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Blasts in northwest Pakistan leave 2 dead, 13 wounded including policemen

Blasts in northwest Pakistan leave 2 dead, 13 wounded including policemen
A Pakistani policeman checks a car in front of a shuttered market after Taliban militants seized a police station in Bannu on December 20, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 01 January 2025
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Blasts in northwest Pakistan leave 2 dead, 13 wounded including policemen

Blasts in northwest Pakistan leave 2 dead, 13 wounded including policemen
  • First attack targeted a funeral in Azam Warsak, the other was directed against a police van in Bannu
  • Such incidents have surged in recent years, contributing to an atmosphere of heightened insecurity
Updated 01 January 2025
REHMAT MEHSUD
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PESHAWAR: Two people were killed and at least 13 others, including several police personnel, were injured in two separate bomb blasts in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Tuesday, police said.
KP, which shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan, has experienced a surge in militant violence in recent years. The region has been targeted by deadly suicide bombings and attacks on both civilians and security forces, contributing to an atmosphere of heightened insecurity.
Police spokesperson in the province, Habib Islam, told Arab News the first explosion occurred in Azam Warsak, a town on the outskirts of Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan district, as people dispersed from a funeral ceremony.
“The blast left two persons dead and eight others wounded. The explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device, but it can’t be immediately confirmed who was the target of the attack,” he added.
Soon after the incident, a heavy police contingent rushed to the crime scene to evacuate the dead and wounded to the nearest medical facility.
Dr. Hammad Mehmood, a senior medical practitioner at the DHQ Hospital Wana, said the staff received a total of nine wounded, with two critically injured individuals referred to Dera Ismail Khan for treatment.
The second blast occurred in Bannu district, where a police mobile van was targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED), leaving five policemen injured, a senior police officer, Zahir Nawaz, told Arab News.
“Five policemen were injured in a blast triggered by a device planted in the Mamaskhel area of Bannu district,” he added.
Over 82 policemen have been killed in attacks, ambushes, and targeted killings in KP this year, according to official data.
Such attacks have been on the rise in northwestern Pakistan in recent months, with most being claimed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants.
TTP fighters have targeted security forces’ convoys and check posts and carried out targeted killings, as well as kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
Earlier this month, two policemen were killed and three injured in an attack on a check post in the province’s Shangla district.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting the TTP and other militant groups, urging the administration to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
The Afghan Taliban deny the charge, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter.
 

Topics: KP militancy Bannu Pakistan police

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Moroccan, Egyptian stalls shine at Islamabad food fundraiser featuring 80 diplomatic missions

Moroccan, Egyptian stalls shine at Islamabad food fundraiser featuring 80 diplomatic missions
Updated 36 sec ago
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Moroccan, Egyptian stalls shine at Islamabad food fundraiser featuring 80 diplomatic missions

Moroccan, Egyptian stalls shine at Islamabad food fundraiser featuring 80 diplomatic missions
  • Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association in collaboration with Serana Hotels holds international food festival for third consecutive year 
  • IFWA is a non-political, non-profit organization established in 1995 by the wives of ambassadors posted in the Pakistani federal capital 
Updated 36 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association (IFWA) organized a food festival in the Pakistani capital on Sunday featuring cuisines from at least 28 countries and raising over Rs.2.5 million ($8,929) to support education and health care initiatives for poor Pakistani women and children.

The festival, organized for the third consecutive year, was a joint project of IFWA and Serena Hotels, with 80 diplomatic missions participating. IFWA is a non-political, non-profit organization established in 1995 by the wives of ambassadors posted in Islamabad, with the aim of supporting underprivileged and disadvantaged Pakistani women and children. 

Dianne Hawkins, IFWA president and the wife of the Australian High Commissioner, told Arab News around Rs2.5 million had been raised at Sunday’s event. 

“It is our major fundraising event of the year to support the charities that IFWA supports here [in Pakistan], which are mostly focused on benefiting vulnerable communities of Pakistani society, especially women and children,” Hawkins said, adding that most of the charities IFWA supported were in the education and health sectors.

Aziz Bolani, the CEO Serena Hotels, said that along with supporting underprivileged communities, the event also helped promote international cuisines and cultures through food stalls that represented countries from all around the world.

