Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed shock over “flagrant violations” of the law committed in the acquisition of a huge chunk of agricultural land for a cooperative housing society in Rawalpindi, almost two decades ago. What irked the court the most was that the entire process of the merger of land acquired to develop residential facilities for members of …

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minis­ter Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) will be restructured on modern lines. Chairing an important meeting at Nacta headquarters here, Mr Naqvi said that the authority will be on the front foot in the war against terrorism and it will be restructured to achieve this objective. The national coordinator of Nacta, …

HYDERABAD: Sindh government is likely to move federal government and the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to further the outgoing caretaker government’s objection on the issuance of water availability certificate by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) allowing creation of a new command area to irrigate desert lands of ‘Smaller Cholistan’ in south Punjab. The certificate was issued on January …

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan does not see the incumbent government lasting more than four to five months, and believes that its fall will pave the way for his re­­lease from Adiala Jail. Talking to reporters after the hearing of a £190 million corruption reference at Adi­a­la Jail, Mr Khan said this was the reason why the PPP did not join …

The military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday that a terrorist was killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Panjgur district. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted the operation last night. “During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and resultantly terrorist Chakar Liaquat was sent to …

Days after Pakistan struck militant bases in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Islamabad does not want an armed conflict with the neighbouring country. In an interview with Voice of America published on Wednesday, Asif said, “Force is the last resort. We do not want to have an armed conflict with Afghanistan.” On March 18, Pakistan struck Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces in …

Following recent skirmishes on the Pak-Afghan frontier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday asserted that the government would not tolerate any cross-border terrorism. In the early hours of Monday, Pakistan struck Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces in “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations”, which, according to the Afghan interim government, killed eight people. The Foreign Office had confirmed the strikes, saying they were aimed at the Hafiz …

LAHORE: As disruption of social media platform X stre­t­ched into its fifth week, Inte­rior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Tuesday the country needed “better laws” to regulate internet free speech. “We need to make better laws,” he said when asked whe­ther his ministry was responsible for shutting down the platform, formerly known as Twitter. “Expression is fine, but ma­k­ing false …

ISLAMABAD: As the Islamabad High Court took up the PTI founder’s appeal against the conviction in the cipher case, the counsel representing former prime minister Imran Khan said the inquiry in the case was started bef­ore the complaint regarding the offence was registered. Barrister Salman Saf­dar argued before the division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Far­ooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb …

KURRAM: A day after the air strikes by the Pakistani military in Afghanistan provoked clashes along the border, Tuesday remained a relatively calmer day as guns on both sides of the boundary remained silent, barring the Angoor Adda border, despite the tense situation. In the early hours of Monday, Pakistan struck militant hideouts in Khost and Paktika provinces which, according to the …