Peshawar, the city of flowers, becomes epicenter of violence

Plain-cloth policemen and labourers remove debris beside a damaged mosque following January's 30 suicide blast inside the police headquarters in Peshawar, Pakistan, on February 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 01 February 2023
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Peshawar, the city of flowers, becomes epicenter of violence

  • On Monday a suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a mosque inside the city’s main police compound, killing at least 100 people
  • It was in Peshawar that bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda in the late 1980s, joining forces with veteran Egyptian militant Ayman Al-Zawahri

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Peshawar was once known as “the city of flowers,” surrounded by orchards of pear, quince and pomegranate trees. It was a trading city, situated at the gates of a key mountain valley connecting South and Central Asia.

But for the past four decades, it has borne the brunt of rising militancy in the region, fueled by the conflicts in neighboring Afghanistan and the geopolitical games of great powers.

On Tuesday, the city with a population of about 2 million was reeling after one of Pakistan’s most devastating militant attacks in years. A day earlier, a suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a mosque inside the city’s main police compound, killing at least 100 people and wounding at least 225, mostly police.

Analysts say the carnage is the legacy of decades of flawed policies by Pakistan and the United States.

“What you sow, so shall you reap,” said Abdullah Khan, a senior security analyst.

Peshawar was a peaceful place, he said, until the early 1980s when Pakistan’s then-dictator Ziaul Haq decided to become part of Washington’s cold war with Moscow, joining the fight against the 1979 Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.

Peshawar — less than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Afghan border — became the center where the American CIA and Pakistani military helped train, arm and fund the Afghan mujahedeen fighting the Soviets. The city was flooded by weapons and fighters, many of them hard-line Islamic militants, as well as with hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.

Arab militants were also drawn there by the fight against the Soviets, including the scion of a wealthy Saudi family, Osama bin Laden. It was in Peshawar that bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda in the late 1980s, joining forces with veteran Egyptian militant Ayman Al-Zawahri.

The Soviets finally withdrew in defeat from Afghanistan in 1989. But the legacy of militancy and armed resistance that the US and Pakistan fueled against them remained.

“After the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1980s, Americans abandoned mujahedeen, Americans even abandoned us, and since then we are paying a price for it,” said Mahmood Shah, a former Pakistani army brigadier and a senior security analyst.

The mujahedeen plunged Afghanistan into civil war in a bloody fight for power. Meanwhile, in Peshawar and another Pakistani city, Quetta, the Afghan Taliban began to organize, with backing from the Pakistani government. Eventually, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, ruling until they were ousted by the 2001 American-led invasion following Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks in the US

During the nearly 20-year US war against the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, militant groups blossomed in the tribal regions of Pakistan along the border and around Peshawar. Like the Taliban, they found root among the ethnic Pashtuns who make up a majority in the region and in the city.

Some groups were encouraged by Pakistani intelligence agencies. But others turned their guns against the government, angered by heavy security crackdowns and by frequent US airstrikes in the border region targeting Al-Qaeda and other militants.

Chief among the anti-government groups was the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e Taliban-Pakistan, or TTP. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, it waged a brutal campaign of violence around the country.

Peshawar was scene of one of the bloodiest TTP attacks in 2014, on an army-run public school that killed nearly 150 people, most of them schoolboys.

Peshawar’s location has for centuries made it a key juncture between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. One of the oldest cities in Asia, it stands at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, the main route between the two regions. That was a source of its prosperity in trade and put it on the path of armies going both directions, from Moghul emperors to British imperialists.

A heavy military offensive largely put down the TTP for several years and the government and the militants eventually reached an uneasy truce. Peshawar came under heavy security control, with checkpoints dotting the main roads, and a heavy presence of police and paramilitary troops.

TTP attacks, however, have grown once more since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021 amid the US and NATO withdrawal from that country. The Pakistani Taliban are distinct from but allied to the Afghan group, and Pakistani officials regularly accuse the Afghan Taliban of giving the TTP free rein to operate from Afghan territory.

Ahead of Monday’s suicide bombing, Peshawar had seen increasing small-scale attacks targeting police. In another spillover from Afghanistan’s conflict, the regional affiliate of the Daesh group attacked Peshawar’s main Shiite mosque in March 2022, killing more than 60 people.

Shah, the former officer, warned that more TTP attacks could follow and said that Pakistan needs to engage the Afghan Taliban and pressure them to either evict the TTP or ensure it doesn’t launch attacks from Afghan territory.

“If we are to have peace in Pakistan, we should talk to TTP from the position of strength with help from the Afghan Taliban,” he said. “This is the best and viable solution to avoid more violence.”


Pakistan’s deputy PM discusses trans-Afghan railway with Uzbek foreign minister

Updated 31 May 2025
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Pakistan’s deputy PM discusses trans-Afghan railway with Uzbek foreign minister

  • Envisioned in 2021, the project is expected to improve trade relations among all three countries
  • Ishaq Dar discusses the modalities for early finalization of the project’s framework agreement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held a phone call with his Uzbek counterpart on Saturday to discuss steps toward advancing the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) railway project, including the framework agreement and its signing mechanism, said the foreign office.

