ISLAMABAD: Calm returned to the volatile border crossing at Chaman between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Saturday, a day after heavy clashes erupted between security forces on both sides, killing at least five people on the Afghan side and injuring three civilians on the Pakistani side, according to officials, in a fresh escalation that highlighted the deepening rift between the two neighbours.
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Pakistani, Afghan troops exchange fire on tense border; both sides trade blame
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops and Afghan forces exchanged fire late on Friday along their tense shared border, with each side accusing the other of initiating the clash in violation of a fragile cease-fire that has held for the past two months.
Pakistan faults Taliban for stalling Turkish mediation effort amid border tensions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan accused the Taliban regime in Afghanistan on Friday of failing to cooperate with a Turkish-led mediation effort aimed at easing escalating tensions between the two neighbors, as a planned visit by a high-level delegation from Ankara failed to materialise.
Military blasts Imran Khan for anti-army rhetoric
RAWALPINDI: The head of military media wing on Friday sharply rebuked the jailed founder of the country’s main opposition Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party, Imran Khan, accusing him of fomenting an “anti-army” narrative that has escalated into a national security threat, potentially in collusion with foreign adversaries.
Israeli spyware Predator used against human rights lawyer in Pakistan, Amnesty says
ISLAMABAD: An Israeli-made spyware tool, long associated with human rights violations around the world, has been deployed against targets in Pakistan, according to a new investigation by Amnesty International that marks the first documented case in the country.
Pakistan asks UK to extradite two pro-Imran Khan critics over alleged anti-state propaganda
ISLAMABAD: The interior minister handed over extradition papers on Thursday to Britain’s top diplomat in Islamabad for two prominent pro opposition critics of the government living in the United Kingdom, escalating a campaign against what officials describe as fake news and anti-state propaganda spread from abroad.
Jail authorities block KP chief minister’s visit to Imran Khan for ninth time
RAWALPINDI: For the ninth time, prison authorities on Thursday barred the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Sohail Afridi, from meeting Imran Khan, the jailed founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, amid growing frustration over restricted access to him.
Govt bars Imran Khan’s sister from jail visits over rule violations
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday barred Uzma Khanum, sister imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan and others from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, from further meetings with the party’s imprisoned founder, citing violations of prison rules during a recent visit that included prohibited political discussions.
Field Marshal Munir named Pakistan’s first chief of defence forces as military structure is overhauled
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday signed off on the summary to appoint Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir as the country’s first chief of defence forces, a newly created post that consolidates military authority and extends the army chief’s tenure amid a sweeping reorganisation of the country’s armed forces command structure.
Pakistan rejects reports linking US weapons suspect to Islamabad, calling him Afghan
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday pushed back against media reports identifying a man arrested in Delaware last week with a cache of weapons and plans for an attack as being of Pakistani origin, insisting instead that he was Afghan and had spent only a few years in Pakistan as a refugee before moving to the United States.