ISLAMABAD: Islamabad is bracing for its biggest security operation in years, with tens of thousands of police officers, hundreds of shipping containers and a arsenal of riot equipment being mobilised across the federal capital and neighbouring Punjab ahead of a planned opposition march that the government has vowed, in the words of one insider, to “fix… for good”.
Politics
Pakistan hits 10 targets inside Afghanistan in retaliation for drone incursion
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has carried out air and drone strikes against 10 locations inside Afghanistan, in the second cross-border military action in three days and the latest escalation in a rapidly deteriorating conflict with the Taliban government in Kabul.
PM Sharif to meet Iran’s President Pezeshkian in New York push for US talks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s attempts to broker a path back to talks between Washington and Tehran gathered momentum on Wednesday, with diplomatic sources indicating that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as soon as Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Nineteen militants killed, soldier martyred in Balochistan operations
ISLAMABAD: Security forces had killed 19 militants in a series of operations across Balochistan, as a soldier martyred in the fighting and the province’s chief paramilitary force separately reported the hijacking of a charity ambulance.
Dar tells OIC that India cannot “set aside” international law over Kashmir and water treaty
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has told a gathering of Muslim-majority nations at the United Nations that India cannot simply walk away from its international obligations “when they become inconvenient”, reigniting a bitter dispute over a six-decade-old water-sharing treaty that has become the latest flashpoint between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
UN Security Council condemns Kohat mosque attack, demands justice
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Security Council has condemned last week’s twin terrorist attack on a police compound in north-west Pakistan, demanding that those responsible be tracked down and brought to justice, as the country’s military pressed ahead with retaliatory strikes against suspected militant hideouts across the Afghan border.
Pakistan hardens defence commitment to Saudi Arabia after drone targeted Islam’s holiest city
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has renewed Pakistan’s pledge to defend Saudi Arabia “to any extent” against Houthi attacks, using a message marking the kingdom’s National Day to underline a defence partnership that is being tested by the most serious escalation in the Yemen conflict in years.
Pakistan deploys Rangers across four Punjab districts ahead of Imran Khan supporters’ march
LAHORE: The Punjab government has asked Islamabad to deploy paramilitary Rangers across four districts in the province, as Pakistan’s security establishment braces for a mass opposition march on the capital that officials fear could draw as many as two million people onto the streets.
Pakistan shoots down eight drones in latest Afghan border clash
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s air defence systems shot down eight drones launched from Afghanistan early on Wednesday, four of them near the Torkham border crossing and four in the mountains around Kohat, as the military accused the Taliban administration in Kabul of a “cowardly attempt” to strike civilian areas.
Pakistan repels militant infiltration bid, drives Afghan Taliban from border posts
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops forced Afghan Taliban to abandon several checkposts along the border on Tuesday, security sources said, after opening retaliatory fire in response to unprovoked shooting by Afghan forces following a foiled militant infiltration attempt in Kurram.