Super League (PSL) marked its return with a glitzy ceremony. 

The PSL was suspended on May 9 due to hostilities between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan. However, as both countries agreed to a ceasefire on May 10, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced the league would resume on May 17. 

Kings captain David Warner led the scoreboard, scoring a fiery 86-run inning from 50 balls while James Vince smashed 72 runs from 42 deliveries. Khushdil Shah contributed with an impressive 43 runs from 15 balls as the Kings piled on 237-4 at the end of 20 overs. 

“Match 27 Karachi Kings vs Peshawar Zalmi,” the PCB said in a statement. “Karachi Kings won by 23 runs.”

Former Pakistan captain Azam scored 94 runs from 49 balls, hitting four sixes in his innings before he got run out. Explosive opener Saim Ayub provided Zalmi with a strong start, scoring 47 runs from 31 balls while Tom Kohler-Cadmore chipped in with 20 runs from 15 balls. 

PSL’s return after a week saw Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir watch the match live at the Rawalpindi stadium. 

Pakistani pop stars Sahir Ali Bagga and Asrar Shah performed to enthrall the audience and pay tribute to the country’s armed forces before fans enjoyed a spectacle of fireworks at the stadium. 


Pakistan says eyeing transit hub role to connect South, Central Asian economies

Updated 57 min 7 sec ago
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Pakistan says eyeing transit hub role to connect South, Central Asian economies

  • Pakistan Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan attends Kazan trade and investment forum in Russia 
  • Minister says Islamabad wants to increase landlocked Central Asian countries’ access to warm waters for trade 

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said that Islamabad aims to emerge as a key transit hub connecting the economies of South and Central Asia, state-run media reported on Sunday. 

Pakistan has been working to strengthen its position as a key trade and transit hub, connecting landlocked Central Asian states to the global market through its strategic location. Last year saw a surge in visits, investment discussions and economic activity between Pakistan and Central Asian nations as well as Gulf countries. 

Khan was speaking at the “Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum” being held from May 13-18 in the country’s Kazan region. This forum is the main platform for economic cooperation between Russia and Islamic countries as per its website. 

“Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan says Pakistan aims to emerge as a key transit hub, bridging the economies of South Asia and Central Asia,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. 

Addressing the closing session of the Kazan Forum, Khan noted the Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan has already started shipment and cargo services. He added that Islamabad intends to facilitate landlocked Central Asia’s access to warm waters.

Khan spoke about Pakistan’s strategic plans to connect its Karachi, Quetta and Gwadar cities with Central Asia and Europe through road networks. 

“Abdul Aleem Khan welcomed the holding of the Kazan Forum and reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment to playing an active role in regional development,” the report said. 

Pakistan’s recent push to engage Central Asian countries and the Middle East takes place as Islamabad seeks to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that has drained its country of financial resources and weakened its balance of payment position and currency. 

Islamabad has sought to attract international investment in key economic sectors since it narrowly avoided a sovereign default in 2023 before a last-gasp International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout helped it avoid that. 


Pakistan, Iran agree to enhance trade and security cooperation

Updated 18 May 2025
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Pakistan, Iran agree to enhance trade and security cooperation

  • Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discuss bilateral cooperation over phone 
  • Sharif thanks Iranian president for Tehran’s role in defusing South Asia tensions between India and Pakistan 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian this week agreed to enhance cooperation in trade, security and connectivity between the two countries, a statement from Sharif’s office said. 

Pakistan and Iran have had a history of rocky relations despite several commercial pacts, with Islamabad being historically closer to Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Their highest profile agreement is a stalled gas supply deal signed in 2010 to build a pipeline from Iran’s South Fars gas field to Pakistan’s southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh. Pakistan and Iran are also often at odds over instability on their shared porous border, with both countries routinely trading blame for not rooting out militancy.

“They agreed to enhance cooperation in all areas of shared interest, especially trade, connectivity, security and people-to-people contacts,” the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said regarding a phone call between Sharif and Pezeshkian on Saturday. 

It said the Iranian president invited Sharif to undertake an official visit to Tehran, which the Pakistani premier accepted. 

The two officials also discussed Pakistan’s recent conflict with India, which saw at least 70 killed on both sides last week. India and Pakistan attacked each other with drones, missiles, artillery fire and fighter jets before Washington brokered a ceasefire between the two countries on May 10. 

Sharif thanked Pezeshkian for Iran’s “sincere and brotherly diplomatic efforts” to defuse tensions in South Asia. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s “firm resolve” to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs.

“The Prime Minister emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir dispute remained the root cause of instability in South Asia. He called for its just resolution, in accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, as key to enduring peace in the region,” the statement said. 


‘Why did this happen to me?’: Maimed camel in Sindh finds new hope with prosthetic leg

Updated 18 May 2025
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‘Why did this happen to me?’: Maimed camel in Sindh finds new hope with prosthetic leg

  • Cammie the camel lost her leg last year after a landlord attacked her for straying into his field for food
  • A US-based company built a prosthetic leg and sent it to the shelter where she is recovering in Pakistan

KARACHI: A year after a brutal act of violence left her maimed and terrified, Cammie the camel is finally getting a second chance at life.

The young camel had wandered into a field in Sindh’s Sanghar district in search of food when a local landlord, enraged by the intrusion, hacked off her front leg. Her owner, a poor peasant, lacked the means and power to seek justice, even though livestock like Cammie often represent the sole source of livelihood for families in the region.

Despite the owner’s refusal to press charges, the state pursued the case under Pakistan’s animal cruelty laws, registering a case and arresting five people after widespread outrage.

