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.
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.
ECP says it cannot recognise Gohar Khan as PTI chairman as intra-party polls remain under court stay
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has refused to recognise Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the chairman of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, citing a pending legal dispute over the group’s internal elections that has left its leadership in limbo.
Security forces kill 12 ‘Indian-backed’ militants in Balochistan: ISPR
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed 12 militants in an intelligence-led operation in the restive southern district of Kalat, Balochistan, on Saturday, according to a statement from the military’s public relations arm, amid a surge in terrorist attacks that has plagued the region.
Pakistan to sell surplus LNG on global markets from January to ease gas glut
LAHORE: Pakistan plans to start selling excess liquefied natural gas on international markets from Jan. 1 as it grapples with a supply glut that’s swelled circular debt in the gas sector and inflicted losses of about Rs1 trillion since 2018-19.
Stones, tear gas and arrests as Sindh Culture Day rally defies police route in Karachi
KARACHI: Police in Karachi arrested 45 people on Sunday during a rally celebrating Sindh Culture Day after participants allegedly pelted stones at law enforcement personnel, prompting a response that included baton charges and tear gas shelling, a senior police official said.
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.
Pakistan rebukes Jaishankar over “inflammatory” remarks on military
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Sunday sharply condemned remarks by India’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, accusing him of making “highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible” statements about the country’s armed forces and labeling them “misleading.”
PTI rebukes military over accusations against Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD: Leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the party founded by the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, sharply criticised remarks by a top military spokesman that labeled Khan a national security threat, warning that such accusations risked further eroding democracy and unity in a country already strained by political turmoil and recent constitutional changes.