Two Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a rocket attack in the North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials say. Security officials told RFE/RL that unidentified attackers fired two rockets at a security post near the town of Mir Ali on May 7. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. There has been an […]
Thousands in Pakistan Protest Slaying Of Pashtun Rights Leader
Tens of thousands of people in Pakistan have protested the assassination of a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist and political leader who some say was killed by state-backed militants in the South Waziristan tribal district. Sardar Arif Wazir, one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was traveling by car in the town […]
Three Indian Soldiers Killed In Renewed Fighting In Disputed Kashmir
Three Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with militants in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, officials said, a day after a gunbattle in which five were killed. The flare-up comes amid a major offensive by India that has killed 22 militants in the past month. New Delhi said 20 Indian soldiers have been killed […]
Pashtun Rights Activist Dies After Shooting Attack In Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
Pashtun rights activist and political leader Sardar Arif Wazir has died of injuries sustained in a shooting attack in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district. The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a rights group that Wazir helped lead, confirmed to RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that Wazir died in Islamabad on May 2. Wazir was injured when the vehicle […]
Pakistani Journalist Missing In Sweden Since March Found Dead In River
A Pakistani journalist who went missing two months ago in Sweden has been found dead in a river, Swedish police said.Sajid Hussain’s body was found on April 23 in the Fyris River outside Uppsala, Jonas Eronen, a police spokesman, said, according to the Guardian newspaper.Hussain, the editor of the Balochistan Times news website, had been […]
Gunmen Critically Injure Pashtun Rights Activist In Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
Unidentified gunmen have critically injured a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist in an attack in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district. Sardar Arif Wazir, one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was traveling by car in the city of Wanna when gunmen opened fire from another vehicle, RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reported late on […]
Two Pakistani Soldiers, Nine Militants Killed In North Waziristan Clash
Pakistani military officials say at least two soldiers from Pakistan’s army and nine militants were killed in a gun battle late on April 25 near the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing, said on April 26 that five Pakistani soldiers also were injured in the clash that took place in […]
Doctors Urge Pakistani Government To Impose Mosque Restrictions To Avoid Surge In Coronavirus Cases
Pakistani doctors have called on the government and powerful clerics to reverse a decision to allow prayers at mosques during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan out of concern large gatherings will lead to an explosion of coronavirus cases. Under pressure from clerics, the Pakistani government over the weekend loosened restrictions on communal prayer at […]
Pakistani Army Soldier, Five Militants Reported Killed In North Waziristan
ISLAMABAD — Militants have attacked a security post in northwestern Pakistan, triggering a shoot-out that killed a soldier and five attackers, the military says. The army said in a statement on April 20 that the attack took place near the town of Miran Shah, the main urban center in the North Waziristan tribal district that […]
Pakistan Begins Repatriating Laborers Stranded In U.A.E.
Pakistan says it will repatriate thousands more citizens from the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), which had threatened to review labor relations if countries did not take back their nationals from the Gulf state due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Aisha Farooqui said on April 19 that a third phase of repatriations would […]
Pakistani Pashtun Rights Activist Arrested On Hate-Speech Charge
Pakistani police have arrested an ethnic Pashtun rights activist and charged him with hate speech after he spoke during a visit to neighboring Afghanistan. Police official Usman Wazir said Sardar Arif Wazir, a member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), was arrested on April 17 in South Waziristan, a tribal region located along the border […]
Pakistani Journalists Protest Arrest Of Media Mogul, Demand His Release
Pakistani journalists and activists have staged protests in several cities to demand the owner and editor in chief of the country’s biggest independent media group is released from pretrial detention. Mir Shakilur Rehman of the Jang group of newspapers and TV stations was arrested in the eastern city of Lahore on March 12 by the […]
Child Sex Abuse Rampant In Pakistan Religious Schools, AP Investigation Shows
An investigation by the Associated Press has found that sexual abuse of children by Islamic clerics is widespread in religious schools in Pakistan, where many of the country’s poorest study. The AP documented the cases of abuse through dozens of police reports, as well as interviews with law enforcement officials, doctors, and abuse victims and […]
Pakistani Fighter Jet Crashes During Training
A Pakistani fighter jet has crashed during a routine training mission in the eastern Punjab Province, killing both the instructor and the trainee pilot on board, the country’s military said on April 13. There were no casualties on the ground, the military said in a statement. It did not mention what caused the accident. Last […]
Deadly Shelling Across Pakistan, India Border In Kashmir
