Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will have to engage the Taliban government in Kabul directly to neutralise the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the group continues to pose threats to Pakistan’s internal security and western borders. Talking to the outlawed group will not favour the Taliban regime either as it will not help to boost their image as a peace builder; rather, their …

PESHAWAR: At least four people were injured in an incident of roof collapse after rain coupled with gusty winds lashed the provincial capital on Thursday. The Rescue 1122 said the roof of a house caved in on Kohat Road in the provincial capital trapping four people under the rubble. It said its workers pulled out those people, including Noorullah, Maseehullah, …

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the federal government to respond to a petition seeking orders to stop it from making a deal with the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan without the consultation of parents of those killed in the 2014 Peshawar Army Public School attack. A bench consisting of Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Fazal Subhan issued the …

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari has sought security cover from the provincial chief secretary and the inspector general of police for peacefully holding the election to the office of chief minister as per court order on Friday. In a letter to the top Punjab officers on Thursday, he said as the Lahore High Court had directed him …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s economic managers continued to give assurances on Thursday that Pakistan was not heading to default, the rupee has stabilised — even as it fell 0.83 per cent — and the country has enough petrol for over a month. In his press conference alongside Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif called for a complete end to ‘executive …

KARACHI: Expecting it as a major and final push to their campaign for the upcoming local government elections in the city, local leaders and workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) faced a setback to know that party chairman Imran Khan postponed his Karachi visit ahead of Punjab’s chief minister election tomorrow even before the ECP announced postponement of polls owing to Muharram …

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday extended the interim bail of PTI chairman Imran Khan till July 30 in 11 cases pertaining to alleged violence and damage to public property during the party’s “Azadi March” on May 25. The ex-premier had applied for pre-arrest bail in FIRs registered against him at Aabpara, I-9, Kohsar, Karachi Company, Golra, Tarnol and Secretariat police stations …

KOHAT: The Anti-Terrorism Court, Kohat, on Wednesday sentenced a terrorist of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs1 million as well for kidnapping 16 workers of a cellular company and killing one of them later. A case was registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department, Kohat region, against the outlaw, namely Azizullah of Alikhel tribe of …

The rupee’s slide against the dollar continued unabated on Thursday, with the local currency falling to a record low of Rs227 in the interbank market, with watchers attributing the losses to political “chaos” and a greenback that is strengthening against other currencies as well. The rupee had closed at Rs224.92 on Wednesday. When the session opened today, the local currency …

Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir asserted on Thursday that the PML-N-led coalition government’s commitment to stabilise Pakistan’s economy and prevent the effects of an “international energy crisis” from manifesting in the country was clear as petroleum product reserves were at a “record level”. Dastgir, who was addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, said this …