Bureaucratic spending up nearly 80 percent since 2022 despite austerity push

ISLAMABAD: Despite a stringent austerity drive and aggressive efforts to downsize the federal bureaucracy, the government spending on civil administration and pensions has continued to surge, with double-digit increases in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to fiscal data released by the Ministry of Finance.

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Sharif family weighs response to PTI after military rebuke of Imran Khan, report

LAHORE: The powerful Sharif family convened a private meeting on Sunday to strategise over the escalating political tensions with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party and potential shifts in the Punjab government, as leaders across the political spectrum rallied to support the armed forces against what they described as a concerted effort to undermine state institutions.

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Imran Khan’s supporters rally in Peshawar, reject military accusations of threat to national security

PESHAWAR: Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan rallied on Sunday to defend him against accusations from the military that his criticism of the armed forces posed a threat to national security, vowing that efforts to discredit him would only bolster his standing among the public.

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US weapons left in Afghanistan now bolster Taliban and fuel militant attacks in Pakistan, watchdog finds

ISLAMABAD: Billions of dollars in American-supplied weapons and military equipment abandoned during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan have become the core of the Taliban’s security forces, according to a final report by a United States government watchdog, with some of those arms already appearing in the hands of militants launching attacks across the border in Pakistan.

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