Pakistan

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has spoken at length about his time as premier during the Faizabad protests of 2017 and how he navigated the government through what he said was the “darkest chapter” in the country’s history. Daily life in Islamabad was disrupted for 20 days (from Oct 2 to Nov 27, 2017) when protesters belonging to religiopolitical …

ISLAMABAD: Justice Babar Sattar of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday rejected the unconditional apology of Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, Senior Superintendent of Police Malik Jameel Zafar and others for flouting the court orders in a case pertaining to the arrest of PTI leaders Sheheryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar. The judge directed the prosecutor Qaiser Imam to devise a …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani confirmed the arrest of around 200 alleged fighters of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by the Afghan government. The confirmation came after some media reports, citing unnamed Pakistani officials, said the Taliban regime in Kabul has captured suspected militants who had staged cross-border attacks in Pakistan. Addressing a press conference on Sep 28 …

LAHORE: PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif returned from London on Thursday, reportedly after managing to persuade his elder brother Nawaz Sharif “not to disturb the ideal equation of the party with the establishment”. Mr Shehbaz had to skedaddle back to London within 48 hours of his arrival in the country following Mr Nawaz’s hard-hitting speech on Sept 18, in which he demanded accountability …

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Apex Committee, a forum of civil and military officials, has decided that the offensive against militants in the province will be expedited. “It isn’t a day’s work and instead, it is a continued exercise. It [offensive against militants] will be sped up and will continue until the menace militancy is eliminated,” caretaker information minister Feroze Jamal …

ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Thursday passed a bill by majority vote with some amendments for publicly hanging rapists, despite opposition from the PPP, interior and foreign affairs ministries. The bill, proposed by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-i-Islami, aims to amend sections 375, 375A, and 376 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Schedule-II of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrCP). The Senate …

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court of Islamabad on Thursday summoned former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani in Toshakhana vehicles reference. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is an absconder in this case, and proceedings against him will start upon his surrender. Accountability judge Mohammad Bashir resumed proceedings on this reference, along with other references, against Mr …

LAHORE: Joint investigation teams constituted to investigate the violence following PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest in connection with a graft case in May have declared more than 900 activists, including the former prime minister and other party bigwigs, prime suspects in a dozen cases and submitted challans (charge sheets) to this effect in an anti-terrorism court on Thursday. According to Lahore police, the PTI …

Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar on Friday said he has ordered an inquiry into the killing of four villagers in Sakrand a day earlier and summoned a report on the incident within four days. On Thursday, four people were killed and nine others, including four Rangers personnel, were wounded in an operation carried out by law enforcement agencies in …

At least 53 people, including a police officer, were killed while dozens were injured in what officials believe was a suicide blast near a 12th Rabiul Awwal procession in Balochistan’s Mastung district on Friday. Mastung District Headquarter Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Nisar Ahmed told Dawn.com that 16 bodies were brought to the facility while Shaheed Naqab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital CEO …