“There are real needs in Pakistan, and this is a form of diplomacy, a soft approach that brings people together,” he told Arab News.

Among the most popular stalls were those set up by the embassies of Morocco and Egypt. 

“Today, we are serving Moroccan chicken, Moroccan salads, and one of the main traditional dishes of Morocco, that is typically served every Friday, couscous with vegetables,” Moroccan Ambassador Mohamed Karmoune told Arab News. 

Homemade Moroccan breads and sweets as well as traditional tea was also available. 

Georg Steiner, the ambassador of Switzerland to Pakistan, said he hoped the festival would introduce more Pakistanis to Swiss food.

“We brought along some Swiss food like Rösti [potato dish], Zürich style veal, and also some excellent cakes,” he told Arab News.

He said he had tasted food at many stalls and his favorites were those serving Vietnamese, Czech, and Pakistani dishes. 

“I think Pakistani food is always wonderful, be it biryani or something else,” the Swiss envoy added.

Topics: Islamabad Foreign Women Association

Pakistani PM to meet Erdogan today in first leg of regional diplomacy tour

Pakistani PM to meet Erdogan today in first leg of regional diplomacy tour
Updated 55 min 57 sec ago
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Pakistani PM to meet Erdogan today in first leg of regional diplomacy tour

Pakistani PM to meet Erdogan today in first leg of regional diplomacy tour
  • Sharif will visit Iran, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkiye on five-day visit
  • All four nations supported Pakistan in recent military standoff with India
Updated 55 min 57 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday started a five-day regional diplomacy tour with a trip to Turkiye where he will hold talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Erdogan’s office said.

Sharif will go onwards from Turkiye to Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, four nations that openly supported Pakistan in a military standoff with India earlier this month when the two nuclear-armed neighbors traded missile, drone and artillery strikes for days, killing around 70 people on both sides. A ceasefire was reached on May 10. 

The conflict, the worst between the neighbors in decades, was triggered by a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad denies involvement. 

“During the meeting, bilateral relations, regional and international issues, including the fight against terrorism, will be discussed,” Erdogan’s head of communications, Fahrettin Altun, said on X.

The PM’s office in Islamabad released footage of Sharif departing on the tour and said he would hold wide-ranging discussions with the leaders of Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan on “an entire range of issues covering bilateral relations and matters of regional and international importance.”

“He will thank friendly countries for the support they have given to Pakistan during the recent crisis with India,” the PMO statement added. 

Erdogan spoke by phone with Sharif on May 7 to convey his solidarity after India first hit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir with missiles. Leaders from the two nations had several contacts subsequently and Turkiye publicly took Islamabad’s side. It is widely believed that Turkiye played an important role, besides the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia, in convincing India and Pakistan to back off and agree to a ceasefire. The two nations have historically strong ties. 

Bitter rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety but rule it in part. They both acquired nuclear weapons in 1998.

Topics: Pakistan Turkiye ties President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif PM Shehbaz Sharif in Turkey

At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave

At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave
Updated 25 May 2025
AFP
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At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave

At least 14 killed in Pakistan storms after heatwave
  • A clip filmed inside a plane about to land in Lahore showed passengers screaming as the aircraft was tossed about by turbulence
  • Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, is grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events
Updated 25 May 2025
AFP

LAHORE: “Destructive” windstorms that raged across central and northern Pakistan after an intense heatwave have killed at least 14 people and injured over 100 more, officials said Sunday.

Fierce winds, thunder and lightning swept across eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as well as the capital Islamabad on Saturday afternoon and evening, uprooting trees and downing electric poles.

While the majority of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and roofs, at least two people died after being hit by solar panels dislodged by the whipping gusts.

One man was killed and three others were injured by lightning strikes.

Mazhar Hussain, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial disaster management authority, told AFP that such windstorms develop because of excessive heat, which reached above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.

“There were three to four days in the recent heatwave where temperatures went up quite a lot,” he said, announcing 14 deaths in Punjab and 100 injured.

“This windstorm was particularly destructive. The wind speed was very high. There was so much dust in it that visibility was greatly reduced.”

The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted more storms on Sunday.

