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In Pakistan’s northwest, gypsy children get their first school

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Updated 15 February 2021
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In Pakistan’s northwest, gypsy children get their first school

  • Dera Ismail Khan’s nomadic community has been living on the banks of the Indus River, relying on odd jobs and begging for sustenance
  • School was established by a young philanthropist whose own family was uprooted during a military operation in 2009
Updated 15 February 2021
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: In northwestern Pakistan, a young philanthropist has opened the first school for nomadic children to get them off the streets and break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty that has for generations consumed their community.

The Muhammad Trust School was founded in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in November last year by Muhammad Mehsud, a business administration graduate. It has since enrolled over 60 boys and girls from the vulnerable community that for decades has been living on the banks of the Indus River, relying on odd jobs and begging for sustenance.

Since the children support their families in earning a living, Mehsud had to convince their parents to give them a chance for an education and better future.

"Initially, these people were reluctant since they were afraid of losing their income, but they started taking interest in my proposal when I offered these children uniform and books without charging them anything," he told Arab News on Saturday.

"With every passing day now, we see new admissions ... Today, 34 girls and 30 boys are enrolled in my school."




Muhammad Mehsud, the founding principal of the Muhammad Trust School, can be seen along with his students in Dera Ismail Khan on February 5, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Muhammad Trust School)

Mehsud's initiative springs from his own experience of being displaced and homeless.

He was in sixth grade when his family was uprooted from his hometown in South Waziristan due to a military operation in 2009 against militant outfits operating in the area.

“Suddenly, we found ourselves in tents like members of this community,” he said. “The experience significantly changed my life and I thought about setting up a school to improve the lives of vulnerable children from impoverished backgrounds."

According to Sahibzada Muhammad Naeem, district social welfare officer, Dera Ismail Khan’s nomadic community, which now comprises about 800 families, has lived near the Indus River since the independence of Pakistan in 1947. He said that they relocate from one area to another in response to changing weather conditions.

With the school, community members say their life will now change.




Children belonging to a nomadic community can be seen at the Muhammad Trust School in Dera Ismail Khan on February 13, 2021. The school was opened last November. (Photo courtesy: Muhammad Trust School)

Faiz Muhammad, 60, who like the rest of the group never got a chance to attend a school as his family would not stay at one place for longer durations.

“I spent my life in misery like others before me ... My 12 children used to collect money, food and other items from different parts of the city,” he told Arab News.

"I have enrolled my two daughters and sons with a hope to see a better tomorrow."

His eight-year-old daughter, Najma Bibi, said that since joining the school she is no longer begging for money on the streets and is hopeful to become a doctor one day.

"When I go home after attending my classes now, my father says I will become a doctor and treat patients.”

While Mehsud said that he had reached an agreement with families whose children attend his school that they would not relocate, if they do he will not stop supporting them.

“We have an alternative plan to set up tent schools if these families decide to move from this area at some stage,” he said. "I’m firm to make them stand on their own feet.”

Topics: Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Gypsy children Nomads teacher

Pakistan forecasts more rains as deaths in northwest rise to 323 since Aug. 15

Updated 10 sec ago
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Pakistan forecasts more rains as deaths in northwest rise to 323 since Aug. 15

  • The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan has surged to 657 since late June
  • Official says up to three more monsoon spells are expected in the country until the first weeks of Sept.
Updated 10 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The death toll from this week’s torrential rains and flooding in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has risen to 323 since Aug. 15, the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Sunday, as federal authorities forecast more rains over the next 24 hours.

The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan has surged to 657 since late June, when the monsoon rains first began in the country, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Apart from KP, 164 fatalities have been reported in Punjab, 32 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 28 in Sindh, 20 in Balochistan, 15 in Azad Kashmir and eight in the federal capital of Islamabad.

Raging hill torrents flattened several homes and swept away dozens of people in KP’s Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram districts on Friday. Officials said several bodies were found on Sunday in the worst-hit Buner district.

“So far, 323 people have died and 156 people have been injured in various accidents due to rains and flash floods in the province,” the KP PDMA said on Sunday night.

