Pakistan stocks see strong recovery as Iran-Israel ceasefire reports boost investor sentiment

QUETTA, Pakistan: A father has shot and killed his teenage daughter and nephew in a so-called “honor killing” in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, police said on Wednesday, days after a similar killing sparked outrage across the country.

The incident took place Tuesday evening in the Lashar Abad area along Quetta's Qambrani Road, and came just days after a viral video showed a young couple being executed in a separate honor killing in

Balochistan's Digari area in Quetta district. That case, involving a tribal jirga ordering the deaths of a woman and man over an alleged illicit relationship, has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed calls for legal reform.

According to Abdul Majeed, the Station House Officer of Kechi Baig Police Station, the latest victims were identified as Ghulam Qadir, 19, and Nazneen, 18.

“The slain man and woman were cousins and the father, named Abdul Latif, shot and killed both his daughter and nephew inside his house,” Majeed told Arab News. “The girl was from the Lehri tribe and the boy hailed from the Rind tribe.”

The officer said the killings were motivated by accusations of an “illicit relationship” between the pair, adding that the case had been handed over to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing (SCIW) and a search was underway for the father, who was on the run.

The family of the male victim had retrieved his body for burial, but no one from the girl’s family had come forward to claim her, Majeed added. 

Rights groups say honor killings - the murder of individuals, often women, by relatives for allegedly tarnishing family “honor” - remain widespread in Pakistan, particularly in tribal and rural regions. Activists estimate as many as 1,000 deaths a year in the name of so-called honor.

Although Pakistan passed a landmark law in 2016 to close loopholes that once allowed families to “forgive” perpetrators, conviction rates remain extremely low, often below 2 percent, according to UN estimates. 

The recent video from Balochistan, showing the execution-style killing of a couple in the Digari area in Quetta district, reignited public debate over jirga justice and the state’s failure to prevent such crimes.

Police said 11 suspects had been arrested in the Digari case, including two men named in the first information report (FIR) filed by police after the killing.

That attack, caught on video, appeared to show the victims being shot in a mountainous area on the orders of a tribal council. 

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim, on Wednesday to discuss promoting bilateral investments and expanding cooperation in key economic sectors, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial relations and strong ties in defense, military, tourism and various other sectors. The two countries have eyed closer cooperation in mines and minerals, agriculture, tourism, IT and other sectors in recent years. 

Islamabad and Riyadh last year signed 34 business-to-business deals worth $2.8 billion amid Islamabad’s increasing focus to shore up its foreign reserves and bolster its economic revival with the help of its Gulf allies. 

Dar, who is in the United States till July 28 to lead “high-level signature events” under Pakistan’s presidency of the UN Security Council, met Alibrahim on the sidelines of the events. 

“Discussions focused on expanding cooperation across key sectors, including food security, manufacturing, and mines & minerals,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said. 

“They also agreed to advance investments and technical collaboration for mutual benefit of the two nations,” it added. 

The two reaffirmed brotherly ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and their shared vision for lasting peace, prosperity and regional harmony, the foreign ministry said.

Apart from being a key regional ally and close business partner, Saudi Arabia also happens to be the largest source of foreign remittances for Pakistan. 

These remittances are a lifeline for Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy, playing a critical role in stabilizing foreign exchange reserves and supporting balance of payments.