Tensions flared again in disputed Kashmir, with shelling across the de facto border between Pakistan and India killing three civilians and wounding 13, according to the two sides. The sporadic exchanges of mortar and artillery fire along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the Himalayan region began on April 11 and continued into April […]
Pakistan Says 7 Militants, 2 Soldiers Killed Near Afghan Border
Pakistan’s military says government troops raided a militant hideout in a former Taliban stronghold near Afghanistan on April 10, triggering a shootout in which seven militants and two soldiers were killed.The military said the raid took place in the North Waziristan region, in the village of Zakir Khel.It said troops carried out the raid after […]
COVID-19: Pakistan Mulls Reopening ‘Key Sectors’ After Grim Economic Warning
The global death toll from the coronavirus is more than 95,000 with more than 1.6 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness. Here’s a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL’s broadcast regions. Pakistan Pakistan has planned reopening key sectors of the economy, […]
Pakistan Calls On Kabul To Hand Over Jailed Head Of IS-Linked Group
The Pakistani government has called on Afghanistan to hand over the captured leader of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS). “The Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed Pakistan’s views” regarding the arrest of Aslam Farooqi, the […]
Pakistan’s Military Promises Doctors Protective Gear To Fight Virus
Pakistan’s military said it will provide protective equipment to dozens of doctors who were briefly jailed for protesting a lack of medical gear needed to treat the growing number of coronavirus cases.The 47 doctors protested in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, on April 6, when they were detained. Provincial spokesman Liaquat Shahwani said […]
Pakistani Security Forces ‘Kill Seven Militants’ Near Afghanistan
Security forces raided two militant hideouts in former Taliban strongholds in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border on April 7, killing seven militants, the military said.Four militants were killed in the first raid in North Waziristan, which in recent years was the base of several local and foreign militant groups, according to a statement by […]
Pakistan Vows To Appeal Acquittal Of Suspects In Daniel Pearl Murder
Pakistan’s foreign minister says the government in Islamabad will file an appeal against a court decision overturning the conviction of the British-born Islamic militant accused murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002. “It has been decided to file an appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said […]
Men Acquitted In Daniel Pearl Murder Case To Remain In Pakistani Custody
A Pakistani provincial government has ordered a British-born militant whose conviction in the kidnapping and killing of a U.S. journalist was overturned to remain in custody for at least three months. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others connected to American journalist Daniel Pearl’s killing will remain in custody for at least 90 days on […]
Pakistani Court Overturns Conviction, Death Sentence In Daniel Pearl Murder
A Pakistani court has overturned a death sentence and murder conviction imposed on a British-born militant over the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl.Defense lawyer Khawja Naveed said that, in handing down the decision, a two-member bench of the High Court of Sindh Province reduced Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh’s sentence to seven years in […]
RSF Points Finger At Pakistani Intelligence After Exiled Journalist Disappears In Sweden
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suspects that a Pakistani journalist who has been missing for a month in Sweden was abducted “at the behest” of an intelligence agency in Pakistan. Sajid Hussain, the editor of the Balochistan Times news website, went missing in the Swedish city of Uppsala on March 2, according to the website, which […]
Pakistan Halts Domestic Passenger Flights Over Virus
Pakistan has announced it is halting all domestic passenger flights to stop the spread of the coronavirus after reporting 1,000 cases in the country. The domestic flight ban will begin on March 26, civil aviation spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar said. Islamabad had previously cut train service and international flights. Most of those who initially tested […]
Pakistan Cuts Interest Rates, Sets $6 Billion To Offset Economic Impact Of Virus
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has announced a financial-relief package of some $6 billion and cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in a week in an effort to counter the divesting effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy. Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 24 said up to 200 billion rupees ($1.26 billion) […]
Coal Mine Accident In Southwestern Pakistan Kills Three
Seven miners have been killed in an accident inside a coal mine in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan. A mining inspector told RFE/RL on March 20 that the men were trapped in the mine, but it wasn’t clear if they died when the mine caved in or if they suffocated from poisonous gas. AP later […]
Pakistani Doctor Arrested In U.S. On Terrorism Charge
A Pakistani doctor has been arrested in the U.S. state of Minnesota on a terrorism charge, after he told paid FBI informants that he had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group and wanted to carry out lone wolf attacks in the United States, prosecutors say. Muhammad Masood, 28, a former research coordinator […]
Four Pakistani Troops, Seven Militants Killed In North Waziristan Clash
Four members of Pakistan’s security forces and seven militants have been killed during a shoot-out in the northwestern tribal district of North Waziristan, Pakistan’s military says. A statement from Pakistani security forces said the clash took place on March 18 in the area of Datta Khel when government troops raided a “terrorist” hideout. The statement […]