KARACHI: Police in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on Friday registered a case against Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a prominent Baloch rights activist, accusing her of facilitating operations of Baloch separatist organizations in the country.
The development came days after the killing of three people, including two Chinese nationals, and injuries to 10 others in a roadside bomb attack near the Karachi airport. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack on Oct. 6.
A fierce critic of Pakistan’s powerful military, Baloch has been vocal about alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, a region struggling with a decades-long separatist insurgency. Baloch, recognized by the Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 emerging leaders for her peaceful advocacy of Baloch rights, was also barred this week from flying to the US to receive the honor.
On Friday, a citizen named Asad Ali filed the case against Baloch at the Quaidabad police station in Karachi under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code, accusing Baloch and her group, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), of blocking highways, leveling “false accusations” against security agencies, inciting educated Baloch youth to violence, obstructing movement of non-Baloch individuals, and targeting laborers arriving in Balochistan.
“To continue this, Mahrang Baloch has been brought to the forefront, who brings terrorists to the cities in the form of groups during her rallies,” read the police report seen by Arab News.
“These terrorists conduct reconnaissance on sensitive locations and target foreign, Chinese nationals, orchestrating attacks to undermine peace and stability of our homeland.”
Baloch and her BYC group last December led hundreds of women in a long march to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to demand justice for their “disappeared” husbands, sons, and brothers. Earlier this year, she organized the ‘Baloch Raaji Muchi,’ or Baloch National Gathering, in the strategic port city of Gwadar to unite the Baloch people against alleged rights abuses in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
At a press conference in August, Pakistani military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry had said the purpose of the BYC and the Baloch Raaji Muchi it had convened in July in Gwadar, where China is building a deep seaport, was to make development projects and investments “controversial” and incite people against the Pakistan army and other security forces involved in operations against insurgency and crime in Balochistan.
Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has been the scene of a low-level insurgency for nearly two decades. Ethnic Baloch militants often target police, security forces, foreigners and workers from other provinces over what they call as the exploitation of the mineral-rich region’s resources. The Pakistani state denies the allegations.
Late on Thursday, unidentified gunmen killed 20 miners and injured another seven in Balochistan’s Duki district in the latest attack to hit the volatile region, according to police. The laborers, who hailed from various Pashtun-dominated areas of Balochistan and the neighboring Afghanistan, came under attack while they were asleep in their accommodation outside a private coal mining site.
In August, the BLA, the most prominent of separatist groups, carried out multiple attacks in Balochistan that killed more than 50 people, while authorities responded by killing 21 insurgents in the province. Those killed included 23 passengers, mostly from the eastern Punjab province, who were fatally shot after being taken from buses, vehicles and trucks in the Musakhail district.
Pakistani police charge Baloch rights activist with facilitating separatist militants
https://arab.news/r9mvm
Pakistani police charge Baloch rights activist with facilitating separatist militants
- Dr. Mahrang Baloch was recently recognized by the Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 emerging leaders for her peaceful advocacy of Baloch rights
- Pakistan’s Balochistan, which shares porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has been the scene of a low-level insurgency for nearly two decades
Pakistan’s cement exports jump 29 percent but domestic demand remains weak
- Cement industry has struggled due to economic headwinds, high construction costs in Pakistan
- APCMA has asked the government to announce industry-friendly measures in the upcoming budget
KARACHI: Pakistan’s cement exports rose nearly 29 percent to 7.4 million tons in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, but overall despatches remained flat due to sluggish domestic demand, industry data showed on Saturday.
Total cement despatches, domestic and exports combined, reached 37.336 million tons during the July 2024 to April 2025 period, just 0.32 percent lower than the same stretch last year, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).
Domestic sales, however, dropped 5.55 percent to 29.978 million tons, while exports surged 28.77 percent from 5.714 million tons to 7.359 million tons.
“A healthy rise in exports this year is a good omen,” an APCMA statement said. “However, the industry’s resurgence was limited due to low domestic demand, leaving about one third of the industry capacity idle.”
April 2025 data showed total cement despatches increased by 13.24 percent year-on-year to 3.342 million tons, driven by a 34.56 percent jump in exports and a modest 7.64 percent rise in local sales.
The APCMA statement urged the government to announce industry-friendly measures in the upcoming budget to boost domestic construction activity and enhance the global competitiveness of Pakistani cement.
Pakistan’s cement industry has struggled in recent years with subdued domestic consumption due to economic headwinds and high construction costs, forcing manufacturers to increasingly rely on exports.
India blocks Pakistani celebrities on social media
- Last month, India banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for spreading ‘provocative’ content
- Fawad Khan, Babar Azam, and Arshad Nadeem among celebrities whose accounts have been blocked
NEW DELHI: New Delhi widened measures against Islamabad on Saturday, blocking access to the social media accounts of Pakistani actors and cricketers, as well as extending trade blocks and stopping postal services.
India blames Pakistan of backing the deadliest attack in years on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 men were killed.
Islamabad has rejected the charge, and both countries have since exchanged gunfire across their contested de facto border in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s military said it carried out a “training launch” of a surface-to-surface missile weapons system on Saturday, further heightening tensions.
On Saturday, India’s communications ministry issued a statement saying it had “decided to suspend the exchange of all categories of inbound mail and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes.”
The arch-rivals had already expelled each other’s citizens and closed the main border crossing, and barred aircraft from each other’s airspace.
Indian media on Saturday, citing a Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) order, said that Pakistani-flagged ships are barred from any Indian port — and Indian ships are banned from Pakistan.
The move, however, is seen as largely symbolic, as regular diplomatic flare-ups between the neighbors over decades have prevented close economic ties.