The UAP railway is a trilateral initiative aimed at enhancing regional connectivity by linking Central Asia with Pakistan’s southern ports of Gwadar and Karachi through Afghanistan.

Envisioned in 2021, the project is expected to improve trade access for landlocked countries and bolster economic integration in the region.

“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, held a telephone conversation today with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister, Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich @FM_Saidov,” the foreign office said in a social media post on X.

“They discussed the modalities for early finalization of the framework agreement for the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Line Project, including details of its signing ceremony in consultation with leadership of Afghanistan,” it added.

The conversation came a day after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to upgrade diplomatic relations, with Islamabad announcing it would elevate its chargé d’affaires in Kabul to ambassadorial rank. Kabul said it would reciprocate the move.

Ties between the two countries have been tense in recent years, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan’s Taliban administration of harboring militants involved in cross-border attacks, leading to a deportation drive against undocumented Afghan nationals.

The Taliban have denied facilitating any violence inside Pakistan and criticized the deportations.

Efforts to ease tensions between the two neighboring countries also gained momentum in recent months. During a trilateral meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing, Pakistan and Afghanistan announced plans to exchange ambassadors.

Afghan authorities have also said Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to visit Pakistan “in the coming days.”

The UAP railway, first agreed in February 2021, envisions a 573-kilometer track linking Tashkent to Peshawar via Kabul, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion.

The project faces significant logistical challenges, including security concerns in Afghanistan and the need to reconcile different railway gauges across the three countries.

However, Pakistan has already sent agricultural consignments to Uzbekistan last year. 

Implementation of the UAP railway is expected to further deepen trade ties among the three nations.


Pakistan concludes pre-Hajj flight operation with over 115,000 pilgrims flown to Saudi Arabia

Updated 31 May 2025
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Pakistan concludes pre-Hajj flight operation with over 115,000 pilgrims flown to Saudi Arabia

  • The country launches special Hajj flight operation each year to assist pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia
  • The operation involves multiple airlines and serves pilgrims under both government and private schemes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has successfully concluded its 33-day pre-Hajj flight operation, with more than 115,000 pilgrims transported to Saudi Arabia ahead of this year’s pilgrimage, the state media reported on Saturday.

The country arranges special Hajj flights annually to facilitate thousands of Pakistani Muslims traveling to the Kingdom for the pilgrimage. The operation involves both government and private schemes, as well as coordination with multiple airlines to ensure smooth transit.

The final flight, PK-759 from Karachi, carrying 307 pilgrims, landed in Jeddah at 6:55 PM local time, the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency said.

“Under the Government Hajj Scheme, as many as 88,260 intending pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia via 342 flights from various cities of Pakistan,” APP quoted the religious affairs ministry spokesperson, Muhammad Umar Butt, as saying.

“Similarly, over 27,000 [pilgrims] arrived in the holy land under the Private Hajj Scheme,” he added.

The Hajj flights were operated by a range of air carriers including Pakistan International Airlines, Saudi Airlines, SereneAir, Airblue and AirSial.

The spokesperson said to support the pilgrims during the five key days of Hajj, the ministry has deployed approximately 470 coordinators, with each assigned to a group of 188 to 200 pilgrims.

Each coordinator will remain with their designated group throughout the pilgrimage, helping its members during the journey from Mina to Arafat, Muzdalifah, Jamarat and back to Makkah.

This year, Hajj rituals will commence on June 4, with the Day of Arafah on June 5, and Eid Al-Adha observed on June 6 in Saudi Arabia.


Pakistan says 96% of children vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio drive

Updated 31 May 2025
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Pakistan says 96% of children vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio drive

  • Pakistan launched the campaign after 74 children were diagnosed with polio last year
  • Balochistan offered swings and camel rides in Quetta to draw children for vaccination

KARACHI: Polio vaccinations continued across Pakistan for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday, with 96% of targeted children receiving doses during the first five days of the campaign, the country’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.

Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside neighboring Afghanistan.

Efforts to eliminate the disease have been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on polio workers by militant groups.

In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted during these campaigns.

“During the first five days, 96% of children across the country have been administered polio drops,” the NEOC said at the start of the campaign’s sixth day.

“The vaccination campaign is underway simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” it continued, adding this was to curb cross-border transmission of the virus, especially in frontier regions where mobility between the two countries remains high.

According to Pakistani officials, the current vaccination drive aims to reach more than 45 million children nationwide. It is part of Pakistan’s intensified response following a sharp uptick in cases last year, when 74 children were diagnosed with the crippling virus.

Ten cases have been reported so far in 2025, prompting authorities to step up outreach and door-to-door campaigns.