“The deceased include 273 men, 29 women and 21 children, while the injured include 123 men, 23 women and 10 children.”

The rains, cloudbursts and deluges have damaged a total of 336 houses since Aug. 15, according to the PDMA report. Of these, 106 were completely destroyed. A total of 209 people have been displaced in Buner district, the most affected by Friday’s cloudburst and subsequent floods.

KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Sunday visited Buner, where he promised survivors compensation for their financial losses, urging residents of disaster-prone areas to relocate from there.

“The data of all the losses is being compiled,” CM Gandapur told reporters in Buner. “It is beyond our power to compensate the loss of lives, but we will compensate financial losses, damages to private property.”

Several people were still missing and search efforts were focused on areas where homes were flattened by water torrents that swept down from the mountains, carrying massive boulders that smashed into houses like explosions.

The NDMA has forecast more “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in parts of the country over the next 24 hours, particularly in Islamabad, KP, Punjab and Azad Kashmir, under the current weather system.

“Heavy to very heavy rainfall/thunderstorms are expected in Islamabad over the next 24 hours with occasional gaps. Most parts of Punjab will see widespread rainfall/thunderstorms. Districts in the Potohar and northeastern parts, including Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Narowal, Hafizabad, and Mandi Bahauddin, are expected to face heavy to very heavy rainfall, increasing the chances of urban flooding,” it said on Sunday evening.

“Northern and upper KP districts, including Swat, Buner, Shangla, Dir, Mansehra, Battagram, Abbottabad, and Malakand, are expected to witness heavy spells, with flash floods and landslides possible in hilly terrain over the next 24 hours. The Peshawar valley, covering Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, and Swabi, will see scattered thunderstorms.”

In Azad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh, Haveli, Kotli, Mirpur and Bhimber are expected to receive heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, which may trigger landslides and flash flooding, particularly in hilly areas, according to the authority.

Isolated rainfall is expected in Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Ghizer, Diamer, Astore, Ghanche, and Shigar. Rainfall may cause debris flows, landslides, or local flooding in valleys. The southern province of Sindh and Balochistan may receive light to moderate rainfall.

The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but also brings destruction.

“The intensity of this year’s monsoon is around 50 to 60 percent more than last year,” NDMA chief Lt. Gen. Inam Haider told journalists in Islamabad on Sunday.

“Two to three more monsoon spells are expected until the first weeks of September.”

Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency. Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.

Topics: Pakistan rain Monsoon 2025

Pakistan to create digital IDs of citizens in economic transformation push

Updated 17 August 2025
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Pakistan to create digital IDs of citizens in economic transformation push

  • Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, has a vast informal economy and low tax compliance
  • The government has long identified digitization as key to improve governance and reduce corruption
Updated 17 August 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will develop digital identities of all its citizens to enable secure and efficient payments, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday, amid the Islamabad’s push for economic transformation.

The report comes weeks after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed provincial governments to fully cooperate with the center to move the country toward a “cashless” system as the central government aims to digitize the economy for greater transparency. Pakistan is a cash-dominated market where a significant portion of transactions, particularly in the informal sector, are conducted in cash.

In recent years, the country’s central bank has taken steps to ensure a transition toward a more cashless economy so that transactions are more traceable, reducing chances of tax evasion and corruption. Pakistan’s digital payments have also been on the rise. Since its 2021 launch, the central bank’s Raast system has processed over 892 million transactions worth Rs20 trillion ($72 billion) as of July 2025.

On Sunday, PM Sharif presided over a review meeting in Islamabad on cashless economy, at which he directed provincial chief secretaries to fully cooperate with the federal government in expanding the Raast digital payment system to the district level.

“The meeting was briefed that Pakistan will develop digital public infrastructure to create digital IDs for every citizen, integrating national Identity Cards, biometrics, and mobile numbers,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

“These digital IDs will enable secure and efficient payments. It was further said that the provincial governments have shown significant progress in linking government-to-public and public-to-government payments with the Raast system.”

Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, has a vast informal economy and low tax compliance. The government has long identified digitization as a key tool to improve governance, reduce corruption and expand the country’s narrow tax base.

