PESHAWAR: At least 18 passengers were killed on Monday in two separate road accidents in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab and southern Sindh provinces, authorities said.
Ten people were killed and seven others wounded when a passenger bus headed toward Pakistan’s capital overturned and crashed in Fateh Jang, according to the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP).
The incident took place on the motorway when the bus, en route from Bahawalpur to Islamabad, overturned due to the driver’s negligence. The motorway police immediately reached the site of the accident.
“All bodies and the injured have been shifted to DHQ Fateh Jang [hospital],” the NHMP said in a statement.
Eight other people died when a passenger van collided with a truck on a highway in Naushahro Feroze district in Sindh, AP news agency reported.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads, particularly in rural and mountainous areas, are in poor condition.
Last month, 18 people were killed when a bus carrying wedding guests fell into the Indus River in northern Pakistan.
At least 18 passengers killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan
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At least 18 passengers killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan
- Authorities blamed both accidents in Punjab, Sindh provinces on drivers’ negligence
- Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed
Pakistan university, COMSTECH ink MoU for scholarships of Palestinian students
- Abbottabad University of Science and Technology will offer 40 scholarships to Palestinian students in various undergraduate programs
- Program aims to support Palestinian students by covering their tuition and hostel fees, and provide them stipends, says state media
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani university has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) to provide scholarships to Palestinian students, state media reported on Monday.
The initiative is part of the “COMSTECH Scholarships and Research Fellowships for Palestinian Nationals” program, which aims to support Palestinian students by covering their tuition and hostel fees. The program also provides them monthly stipends, enabling Palestinian students to pursue higher education in Pakistan.
“The OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) and Abbottabad University of Science and Technology (AUST) on Sunday signed a MoU to offer scholarships to Palestinian students for the academic year 2025-2026,” the APP said.
As per the MoU, the Pakistani university would provide tuition to Palestinian students through both online and on-campus learning modes, APP said.
“The UST Abbottabad will offer 40 scholarships in various undergraduate programs including Doctor of Physiotherapy, Doctor of Pharmacy, BS Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), BS Microbiology, BS Food Sciences, BS Computer Science and BS Software Engineering,” the report said.
Last year, Pakistan’s University of Lahore offered 5,000 free scholarships, fellowships and short training programs for Palestinian students in collaboration with COMSTECH.
Pakistan has actively tried to help Palestinian students secure higher education in the country after Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 52,000 Palestinians since Oct, 7, 2023, in the densely populated enclave.
Over 300 Palestinian students were enrolled in Pakistani universities in 2024 while more than 50,000 Palestinian nationals have graduated from educational institutions in Pakistan over the years.
Seven killed in blast at pro-government peace committee’s offices in northwestern Pakistan
- No group has claimed responsibility for blast but suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistani Taliban militants
- Such peace committees often comprise local tribal elders who publicly oppose Pakistani Taliban group
PESHAWAR: Seven people were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when a blast targeted the offices of a pro-government peace committee in Pakistan’s northwest, police said, as rescue teams attempted to reach those trapped under the rubble.
The blast took place in Wana, a city in South Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, and hit the offices of a government-backed peace committee on Monday afternoon, killing seven and injuring at least 16, South Waziristan police spokesperson Habib Islam told Arab News.
Such committees often comprise local tribal leaders who publicly oppose the Pakistani Taliban militants, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP.
“Details into the casualties are still coming because two offices of the peace committee commander Saifur Rehman collapsed due to the intensity of the blast,” Islam told Arab News. “A number of people are trapped under the rubble.”
He said it was as yet unclear if this was a suicide attack or the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device.
Tribal elder Almir Khan Wazir said two commanders of the peace committee, Rehman and Tehsil Wazir, were in critical condition.
“They were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in critical condition,” Wazir said.
The blast took place as Pakistan’s military said 71 militants had been killed in a number of armed operations in the nearby North Waziristan district in the last three days.
Pakistan blames the Taliban government in Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to TTP militants, threatening cross-border action unless Kabul withdraws its support for militant groups. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.
Pakistan army says 71 militants killed in three days of operations in northwest
- The 71 deaths reported are an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against militancy along its border with Afghanistan
- Latest operations highlight the challenges Pakistani forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday 71 militants had been killed in three days of armed operations in the country’s northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan where the military has been battling a surge in militancy.
