ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought clarification from the Pakistani government about a possible military trial of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan in connection with violent protests over his arrest last year that targeted government and military installations.
Protesters linked to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party attacked and damaged government and military buildings on May 9, 2023, after his brief arrest that day in a land graft case. Hundreds of PTI followers and leaders were arrested following the riots and many continue to remain behind bars as they await trial. The military has also initiated trials of at least 103 people accused of involvement in the violence.
Last month, the army arrested retired general Faiz Hameed, former head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, who was widely believed to be close to Khan when he was PM from 2018-2022. The military said “multiple instances” of violation of the Pakistan Army Act post-retirement had been found against Hameed, in what was widely seen as a veiled reference to his continued support to Khan and his party, including in planning the May 2023 riots.
The developments raised fears within Khan supporters of his possible trial by a military court as Defense Minister Khawaja Asif even referred to Hameed as a “strategic adviser” to the PTI during the violence, prompting Khan to file a petition in the IHC against his possible military trial.
“The court has ordered the additional attorney general of Pakistan to clear the ambiguity by Monday, Sept 16 or the court will issue an interim order,” the PTI said in a statement sent to reporters. “The government, so far, has failed to maintain if the possible military trial of a former prime minister is still on the cards or if it was just a ploy to buy time for more gimmicks.”
In his petition, Khan has referred to Hameed’s arrest and to widespread media reports and speculation that the former spy chief would “be made an approver against the petitioner [Khan] in cases pertaining to May 9 and 10, 2023 and the petitioner will be transferred to military custody on this basis.”
The ex-premier also referred to recent statements by government officials that he should be tried in a military court and that the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 were applicable to him.
Khan and the PTI say the May 2023 riots have been used as a ruse by political rivals and the military to crack down on the party, which is arguably the most popular in Pakistan. Khan has also been indicted under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law in connection with the violence. A section of Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism act prescribes the death penalty as maximum punishment. Khan has denied the charges under the anti-terrorism law, saying he was in detention when the violence took place.
Khan has been in jail since August 2023 on a slew of charges that he says are “politically motivated” to keep him out of power and suppress the popularity of the PTI. Authorities deny the allegations.
Khan was convicted in four cases since he was first taken into custody, all of which have been either suspended or overturned by the courts. He, however, remains in jail on new charges relating to the illegal sale of gifts from a state repository while he was the prime minister.
Court seeks government clarification on Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s possible military trial
https://arab.news/j4ucq
Court seeks government clarification on Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s possible military trial
- Imran Khan fears arrested former spy chief will be made an approver in May 2023 riots cases and he will be transferred to military custody
- The former premier, who is in jail since August 2023, has been indicted under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law in connection with last year’s violence
Over 36 million children vaccinated as Pakistan anti-polio campaign enters fourth day
- Health officials have confirmed 10 polio cases in Pakistan his year
- Pakistan, Afghanistan are only countries where polio remains endemic
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has vaccinated approximately 36.4 million children as the third nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year entered its fourth day today, Thursday, the country’s polio program said.
Around 400,000 frontline workers, including 225,000 women vaccinators, are driving the campaign launched on Monday to vaccinate 45 million children under the age of five. The drive will conclude on June 1.
Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, along with the completion of the routine immunization schedule for all children, are essential to ensure strong immunity against the disease.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where polio remains endemic. Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases so far this year, compared to 74 cases in 2024.
“In the first three days, 81 percent of (45 million) children across the country have been vaccinated,” the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.
“85 percent in Punjab, 68 percent in Sindh, 86 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 74 percent of children in Balochistan have been vaccinated.”
The report said 63 percent of children were administered polio drops in the federal capital, Islamabad, 93 percent in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 91 percent in Gilgit-Baltistan.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 polio cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been repeatedly undermined by vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim that immunization is a foreign plot to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage.
Militant groups have also frequently targeted polio vaccination teams and the security personnel assigned to protect them, often resulting in deadly attacks.
A Pakistani police officer was killed earlier this week when gunmen opened fire on a team of health workers carrying out a polio vaccination drive in the volatile Balochistan province on the second day of a door-to-door campaign.
Pakistan army launches teachers’ awareness program on online ‘anti-state’ propaganda
- 1,950 teachers from various regions of the country participate in Hilal Talks 2025 program run by army’s media wing
- After latest military combat, social media citizens on both sides are vying to control narrative by peddling disinformation
ISLAMABAD: In a first, the Pakistan army’s media wing has launched the Hilal Talks 2025 program to raise awareness among Pakistani teachers about the “tactics and nefarious agendas of anti-state elements” on social media, Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday.