The government has set an ambitious tax collection target of Rs14,131 billion ($49.46 billion) for the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), reflecting a nine-percent increase over last year’s goal.

Last month, Pakistan launched the Merchant Onboarding Framework that requires banks and payment providers to equip all merchants with Raast-enabled digital payment tools such as QR codes and POS [Point of Sale] systems. In May, the government also approved setting up the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority to regulate blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Speaking at Sunday’s meeting, Sharif said his government was working on a priority basis to digitize the economy and transform financial transactions to cashless and digital system.

“Federal development agencies have granted Right of Way for fiber connectivity, while discussions are ongoing with Pakistan Railways and the National Highway Authority to expand digital infrastructure,” the report said, citing officials at the meeting.

Topics: ID Pakistan

Pakistan to compensate survivors for losses after floods kill 312 in northwest since Aug. 15

Updated 17 August 2025
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Pakistan to compensate survivors for losses after floods kill 312 in northwest since Aug. 15

  • The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in the country has surged to 645 since late June
  • Authorities have warned of more deluges, landslides till Tuesday, amid fears of a repeat of 2022 floods
Updated 17 August 2025
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province will compensate survivors of this week’s deadly floods, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced on Sunday, urging residents of disaster-prone areas to relocate from there.

Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc in Pakistan’s northern areas, especially its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where floods and landslides have killed over 312 people since Aug. 15, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan, which ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, has surged to 645 since Jun. 26. Apart from KP, 164 deaths have been reported in Punjab, 29 in Balochistan, 14 in Azad Kashmir, eight in Islamabad, and 28 each in Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh.

Raging hill torrents flattened several homes and swept away dozens of people and in KP’s Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram districts on Friday. Officials says around 54 bodies were found on Sunday in the worst-hit Buner district where cloudbursts triggered massive flooding.

“The data of all the losses is being compiled,” CM Gandapur told reporters in Buner. “It is beyond our power to compensate the loss of lives, but we will compensate financial losses, damages to private property.”

Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides.

Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, said the lack of a timely warning system caused casualties and forced many to flee their homes at the last moment.

“Survivors escaped with nothing,” he said. “If people had been informed earlier, lives could have been saved and residents could have moved to safer places.”

The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted.

Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said there was “no forecasting system anywhere in the world” that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst.

Several people are still missing and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by water torrents that swept down from the mountains, carrying massive boulders that smashed into houses like explosions.

Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides till Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, CM Gandapur vowed the government infrastructure relating to health, water, road or education would be fully restored. He, however, noted that some of the villages were located in such areas where any calamities like cloudbursts and floods could hit any time.

“So, we want to resettle residents of those small villages at another place and we will build houses for them, but they should evacuate these dangerous areas,” Gandapur said.

Topics: Pakistan Pakistan Floods

Iran forces kill seven militants in restive province bordering Pakistan

Updated 17 August 2025
AFP
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Iran forces kill seven militants in restive province bordering Pakistan

  • The militants ‘intended to attack sensitive centers and military and law enforcement bases,’ governor says
  • The province which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan is one of Iran’s poorest, and a frequent scene of clashes
Updated 17 August 2025
AFP

Tehran: Iranian security forces on Sunday killed seven members of a militant group in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, state media reported.

Deputy provincial governor Ali Velayatipour said the gunmen, all members of the Ansar Al-Furqan group, were killed in the early hours of Sunday, according to official news agency IRNA.

The militants “intended to attack sensitive centers and military and law enforcement bases,” Velayatipour said.

Iran has designated Ansar Al-Furqan a “terrorist” organization. Last year, the group claimed a suicide attack that killed a police officer, also in Sistan-Baluchistan.

The province which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan is one of Iran’s poorest, and a frequent scene of clashes between security forces and Baloch minority rebels.

It is home to a large ethnic Baloch population, most of whom are Sunni Muslims, in contrast to Iran’s Shiite majority.

On Saturday, gunmen killed a police officer in a shootout in the province, with the militant group Jaish Al-Adl (Arabic for ‘Army of Justice’) claiming responsibility.