Now, Cammie is in the final stages of her recovery, with a custom-made prosthetic leg ready to help restore her mobility.

“She was a very scared, nervous little child. The kind of child who would start screaming if she saw a new person,” Sheema Khan, manager of the shelter where Cammie has spent the past year, told Arab News.

Cammie is pictured receiving a prosthetic leg in Sindh’s Sanghar district on May 16, 2025. (AN photo)

Animal cruelty is not rare in Pakistan. Last year, another camel in Sindh was found dead with all four legs amputated. Animal rights groups have also highlighted the mistreatment of other creatures, such as bears that are illegally captured, tortured and forced to perform.

While Pakistan has animal welfare legislation, enforcement remains weak, sporadic and hampered by limited resources.

“There was always a question in Cammie’s eyes: ‘Why did this happen to me? I had only gone to find food because I was hungry,’” Khan said, adding that it was heartbreaking to see her in pain whenever she tried to stand.

Cammie is pictured in Sindh’s Sanghar district on May 16, 2025, before getting a prosthetic leg. (AN photo)

The shelter, which has been caring for Cammie throughout her recovery, received early assistance from Pakistani startup Bioniks, which took precise measurements of her limbs to prepare for the prosthetic. These were then sent to the United States, where a specialist at the Virginia-based company Bionic Pets crafted the custom leg.

With the prosthetic in their possession, the shelter team hopes Cammie will soon walk, run and play like other animals around her.

When Cammie first arrived at the shelter, she received antibiotics, pain relief and a clean enclosure. But her recovery extended beyond the physical.

“Whether it’s a human or an animal, wounds and illnesses don’t go away until the mind is healed first,” said Dr. Babar Hussain, the veterinarian overseeing her treatment. “So first, we focused on her mental healing, and only after that did we start her treatment.”

Sheema Khan, manager of the shelter where Cammie has spent the past year, feeds her carrots in Sindh’s Sanghar district on May 16, 2025. (AN photo)

Her wound, which was infected and bleeding, has now fully healed.

“She is completely fit now,” Hussain said. “The entire wound is closed, and new skin has grown over it. There’s nothing to worry about.”

To help Cammie emotionally, the shelter introduced another young female camel, Callie, as her companion.

Cammie (left) and Callie are pictured in Sindh’s Sanghar district on May 16, 2025. (AN photo)

“We brought in Callie so that seeing her would motivate Cammie, encourage her to try to play,” Khan said. “Now Callie and Cammie live together.”

As luck would have it, Callie was an orphan around the same age, in need of a peaceful home. Their bond proved transformational.

“The very night we brought Callie in, Cammie stood up with her. That night, we saw Cammie standing, without any support, alongside her friend Callie.”

Asked when her team would give Cammie her new leg, Khan said: “If it were up to us, we would immediately fit Cammie with the prosthetic leg and tell her: ‘Cammie! Now you can walk on all four legs. Stand up, come on, run!’”

“But now, everything depends on Cammie — on when she’s ready for this,” she added.

As Cammie trains with a harness and prepares mentally for her new limb, the team is hopeful and excited to witness the movement, which Khan says will arrive soon.

“You can walk on all four legs,” she said she would tell Cammie once she starts walking. “You’re free to go wherever you want, to play, to run and jump.”

 

 


Pakistan to send delegation to key world capitals to highlight stance on India standoff

Updated 17 May 2025
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Pakistan to send delegation to key world capitals to highlight stance on India standoff

  • PM Shehbaz Sharif has asked former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to lead Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach
  • The delegation will visit London, Washington, Paris, and Brussels in the coming days to counter India’s narrative

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday tasked former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari with leading Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach to major international capitals to present the country’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India, as hostilities persist despite a US-brokered ceasefire following four days of cross-border strikes.

The move follows an April 22 gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists. India blamed Pakistan for the assault, a claim Islamabad denied while calling for an international investigation.

The incident triggered retaliatory military action by India across the Line of Control in Kashmir and in mainland Pakistan, followed by Islamabad’s reprisal strikes. US President Donald Trump later announced a ceasefire on May 10, with his administration saying the countries had agreed to begin talks at a neutral venue to resolve outstanding disputes.

However, India has pushed back against the understanding, with New Delhi announcing to dispatch a delegation to key world capitals earlier on Saturday. Pakistan’s decision to do the same came later in the day.

“The prime minister has decided to send a diplomatic delegation to expose Indian propaganda and nefarious conspiracies at the international level,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, adding that Sharif had contacted Bhutto-Zardari in this regard.

“The delegation will expose India’s propaganda and efforts to destabilize regional peace in London, Washington, Paris and Brussels,” it added.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad a day earlier, Sharif said India and Pakistan had fought several wars in the past, though these conflicts had not helped them resolve their disputes.

He urged India to begin dialogue to address mutual concerns and ensure peaceful coexistence.

Bhutto-Zardari also confirmed the assignment in a post on social media platform X.

“I was contacted earlier today by Prime Minister @CMShehbaz, who requested that I lead a delegation to present Pakistan’s case for peace on the international stage,” he wrote. “I am honored to accept this responsibility and remain committed to serving Pakistan in these challenging times.”

The delegation aims to lobby officials and diplomats on Pakistan’s narrative.

Besides Bhutto-Zardari, the team includes Musadik Malik, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Sherry Rehman, Hina Rabbani Khar, Faisal Subzwari and former diplomats Tehmina Janjua and Jalil Abbas Jilani.