According to the NEOC, provincial breakdowns so far show 97% coverage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 96% in both Punjab and Balochistan, 94% in Sindh, 98% in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 101% in Gilgit-Baltistan, where more children were reached than initially estimated.

Islamabad reported 97% coverage.

In Balochistan, the country’s most underdeveloped province that reported 27 cases last year, local authorities introduced recreational activities such as free swings and camel rides in Quetta to attract children and facilitate their vaccination.

The effort drew large crowds, allowing teams to immunize children while they took part in the festivities.

“This initiative is critically important as we enter the high-transmission season,” said Ziaur Rehman, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Polio Program. “It will play a key role in timely containment of the virus.”

He urged parents to ensure that all children under five receive polio drops to protect them from lifelong disability.


PM Sharif announces 25% federal development share for insurgency-hit Balochistan

Updated 31 May 2025
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PM Sharif announces 25% federal development share for insurgency-hit Balochistan

  • The prime minister calls for efforts to bring back ‘misguided’ individuals who have joined militant groups
  • He recognizes Balochistan’s history of economic deprivations but says ‘terrorists’ know nothing but brutality

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said Pakistan’s restive southwestern province of Balochistan will receive 25% share from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) in the upcoming budget, as the government continues to grapple with a decades-long separatist insurgency that has surged in recent years.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least populated province, is strategically significant as the centerpiece of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a major infrastructure development and regional connectivity initiative linking western China to the Arabian Sea.

While the state touts CPEC as a game-changer for the region’s development, Baloch separatist groups accuse the government of exploiting the province’s vast mineral resources without benefiting the local population. Officials reject the narrative, pointing to ongoing investments in various sectors aimed at improving livelihoods.

Sharif announced the allocation while addressing a grand jirga, an assembly of provincial elders and influential figures alongside top military leadership, in Quetta, where he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to Balochistan’s development.

“I think that PSDP will be of Rs1,000 billion [in the next budget],” he told the gathering. “So, out of this [amount], a fund of approximately Rs250 billion is for Balochistan alone. That is, 25% of the total federal PSDP for Balochistan.”

The PSDP is Pakistan’s central development program used to fund infrastructure, energy, education and other long-term public investment projects across the country.

It includes both federal initiatives and financial support for provincial projects, particularly in underdeveloped regions like Balochistan.

The prime minister said the allocation was the province’s “right.”

“Along with this,” he continued, “these resources should be used transparently, whether it is Gwadar, whether it is Pasni, whether it is Chaman, whether it is Killa Saifullah, whether it is Quetta, whether it is Jhal Magsi or any other areas,” he continued. “Every single penny there should be used honestly for the development and prosperity of the people.”

Addressing the challenge of militancy in the province, Sharif said efforts must continue to bring back “misguided” individuals who had joined militant groups.

He acknowledged Balochistan’s history of economic deprivation, while reiterating that those engaged in violence offer no solutions.

“Terrorists do not know anything but brutality,” he said.

Calling for national unity, Sharif maintained: “Let’s sit together and talk. It is only by sitting together that a family becomes strong and prosperous. No evil eye can harm a united household.”


Pakistan to set up maritime chamber to boost blue economy, promote greener ports

Updated 31 May 2025
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Pakistan to set up maritime chamber to boost blue economy, promote greener ports

  • Maritime minister says new chamber will unite industry to drive sustainable growth and long-term economic resilience
  • Pakistan aims to grow its blue economy through sustainable use of ocean resources for jobs and ecosystem health

KARACHI: The Pakistan government on Saturday announced the creation of a new Maritime Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) to promote sustainable development in the country’s coastal and marine sectors, saying the initiative would help strengthen the country’s blue economy while addressing rising climate risks at its ports.

Addressing the Pakistan Business Council Forum, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said Pakistan’s coastal zones were increasingly exposed to environmental challenges such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events and marine degradation.

The new chamber, he noted, would serve as a specialized platform for uniting stakeholders from across the maritime spectrum to pursue greener policies and long-term economic resilience.

“This chamber will not only support investment and innovation in the maritime sector but also prioritize sustainability at ports, promote green technologies and foster carbon reduction strategies,” he told the participants of the forum.

Pakistan is striving to strengthen blue economy by ensuring the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, jobs and ecosystem health.

This requires the authorities to enhance the potential of its ports, fisheries, logistics and marine services while reducing environmental harm.

The new chamber is expected to provide a unified institutional voice for sectors ranging from shipping to coastal tourism, helping to align business incentives with climate adaptation goals.

Pakistan has been pushing to modernize its port infrastructure and expand its role in regional trade by improving cargo handling, digitalizing port operations and encouraging public-private partnerships.

The country has also invited landlocked Central Asian states to use its ports to access global markets, aiming to position itself as a regional trade hub.

The Pakistan Business Council welcomed the announcement, calling the new chamber a critical step toward building a climate-resilient and economically vibrant maritime economy.