On Sunday, the army said it had killed 54 militants trying to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, highlighting the challenges its forces face on multiple fronts as tensions with India also rise rapidly.
In a fresh statement on Monday, the army said it had carried out a “sanitization operation” in the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the night of Apr. 27-28 following Sunday’s campaigns.
“During the conduct of the operation, seventeen more khwarij [militants] who were operating on behest of their foreign masters were hunted down and successfully neutralized,” the army said in a statement.
“The number of khwarij killed in three days operation has risen to seventy one.”
The 71 deaths reported are an usually high number in Pakistan’s battle against militancy and instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took over Kabul.
The banned group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has intensified attacks on Pakistani security forces, straining ties between Pakistan’s leaders and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring and supporting TTP fighters, an allegation they deny.
Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province. The possibility of conventional skirmishes with nuclear-armed neighbor India to the east have also risen since last week when 26 tourists were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi has blamed Islamabad, which has denied involvement.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both the nuclear states, and has been the site of multiple wars, insurgencies and diplomatic standoffs.
India bans Pakistani channels in social media crackdown
- Banned platforms include YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Raftar and Geo News
- India has accused Pakistan of being involved in attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 which Islamabad denies
NEW DELHI: India launched a sweeping crackdown on social media on Monday, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content following an attack in Kashmir.
The banned platforms include the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News and Suno News.
The sites were blocked in India on Monday, with a message reading it was due to an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”
The Press Trust of India news agency, which listed 16 channels, cited a government statement saying they were blocked for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India.”
The ban follows the deadly April 22 shooting that targeted tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six men were killed in the attack, the worst on civilians in the contested region for a quarter of a century.
India has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” but Islamabad has denied any role in the attack.
The information ministry also issued an advisory notice on Saturday calling on journalists and social media users to “exercise utmost responsibility” while reporting on matters “concerning defense and other security related operations.”
The advisory note, which cited previous cases of conflict with Pakistan including fighting in 1999 at Kargil, warned that “premature disclosure of sensitive information may inadvertently assist hostile elements and endanger operational effectiveness.”
Indian social media accounts have also been awash with comments on the killings at Pahalgam, with hashtags including #WarWithPakistan and #FinishPakistan trending on social media platform X.
Pakistan invites Turkmenistan’s energy companies to set up operations amid investment push
- Islamabad is actively seeking energy cooperation with Turkmenistan through TAPI gas pipeline project
- Pakistan faces energy problems due to rising demand, depleting resources and poor management
ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has invited Turkmenistan’s energy companies to set up operations in Pakistan, state media reported on Monday, as Islamabad seeks foreign investment to boost the country’s economy and resolve its energy issues.
Energy-starved Pakistan is actively pursuing energy cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly through the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project. This initiative aims to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh field to Pakistan, passing through Afghanistan and extending to India as well.
Pakistan has attempted to strengthen cooperation in energy, tourism, mines and minerals as well as other priority sectors in recent months in its bid to attract international investment. It seeks to establish itself as a trade and transit hub that connects landlocked Central Asian states to the global economy.
“Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has invited energy companies of Turkmenistan to establish operations in Pakistan,” Radio Pakistan said in a report, adding that the minister was speaking at an event in Ashgabat.
Iqbal said the TAPI gas pipeline project would contribute to regional energy security and support Pakistan’s green energy transition, deeming it essential to cope with climate change impacts.
The TAPI project was envisaged in the early 1990s and officially agreed upon in December 2010. It has primarily been delayed due to security concerns, geopolitical tensions, funding challenges and bureaucratic hurdles.
Pakistan faces significant gas and energy problems that have deepened over the years due to a combination of rising demand, depleting domestic resources and poor management.
The country’s natural gas reserves are rapidly declining, while efforts to discover new fields have lagged behind.
Pakistan has increasingly relied on imported liquefied natural gas which strains its foreign exchange reserves and exposes it to global price fluctuations.
Frequent power shortages known as load-shedding disrupt daily life and hurt economic productivity. Outdated infrastructure, inefficiencies in the energy sector, circular debt and policy inconsistencies have made it difficult to develop long-term sustainable solutions.