But cultural ties remain far stronger. The nations were only divided by the 1947 colonial creation at the violent end of British rule, partitioning the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
On social media, India banned on April 28 more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content, including Pakistani news outlets.
On Saturday, further restrictions blocked access in India to the Instagram account of Pakistan’s ex-prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan.
Bollywood movie regulars Fawad Khan and Atif Aslam were also off limits, as well as a wide range of cricketers — including star batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and retired players Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram.
Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem’s Instagram account was also no longer accessible to Indian users, reflecting the broad scope of the clampdown beyond just cricket.
Users in India attempting to access these accounts are shown a message indicating that they are unavailable due to compliance with a legal request.
Pakistan envoy urges Trump administration to help resolve Kashmir amid tensions with India
- Pakistan envoy tells Fox News world must address root causes of India-Pakistan tensions
- He says President Trump can build a peacemaker legacy by resolving the Kashmir dispute
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s envoy to the United States has urged Washington to move beyond crisis management and support efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute, saying President Donald Trump came build a legacy by addressing the issue following last month’s deadly attack in the region.
The April 22 gun attack at a tourist hotspot in Indian-administered Kashmir left 26 people dead, prompting New Delhi to blame Pakistan, though Islamabad denied the charge forcefully.
India expelled Pakistani nationals and diplomats in the wake of the incident, closed a major border crossing, suspended a decades-old river water sharing treaty and imposed trade and shipping restrictions. Pakistan took reciprocal steps but also sought a neutral and impartial international investigation. Islamabad also warned that any military action by India would elicit a major response despite its desire to avoid escalation.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh said the risk of such crises would persist unless the global community moved beyond “band-aid solutions” and tackled the root cause of tensions.
“What we would urge the US leadership is to not only afford de-escalatory support in this situation but also to look at the broader issue of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
India and Pakistan have fought several wars over the disputed Himalayan region, which both countries claim in full but rule in part.
“This is one nuclear flash point. There’s nothing flashier than this in terms of the impact on a large chunk of humanity that any misadventure, any miscalculation, any war here can cause. So, it would be an important part, it could be an important part of President Trump’s legacy to attend to this situation,” Sheikh added.
The Pakistani envoy noted that in previous crises, the international community had often intervened only to pull back before tensions were fully defused.
“This time ... it would be reasonable and perhaps even timely ... to perhaps not afford a band-aid solution, but to address the broader problem, the major disease that is there, and try and have a durable solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” he said.
Sheikh emphasized what he described as the “disproportionate responsibility” of the United States, as a preeminent global power, to help maintain and establish international peace and security.
He warned that the current crisis should not be allowed to fade without meaningful diplomatic solution.
“There is an opportunity in this situation, which we believe should not be squandered by the international community,” he added.
Over 8,800 Pakistani pilgrims in Madinah with 3,300 more expected today — state media
- The first groups of Pakistani pilgrims are scheduled to depart for Makkah on May 7
- Pilgrims going directly to Makkah will visit Madinah after performing Hajj rituals
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Hajj mission in Saudi Arabia has received nearly 8,890 pilgrims in Madinah, state media reported on Saturday, adding that 3,300 more were expected to arrive by the end of the day.
Pakistan launched its Hajj flights on April 29. For the first 15 days of the operation, pilgrims will continue to arrive in Madinah. Afterward, incoming pilgrims will land in Jeddah and travel directly to Makkah.
“The Pakistan Hajj Mission has so far received approximately 8,890 intending Pakistani pilgrims in Madinah by Saturday, who arrived through 35 flights operated by various airlines from major cities of Pakistan to perform their religious obligation under the government scheme,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
“As many as 12 flights, carrying 3,300 more pilgrims, are scheduled to arrive in the holy City Madinah on Saturday,” it added.
Pilgrims from across the world are converging in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, which begins on the 8th of Dhu Al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar.
The first groups of Pakistani pilgrims are scheduled to depart for Makkah on May 7 after completing their eight-day stay in Madinah. Departures will follow the sequence of their arrival in the city, according to the religious affairs ministry.
Under the single-route system, all Pakistani pilgrims arriving in Madinah will proceed to Makkah for Hajj before returning to Pakistan via Jeddah.
Pilgrims flying directly to Makkah will later visit Madinah before departing for home.
Upon reaching Makkah, pilgrims will perform their first obligatory Umrah, according to the ministry.
India bans imports from Pakistan amid tension over tourist killings
- New Delhi has issued a notification barring goods coming from or transiting through Pakistan
- Pakistani-flagged ships and Indian-flagged ships are barred from entering each other’s ports
NEW DELHI: India said on Saturday it had banned the import of goods coming from or transiting via Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships as tensions rise between the nuclear-armed neighbors in the wake of a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed Kashmir region.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification that the ban would take effect immediately.
“This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy,” it said.
Suspected militants killed at least 26 people in last week’s attack on a mountain tourist destination in the Pahalgam area of the Kashmir valley.
The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and has been the focus of several wars, an insurgency and diplomatic standoffs.
India has accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denies. Pakistan has said it has “credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action.
Pakistan’s retaliatory measures have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats.
It has also warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of river water promised under a decades-old treaty would be considered an act of war.
On Saturday, India said Pakistani-flagged ships would not be allowed to visit any Indian port, and Indian flagged-ships would not visit any ports in Pakistan.
“This order is issued to ensure safety of Indian assets, cargo and connected infrastructure, in public interest and for interest of Indian shipping,” the Directorate General of Shipping said in an statement.
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.