While India and Pakistan announced a ceasefire after coming close to an all-out conflict earlier this month, social media citizens on both sides are vying to control public perceptions by peddling disinformation.
Platforms such as Facebook and X are still awash with misrepresented footage of the attacks that killed at least 70 people and sent thousands fleeing from their shared de facto Line of Control (LoC) border.
“Hilal Talks 2025 program has been launched under the auspices of ISPR,” Radio Pakistan reported, saying 1,950 teachers from various regions of the country were participating in the program run by the army’s media wing.
“It is aimed at raising awareness about the tactics and nefarious agendas of anti-state elements on social media.”
The report said teachers “got the opportunity to understand the structure, role and working mechanism of Pakistan Army more closely.”
Indian and Pakistani media outlets have both amplified misinformation, including false or unverifiable claims of military victories that experts say have exacerbated tensions and contributed to a flood of hate speech.
Disinformation peaked when India launched deadly air strikes on May 7 targeting “terrorist camps” in Pakistan, two weeks after a deadly attack on the Indian-administered side of disputed Kashmir.
New Delhi blames Islamabad for backing the April 22 attack near the tourist town of Pahalgam, which killed 26 people — almost all of them Hindu men. Pakistan denies the claim.
After the first round of Indian air strikes, the Pakistani military shared footage that had previously circulated in reports about a 2023 Israeli air strike in Gaza. The clip quickly appeared on television and social media but was later retracted by numerous media outlets, including AFP.
AI-generated imagery has also muddied the waters, including a video that purportedly shows a Pakistan Army general saying the country lost two of its aircraft. AFP fact-checkers found the clip was altered from a 2024 press conference.
Both India and Pakistan have taken advantage of the information vacuum to raise alarm bells and promote their own claims and counter-claims.
Pakistan appears to have lifted a more than one-year-old ban on X the same day of the Indian strikes.
Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) on May 8 issued an alert about “increased cyberattacks and misinformation via emails, social media, QR codes, and messaging apps.”
Both Pakistan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Karachi Port Trust later said their X accounts had been hacked.
A post from the latter account said the port — one of South Asia’s busiest — was attacked by the Indian military. The page was later restored and the port authority said no attack had taken place.
India, meanwhile, has executed a sweeping crackdown targeting the social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities and media organizations.
The government ordered X to block more than 8,000 accounts and banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content, including news outlets.
Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check, a government-run website, has also refuted more than 60 claims about the ongoing crisis, many having to do with supposed Pakistani military victories.
The avalanche of disinformation online has also been accompanied by a spike in hate speech offline.
With inputs from AFP
PM says Azerbaijan has reaffirmed commitment to invest $2 billion in Pakistan
- Sharif made the remarks as he left the city of Lachin in Azerbaijan and flew onwards to Tajikistan
- Tajikistan is the last stop in a five-day regional diplomacy tour that also took Sharif to Turkiye and Iran
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday Azerbaijan had reaffirmed its commitment to invest $2 billion in Pakistan and would increase cooperation in spheres such as commerce, defense, education and health.
Sharif made the remarks as he left the city of Lachin in Azerbaijan on Wednesday evening and flew onwards to Tajikistan, the last stop in a five-day regional diplomacy tour that also took him to Turkiye and Iran.
“We have discussed joint cooperation in the fields of trade, commerce, investments,” Sharif said after meeting President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.
“He again reiterated his commitment to invest $2 billion in Pakistan and … have more coordination in commerce, defense production, education and health and many other areas.”
On Wednesday, Sharif, Aliyev and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had met for a trilateral summit in Lachin and pledged to work together for the goal of economic development and regional prosperity and to turn their brotherhood into a “strategic partnership.”
Turkiye is a longtime ally of Pakistan, while Baku and Islamabad have moved closer in recent years with a flurry of visits and bilateral agreements.
Erdogan and Aliyev had also openly pledged support for Pakistan and expressed solidarity during its latest military confrontation with archrival India earlier this month.
“Political, valid economic, energy, mutual investment, transportation, defense, agriculture, information, technology, and other spheres are the ones where there are ample opportunities to advance cooperation through joint projects,” Aliyev said as he addressed Wednesday’s summit, adding that Azerbaijan had invested over $20 billion in the Turkish economy and was prepared to invest $2 billion into Pakistan’s.
He also said Azerbaijan envisaged closer cooperation with Pakistan’s defense industry.
“We do believe there is great potential and it’s of great importance. Joint military exercises and projects in the defense industry amplify the potential of our armed forces or defense cooperation ensures peace and stability across a vast geography,” Aliyev said.
There have been widespread reports in recent weeks that Azerbaijan may have dramatically increased its procurement from Pakistan of JF-17 “Thunder” light multirole fighter aircraft from an initial 16 units to a staggering 40, in a deal reportedly valued at $4.2 billion.
