Balochistan bans night travel on key highways amid surge in militant attacks in Pakistan

Balochistan bans night travel on key highways amid surge in militant attacks in Pakistan
Bystanders look at the wreckage of a bus in Noshki town of Balochistan province on March 17, 2025. (AFP/File)
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Updated 30 March 2025
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Balochistan bans night travel on key highways amid surge in militant attacks in Pakistan

Balochistan bans night travel on key highways amid surge in militant attacks in Pakistan
  • Balochistan bans travel across highways in Zhob, Nushki, Gwadar, Musakhel and Kachhi districts from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm
  • Militant violence, including a train siege, suicide blast and ethnic killings, have increased in Balochistan this month 

QUETTA: The government in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan has banned people from traveling at night on major highways across the province, notifications from multiple deputy commissioners said this week, as it grapples with surging militant attacks.

As per notifications dated Mar. 27 from the deputy commissioners of districts Zhob, Nushki, Gwadar, Musakhel and Kachhi, public and private transport have been banned from traveling across major highways in Balochistan from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 am. 

The ban covers several significant highways, including the Quetta-Taftan highway which connects Pakistan to Iran, the Loralai-Dera Ghazi Khan Road, the Sibi Road, the Coastal Highway, and the Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan Road. 

“As per directives from the Balochistan Home Department and in light of the current situation, from Mar. 27 until further notice, all citizens are informed that they should avoid traveling on the Zhob-DI Khan National Highway from 6 p.m. to 6 am,” a notification from the district’s deputy commissioner said. 

“Passengers and transporters will be stopped at the New Bus Stand.”

The decision has been taken amid a surge in militant attacks in Balochistan, including an alleged suicide blast on Saturday that targeted a protest camp in Mastung. The blast followed a deadly train siege earlier this month that ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.

Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.

A suicide blast in Nushki district this month killed five, including three paramilitary soldiers, in the province. Militants in Balochistan have also frequently targeted laborers and commuters from the eastern Punjab province. 

At least five passengers from Punjab were forcibly offboarded from passenger buses heading to Karachi from Gwadar on Wednesday, after gunmen checked their identity cards and killed them near the southwestern town of Pasni. 


Deadly monsoon rains kill 245 in Pakistan as flood, landslide warnings escalate

Deadly monsoon rains kill 245 in Pakistan as flood, landslide warnings escalate
Updated 19 sec ago
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Deadly monsoon rains kill 245 in Pakistan as flood, landslide warnings escalate

Deadly monsoon rains kill 245 in Pakistan as flood, landslide warnings escalate
  • Monsoon rains have injured more than 600 since late June
  • Pakistan ranks among world’s most climate-vulnerable nations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s disaster agency on Wednesday warned of continued torrential rains, flash floods and landslides in the country’s northern and central regions, as the nationwide death toll from this monsoon season climbed to 245, with over 600 people injured.

The alert follows weeks of heavy rains that have triggered house collapses, urban flooding and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), phenomena linked to rapid glacier melt, with children making up nearly half of all fatalities.

“Heavy rains may generate flash floods in local streams of Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Buner, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swabi, Mardan, Murree, Galliyat, Islamabad and Rawalpindi,” the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in a statement.

“Urban flooding is also likely in low-lying areas of major cities including Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Nowshera and Peshawar.”

The PMD also warned that glacier lake outburst floods remained a growing threat in high-altitude areas, exacerbated by accelerated ice melt driven by global warming. It urged the public to avoid travel to mountainous regions, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and Murree, due to the heightened risk of landslides.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), this monsoon season which began in late June, at least 135 deaths have occurred in Punjab, including 63 children, followed by 59 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24 in Sindh, 16 in Balochistan, six in Islamabad, three in Gilgit-Baltistan, and two in Azad Kashmir.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to accelerate relief operations in flood-hit regions.

Local media reported that search efforts were still underway for a father and daughter whose car was swept away in a flash flood in Islamabad’s upscale Defense Housing Authority (DHA) neighborhood.

Earlier this week, key travel routes such as the Karakoram Highway and Babusar Top were closed due to heavy landslides, blocking access to northern Pakistan.

The monsoon typically delivers 70–80 percent of South Asia’s annual rainfall between June and September. While crucial for agriculture, the seasonal rains also bring destruction in countries like Pakistan where infrastructure is weak, drainage systems are poor and climate resilience remains underfunded.

Pakistan, home to more than 7,000 glaciers, ranks among the most climate-vulnerable countries despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It has already experienced increasingly erratic weather in recent years, including record-breaking heatwaves, droughts, and severe storms.