Social media was replete on Saturday evening with videos of the damage the windstorms had unleashed.

A clip filmed inside a plane about to land in Punjab’s city of Lahore showed passengers screaming in terror as the aircraft was tossed about by turbulence.

The plane was later diverted to Karachi.

Other videos show cars crushed by falling trees and roads blocked by debris.

Pakistan, one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, is grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

Islamabad experienced several usually rare hail storms throughout April and May that damaged vehicles, smashed window panes and shattered solar panels.

Soaring temperatures in April and May are becoming more common in Pakistan, which usually sees summer begin in early June.

Temperatures reached near-record levels in April, as high as 46.5C (115.7F) in parts of Punjab.

Schools in Punjab and Balochistan have announced early summer vacations because of the heat.

Topics: Pakistan Storm Islamabad heatwave

First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series

First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series
Updated 25 May 2025
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First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series

First batch of Bangladeshi players arrives in Pakistan to play three-match T20 series
  • The series will be held in Lahore, with the first T20 scheduled for May 28
  • Both squads will train at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Monday, the PCB says
Updated 25 May 2025
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: A group of Bangladeshi players arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to play three Twenty20 internationals (T20Is) against the ‘Men in Green,’ the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.

The three-match T20I series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, with the first match scheduled for May 28.

The first group of Bangladesh contingent arrived in Pakistan in wee hours of Sunday and two more groups will arrive on Monday, according to the PCB.

Members of Pakistan’s squad will assemble in Lahore on Sunday, while players participating in Sunday’s final of the Pakistan Super League will join on Monday.

“Both teams will train at 7:30pm at Qaddafi Stadium, Lahore,” the PCB said in a statement.

Bangladesh were initially scheduled to play five T20Is, but the tour was put in jeopardy following a cross-border conflict between Pakistan and India this month.

Both neighbors clashed for four days before agreeing to a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement on May 10.

Pakistan was also forced to reschedule its Twenty20 league — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — after a ten-day break.

The Indian Premier League — the world’s richest cricket tournament — was also interrupted.

Topics: Cricket Pakistan Bangladesh

Pakistan, Uzbekistan hope to finalize framework agreement for 573-km railway line via Afghanistan

Pakistan, Uzbekistan hope to finalize framework agreement for 573-km railway line via Afghanistan
Updated 25 May 2025
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Pakistan, Uzbekistan hope to finalize framework agreement for 573-km railway line via Afghanistan

Pakistan, Uzbekistan hope to finalize framework agreement for 573-km railway line via Afghanistan
  • The $4.8 billion project aims to enhance regional trade and logistics movement by connecting the three countries
  • It is part of Pakistan’s efforts to position itself as a key transit hub, connecting landlocked Central Asia to the world
Updated 25 May 2025
Fatimah Amjad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday discussed the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) railway line project with his Uzbek counterpart Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich, the Pakistani foreign ministry said, adding the two figures expressed hope the project’s framework agreement would be completed soon.

The $4.8 billion Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan railway line is an extensive project with the objective of creating a direct railway link between Uzbekistan and Pakistan, passing through Afghanistan’s territory.

It aims to enhance trade and logistics efficiency by establishing a 573-kilometer rail connection that would connect Termiz in Uzbekistan to the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar via Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif.

The project is part of Pakistan’s efforts to position itself as a key trade and transit hub, connecting landlocked Central Asian states to the global market through its strategic location.

“Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar today held a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich. The two leaders discussed existing bilateral relations, particularly Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Line Project,” the Pakistani foreign office said.

“They expressed the hope that framework agreement for the regional connectivity project will be finalized soon. Views were also exchanged on current regional situation.”

The three neighboring countries signed an agreement to build the regional connectivity project in February 2021. Dar also visited Afghanistan in April this year and discussed the project with the Afghan Taliban rulers in Kabul.

Pakistan is seeking to leverage its strategic position as a key trade and transit hub to connect Central Asia with global markets and since last year, there has been a flurry of high-level visits, investment discussions and other economic engagements between Islamabad and Central Asian republics.

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have also been working toward optimizing cargo flows, establishing green corridors at border customs points, and digitalization of customs clearance processes to facilitate smoother trade operations.

Topics: Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway

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