The group, which operates from the borderlands between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, mainly the Sistan-Baluchestan triangle, but has been active mainly inside Iran, has claimed multiple attacks in recent years, including an assault on a courthouse last month that left at least six people dead.

Topics: Pakistan Iran

Hopes for survivors wane as landslides, flooding bury Pakistan villages

Updated 17 August 2025
AFP
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Hopes for survivors wane as landslides, flooding bury Pakistan villages

  • More than 150 people are missing in hardest-hit Buner district, where at least 208 people were killed
  • Around 2,000 rescue workers were involved across nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts
Updated 17 August 2025
AFP

BUNER: Pakistani rescuers dug homes out from under massive boulders on Sunday as they searched for survivors of flash floods that killed at least 344 people, with more than 150 still missing.

Since Thursday, torrential rains across the country have caused flooding, rising waters and landslides that have swept away entire villages and left many residents trapped in the rubble.

Most of the deaths, 317, were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where monsoon rains that are only expected to intensify in the days ahead drove flooding and landslides that collapsed houses.

More than 150 people are missing in hardest-hit Buner district, where at least 208 people were killed and “10 to 12 entire villages” were partially buried, officials told AFP.

“They could be trapped under the rubble of their homes or swept away by floodwaters,” said Asfandyar Khattak, head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

“Separately, in Shangla district, dozens of people are also reported missing,” Khattak added.

“There is no electricity or mobile signal in Buner, as power lines and mobile towers were damaged,” he added.

Local residents sit beside the damaged homes following Friday's flash flooding at a neighborhood of Pir Baba, an area of Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest on Aug 17, 2025. (AP)

The spokesman for the province’s rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were involved across nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts.

“The operation to rescue people trapped under debris is ongoing,” said Bilal Ahmad Faizi.

“The chances of those buried under the debris surviving are very slim,” he added.

AFP journalists in Buner saw half-buried vehicles and belongings lying strewn in the sludge, with mud covering houses and shops.

A grave digger, Qaiser Ali Shah, told AFP he dug 29 burial places in the last two days.

“I have also dug six graves for children. With each grave, it felt as though I was digging it for my own child,” he told AFP.

“For the first time, my body simply refused to carry me through. That’s why today I apologized and said I cannot do this work anymore.”

Flooded roads hampered the movement of rescue vehicles, as a few villagers worked to cut fallen trees to clear the way after the water receded.

“Our belongings are scattered, ruined and are in bad shape,” shopkeeper Noor Muhammad told AFP as he used a shovel to remove mud.

“The shops have been destroyed along with everything else. Even the little money people had has been washed away,” he added.

The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.

“We were trapped in our homes and could not get out,” another Buner resident, Syed Wahab Bacha, told AFP.

“Our entire poor community has been affected... This road was our only path, and it too has been washed away,” he added.

On Saturday, hundreds gathered for mass funerals, where bodies wrapped in blood-stained white shawls were laid out on the village ground.

Fallen trees and straw debris were scattered across nearby fields, while residents shovelled mud out of their homes.

Pakistan’s meteorological department has forecast “torrential rains” with monsoon activity “likely to intensify” from Sunday onwards.

The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but also brings destruction.

“The intensity of this year’s monsoon is around 50 to 60 percent more than last year,” said Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the national disaster agency.

“Two to three more monsoon spells are expected until the first weeks of September,” he told journalists in Islamabad.

Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.

The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon have killed more than 650 people, with more than 920 injured.

Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.

Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.

Another villager in Buner told AFP on Saturday that residents had spent the night searching through the rubble of their former homes.

“The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” said 32-year-old schoolteacher Saifullah Khan.

“I helped retrieve the bodies of the children I taught. I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids,” he said.

Topics: Buner Pakistan Floods

Latest updates

Pakistan forecasts more rains as deaths in northwest rise to 323 since Aug. 15
Pakistan to create digital IDs of citizens in economic transformation push
Pakistan defends flood response after over 270 people killed in northwestern district
Pakistan to compensate survivors for losses after floods kill 312 in northwest since Aug. 15
Iran forces kill seven militants in restive province bordering Pakistan

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