In 2022, unprecedented monsoon rains combined with glacial melt submerged nearly a third of the country, killing more than 1,700 people and displacing over 8 million. The disaster inflicted $30 billion in damages and prompted global calls for climate reparations.

In May this year, at least 32 more people were killed during sudden rainfall and hailstorm incidents.


Pakistan tax-to-GDP ratio up 1.5 percentage points as PM orders stricter oversight of informal economy

Pakistan tax-to-GDP ratio up 1.5 percentage points as PM orders stricter oversight of informal economy
Updated 25 min 12 sec ago
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Pakistan tax-to-GDP ratio up 1.5 percentage points as PM orders stricter oversight of informal economy

Pakistan tax-to-GDP ratio up 1.5 percentage points as PM orders stricter oversight of informal economy
  • Officials say the tax-to-GDP ratio reached 10.6 percent by the end of June 2025, up from 9.1 percent the previous year
  • PM Sharif instructs FBR to fast-track restructuring of its digital wing, consult stakeholders like businesses

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio rose by 1.5 percentage points in fiscal year 2024–25 compared to the previous year, officials said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for stronger enforcement measures to bring the country’s vast informal economy into the tax net.

The tax-to-GDP ratio reached 10.6 percent by the end of June 2025, up from 9.1 percent the previous year, according to a briefing at a review meeting chaired by the prime minister in Islamabad.

The government aims to continue raising the ratio under a wider economic and structural reform efforts backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which includes digitization of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the country’s tax collection agency, to improve enforcement and expand the tax base.

“Digitization at the FBR has helped meet targets, but steps must now be taken to ensure the system becomes sustainable,” the prime minister was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office. “Enforcement must be strengthened further to curb the informal economy.”

The meeting was told that total tax revenue collected in FY2024–25 crossed Rs20.4 trillion ($71.4 billion), while the number of income tax return filers jumped from 4.5 million in 2024 to over 7.2 million by June 2025.

Officials credited the increase to enhanced enforcement, including reforms in the retail sector, integration of point-of-sale systems and an expanded digital footprint.

They said tax revenue from the retail sector alone rose by Rs455 billion ($1.6 billion) compared to the previous year.

The prime minister instructed FBR to fast-track the restructuring of its digital wing, set deadlines for implementation and consult with all stakeholders, including taxpayers and the business community, to ensure the reform process remains inclusive.

He also praised FBR officials and directed them to present actionable targets for the next phase of reforms within a week.

 


Balochistan says provincial action plan against separatists ready amid spike in violence

Balochistan says provincial action plan against separatists ready amid spike in violence
Updated 23 July 2025
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Balochistan says provincial action plan against separatists ready amid spike in violence

Balochistan says provincial action plan against separatists ready amid spike in violence
  • Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti says ethnic insurgent groups are dragging the Baloch nation ‘into a futile war’
  • He maintains security forces are operating in ‘grey zones’ where it is hard to distinguish between friend and foes

ISLAMABAD: Amid a renewed wave of separatist violence in Balochistan, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said Wednesday a provincial action plan for peace had been formulated, as he warned of the evolving and asymmetric nature of the security threat facing the province.

The statement came during the 16th National Workshop on Balochistan in Quetta, where Bugti addressed senior civil and military participants. His remarks followed a recent spike in attacks by ethnic Baloch insurgents, who have escalated their decades-long campaign by launching coordinated strikes on security forces, government officials and non-local workers.

The unrest continues despite repeated crackdowns and military operations, complicating stability efforts in a province critical to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“A provincial action plan for peace in Balochistan has been formed,” Bugti was quoted in an official statement circulated after the event. “Our response mechanisms have been strengthened, and terrorists cannot hold even an inch of ground permanently.”

While acknowledging that the province has long suffered from misgovernance and uneven development, Bugti rejected that unemployment and underdevelopment alone were driving unrest.

“Those who fight the state do so not because of jobs or education but because they dream of a separate state based on Baloch identity,” he continued. “This is an intelligence-driven drone war against Pakistan.”

He added that the insurgents were attempting to push the Baloch people into an unwinnable conflict.

“The Baloch nation is being dragged into a futile war,” he said, warning that acts of violence, whether in the name of nationalism or religion, would be treated the same. 

“We will embrace those disillusioned with the state and address their grievances, but those who kill innocents and want to break the country cannot be engaged outside the constitution,” he added.

The chief minister described the provincial security landscape as increasingly opaque, saying Pakistani forces were operating in “grey zones” where it was difficult “to distinguish between friend and foe.”

