ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has categorically denied any involvement in violence in eastern Afghanistan after the Taliban regime accused Islamabad’s security forces and intelligence agencies of recruiting former Afghan soldiers and funnelling Islamic State-linked fighters across the border — allegations that surfaced hours before a rival account emerged suggesting the casualties in question came from an unrelated battle against an anti-Taliban resistance group.
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CM Afridi warns of ‘unprecedented’ backlash if province placed under federal control, calls for talks
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province warned on Saturday that any attempt by Islamabad to strip him of office would trigger a reaction “never witnessed” in the country’s history, as a stand-off between the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the PML-N led coalition government showed no sign of easing.
TTP suicide bomber kills 12 at DI Khan police checkpost near Afghan border
A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives at a police checkpost in north-western Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding around 30 others in an attack the Pakistani Taliban has claimed as its own.
Banks roll out Rs16 billion lottery to boost remittances
KARACHI: Pakistan’s banking industry launched a cash-prize program on Friday that will pay out 16 billion rupees a year to households that receive remittances through official channels, a bid by the country’s lenders to keep foreign currency flowing through the formal financial system without dipping into public funds.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey vow to fast-track military cooperation after urgent Riyadh talks
ISLAMABAD: The military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agreed to move without delay to convert their recently signed defence pact into concrete military cooperation, following urgent talks in Riyadh prompted by a sustained Houthi bombing campaign against the kingdom.
PM Sharif tells UN that Indian move to divert Pakistan’s water would be ‘act of war’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tells the UN General Assembly that Islamabad has “made its choice” for peace with New Delhi but also warned India that any attempt to obstruct or divert his country’s share of shared river waters would be regarded as an act of war, in a wide-ranging address that also touched on Kashmir, the war in Gaza, and escalating turmoil across the Middle East.
Govt raises petrol price for weekend, cuts diesel for fifth straight day
The government raised the retail price of petrol on Friday while cutting diesel for a fifth consecutive pricing period, a split move that will cost motorcycle riders and small-car owners more at the pump even as truckers and bus operators catch a break.
PTI blinks first: Imran Khan’s party retreats from Islamabad showdown, delays long march to October 4
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s party called off its long-threatened march on Islamabad on Friday, postponing by more than a week a protest that had triggered one of the most extensive security lockdowns the Pakistani capital has seen in years.
Pakistan says 33 India-linked militants killed in latest Balochistan offensive amid rising unrest
QUETTA: Pakistan’s military said on Friday that security forces had killed 33 militants in a series of counter-terrorism operations across Balochistan since 21 September, as the south-western province continues to experience a marked rise in terror violence.
Uneasy calm along Afghan border after Pakistan says 13 Taliban fighters killed in overnight clash
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said its forces had killed at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters after repelling an attempted incursion in the Gulistan sector of Balochistan in an overnight border clash, while Afghanistan insisted its troops had suffered no casualties and had instead destroyed a Pakistani military post near the town of Spin Boldak, on the Kandahar side of the frontier, in the latest flashpoint between the two neighbours that has already claimed dozens of lives this week.