The aircraft in question are said to be the latest and most advanced iteration of the JF-17 family— Block III— a 4.5-generation fighter co-developed by Pakistan and China and hailed as one of the most cost-effective combat aircraft in the current global market.
International UN Peacekeepers Day: Pakistan remembers 181 of its own lost in line of duty
- Over 235,000 Pakistani peacekeepers have served in 48 UN missions worldwide in seven-decade history of UN peacekeeping
- May 29 marks creation of UN Truce Supervision Organization in 1948 to monitor ceasefire after 1948 Arab-Israeli War
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan joined the international community in celebrating the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers today, Thursday, the prime minister’s office said in a message, paying tribute to 181 Pakistanis who had been killed in the line of duty.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, May 29, is “an international day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.”
“In the seven-decade history of UN peacekeeping missions, more than 235,000 Pakistani peacekeepers have rendered distinguished service in 48 UN missions around the world,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said in a message.
“181 Pakistani peacekeepers have made the eternal sacrifice of their lives in achieving international peace and security.”
Sharif said the international day was an opportune occasion to review the many challenges facing UN peacekeeping, such as increasingly unilateral policies, financial sanctions, growing threats to the safety and security of UN peacekeepers, targeting of UN peacekeeping operations based on disinformation, and the destabilizing effects of new and emerging technologies.
In an effort to address these challenges, Pakistan, along with the Republic of Korea, co-hosted the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Islamabad last month with the theme, “Towards a Safer and More Effective Peace: Using Technology and an Integrated Approach”.
Pakistan also hosts the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), one of the oldest UN peacekeeping missions, tasked with monitoring the ceasefire along the Line of Control in the UN-recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The date, May 29, for the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, marks the anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in 1948 to monitor the ceasefire after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which was the first ever UN peacekeeping mission.
Pakistan’s crypto and blockchain chief unveils country’s first strategic bitcoin reserve
- Bilal bin Saqib announced establishment of national Bitcoin wallet holding digital assets already in state custody
- Strategic bitcoin reserve is a reserve asset, funded by US Treasury’s forfeited bitcoin, announced by Trump in March 2025
ISLAMABAD: Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan’s minister for crypto and blockchain and the CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), unveiled the country’s first government-led strategic bitcoin reserve at Bitcoin Vegas 2025, his office said on Thursday.
The strategic bitcoin reserve is a reserve asset, funded by the United States Treasury’s forfeited bitcoin, announced by President Donald Trump in March 2025. The reserve will be capitalized with bitcoin already owned by the federal government. The United States is the largest known state holder of bitcoin in the world, estimated to hold about 200,000 BTC, as of March 2025.
At Bitcoin 2025, the biggest bitcoin conference in the United States which is underway in Las Vegas, Saqib unveiled “the country’s first government-led Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and with it, a radically new vision of Pakistan on the global map,” his office said in a statement.
“Bilal announced the establishment of a national Bitcoin wallet, holding digital assets already in state custody — not for sale or speculation, but as a sovereign reserve signaling long-term belief in decentralized finance.”
Pakistan set up the PCC in March, with Saqib, 34, as the CEO, to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment. Last month, Pakistan introduced its first-ever policy framework, created by a special government group under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) authority, to set rules for how digital money like cryptocurrencies and the companies that deal in it should operate in Pakistan. The policy has been formulated to align with compliance and financial integrity guidelines of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Earlier this month, the government also approved setting up the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA), a specialized regulatory body to oversee blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Speaking during his keynote at Bitcoin 2025, the PCC CEO highlighted that Pakistan had over 40 million crypto wallets, a median age of 23, and one of the largest and most active freelancer economies in the world.
“Saqib revealed that the government of Pakistan has allocated 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity in Phase 1 for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers, opening doors to sovereign miners, tech firms, and clean energy partners around the world,” the statement said.
Saqib is also leading the creation of the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) “to empower builders, protect investors, and formalize digital finance frameworks for the future.”
“This wasn’t just a policy moment, it was a rebranding of a nation,” Saqib said at Bitcoin 2025, which featured speakers including White House officials, US lawmakers and crypto industry executives. This year’s keynote speaker was US Vice President JD Vance.
Digital assets have enjoyed a resurgence under President Trump, who courted cash from the crypto industry on the campaign trail by pledging to be a “crypto president.” In his first week in office, Trump ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group to propose digital asset regulations. In March, he hosted a group of crypto executives at the White House.
Congress is considering legislation to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar. The crypto industry has lobbied lawmakers to pass legislation creating new rules for digital assets and spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year’s elections.