On the issue of enforced disappearances, a deeply contentious point in Balochistan’s political discourse, Bugti said that comprehensive legislation had already been passed.

Families of missing persons and human rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.

Pakistani authorities have frequently rejected these claims, calling them “baseless allegations.”

Reiterating that the fight against separatist violence is not just the state’s burden but “a war that concerns every Pakistani,” Bugti said the state would remain firm against any attempt to destabilize the province.


Pakistani officials push for unified climate-health strategy under comprehensive national framework

Pakistani officials push for unified climate-health strategy under comprehensive national framework
Updated 23 July 2025
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Pakistani officials push for unified climate-health strategy under comprehensive national framework

Pakistani officials push for unified climate-health strategy under comprehensive national framework
  • Stakeholders advocate One Health Pakistan initiative, linking human, animal and environmental health
  • The meeting in Islamabad says pollution, biodiversity loss are accelerating zoonotic disease outbreaks

ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistani officials on Tuesday urged stronger cross-sector coordination to address the country’s rising climate-linked health risks, as stakeholders gathered in Islamabad to reaffirm support for the One Health Pakistan initiative, a national framework linking human, animal and environmental health.

The meeting was held at COMSTECH and co-hosted by the Health Services Academy and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination. It brought together officials from the health, environment and development sectors, along with representatives from the World Health Organization, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and World Wide Fund for Nature.

The session focused on building a climate-resilient health workforce and integrated response systems for pandemic preparedness.

“We must reaffirm our collective commitment to the One Health Pakistan initiative,” said Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr. Nelson Azeem. “The challenges we face are interlinked, and so must be our response.”

Other speakers warned that unchecked pollution, biodiversity loss and weak institutional coordination were accelerating zoonotic disease outbreaks and undermining early warning systems.

Participants proposed the creation of dedicated One Health Units within provincial and federal departments to streamline disease surveillance and climate-health response planning, potentially funded through Annual Development Plans, Public Sector Development Program or international pandemic preparedness programs.

Those present also agreed to turn dialogue into concrete action by strengthening inter-agency coordination, investing in integrated surveillance systems and scaling up climate-resilient health planning nationwide.


US says Pakistan to attend bilateral talks in Washington but gives no details

US says Pakistan to attend bilateral talks in Washington but gives no details
Updated 23 July 2025
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US says Pakistan to attend bilateral talks in Washington but gives no details

US says Pakistan to attend bilateral talks in Washington but gives no details
  • Announcement comes as political channels have reactivated between the two sides in recent months
  • Pakistan’s finance chief also hinted this week at ‘leadership-level’ announcements by the two countries

ISLAMABAD: A senior US State Department official said Tuesday Pakistan will participate in a bilateral meeting in Washington, but declined to say whether the United States would play any role in mediating longstanding tensions between Pakistan and India, particularly over Kashmir.

The comment came in response to a question at a news briefing about whether Washington’s push for direct communication between India and Pakistan — such as on the Indus Waters Treaty — would also apply to more contentious issues like Kashmir.

Pakistan and India had a four-day military standoff in May that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire. Washington later announced that both countries had agreed to meet at a neutral venue to discuss outstanding issues.

Pakistan welcomed the proposal, but India, which has long opposed third-party involvement, rejected it.

“We have Pakistan who is going to be here for a bilat, and I’ll be participating in that,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during the briefing, without elaborating on the schedule or the agenda. “I’m looking forward to that as well.”

Bruce did not directly answer the question on Kashmir, instead offering a general comment about addressing difficult issues.

The briefing came weeks after a rare one-on-one lunch hosted by former President Donald Trump for Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House on June 18. No civilian Pakistani officials were present at the meeting.

Trump later credited both Munir and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “acting responsibly” and preventing a potential regional catastrophe.

India has denied any US role in the ceasefire, calling it a bilateral decision between New Delhi and Islamabad, though Trump has continued to claim credit for stopping the conflict.

On Tuesday, he reiterated separately that he “stopped the recent war” between the two countries and claimed five planes were shot down during the fighting.

While political channels between Washington and Islamabad have reactivated in recent weeks, the two sides are also engaged in trade talks after Trump imposed 29 percent “reciprocal tariffs” on Pakistan in April.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is currently in Washington, said both countries are working to shift their relationship from one focused on trade to one anchored in long-term investment.

Speaking after meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Aurangzeb said the two sides had identified priority sectors including minerals, mining, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency regulation.

He also hinted at forthcoming “leadership-level” announcements in the coming days.