Category Archives: Pakistan

Protests take place across Pakistan amid election vote-rigging allegations

Posted on by

Police fire teargas on supporters of Imran Khan amid turmoil as several parties claim they would be forming government

Police fired teargas to disperse supporters of Imran Khan as protests broke out across Pakistan amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging targeting the former prime minister’s political party and other nationalist groups in the general election.

The results of the election, which took place on Thursday, gave a surprise first place to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which won the most seats despite facing a stringent crackdown by the country’s powerful military establishment.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan claims victory in Pakistan poll but military might have final say

Posted on by

Jailed leader says he has support to form next government but analysts say results only suit the army

Imran Khan’s political party has declared it intends to form the next government after claiming a shock election victory, despite efforts by the opposition to take power in a backroom coalition deal.

Even as results showed that candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by the incarcerated former prime minister Khan, had won the most seats, by Saturday night there was still little clarity on who would be forming the next government in Pakistan, adding to a climate of political turmoil.

Continue reading...

Pakistan army chief calls for unity as election fails to produce clear winner

Posted on by

Country faces uncertainty after strong performance by independent candidates loyal to former PM Imran Khan

Pakistan’s army chief has told feuding politicians to show “maturity and unity” after an election failed to produce a clear winner, leaving the military’s favoured party having to cobble together a coalition in order to rule.

The country faces days of political horse-trading after a strong performance by independent candidates loyal to the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, scuppered the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from winning a ruling majority.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan allies claim shock victory in Pakistan election despite crackdown

Posted on by

Candidates backed by Khan’s PTI secure most seats but rival Nawaz Sharif seeks to form coalition

Politicians allied with the former prime minister Imran Khan’s party have defied a military-led crackdown and alleged widespread rigging to win the most seats in Pakistan’s election, but opponent Nawaz Sharif claimed victory and said he would form a coalition government.

Candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by Khan who is now serving sentences of more than a decade in jail, claimed a stunning victory after Thursday’s polls, defying all expectations that Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, and his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) would win an easy majority.

Continue reading...

Pakistan election: phone service suspended as country goes to polls

Posted on by

Caretaker government says it took decision for security reasons after two bomb blasts targeted election offices

Phone services have been suspended in Pakistan as the country voted in a general election marred by allegations of vote rigging and militant attacks.

The caretaker government said phone services, including mobile internet, had been suspended on Thursday for security reasons, after two two bomb blasts by Islamic State targeted election offices in the restive region of Balochistan on the eve of the polls.

Continue reading...

Italian court jails people smuggler over shipwreck that killed at least 94 migrants

Posted on by

Gun Ufuk, 29, sentenced to 20 years in prison over deadly sinking that occurred metres from shore

An Italian court has sentenced a people smuggler to 20 years in prison for involvement in a shipwreck last year that killed at least 94 migrants.

The court in the southern city of Crotone found Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish national, guilty of crimes including causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration. It also ordered him to pay a €3m fine and pay damages to civil plaintiffs.

Continue reading...

At least 24 killed in two bombings at election offices in Pakistan

Posted on by

Party office and that of an independent candidate hit in Balochistan province on day before vote, leaving dozens injured

Two bomb blasts, at the election offices of a political party and an independent candidate in south-west Pakistan, have killed at least 24 people and wounded more than two dozen others, a day before parliamentary elections are to be held.

In the first attack, in Pishin, a district in Balochistan province, at least 14 people were killed, officials said. The wounded were transported to a nearby hospital, some listed as in a critical condition.

Continue reading...

Army looms large as Nawaz Sharif eases towards fourth term in Pakistan

Posted on by

Military has put its faith in former PM for fourth time, leading many to believe election outcome is already decided

With days to go before Pakistan goes to the polls, the feverish buzz and boisterous rallies that usually mark the campaign season have been unusually muted.

“There is a sense among many people that the outcome is already predetermined,” said Samina Yasmeen, a fellow from the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan and his wife sentenced in ‘un-Islamic’ marriage case

Posted on by

Pakistani former PM says case was created to ‘humiliate’ him and Bushra Bibi, who were sentenced to seven years each

A local court in Pakistan has sentenced Imran Khan, the country’s former prime minister, and his wife to seven years each in a case related to their marriage, which it declared “un-Islamic”.

Khan and Bushra Bibi were both last week separately handed 14-year sentences in a corruption case, known as Toshakhana, for illegally selling state gifts.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan, Pakistan former PM, sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption

Posted on by

Ruling against Khan and wife Bushra Bibi comes just a day after a 10-year sentence was handed down, and just before Pakistan goes to the polls in a general election

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case, a day after he was given a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was also handed a 14-year sentence in the case, known as Toshakhana, which accused them both of illegally selling state gifts. The judge also banned them both from holding political office for 10 years.

Continue reading...

Pakistani military use age-old tactics to keep Imran Khan away from election

Posted on by

Former PM, once military’s golden boy, has been sentenced in two separate cases to 10 and 14 years

The script seems eerily familiar. Imran Khan, once the golden boy of Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, found himself at the receiving end of not one, but two, damning court verdicts this week.

Sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, and 14 years on Wednesday, the brazen timing of the convictions in two separate cases made one thing abundantly clear: the military will stop at nothing to keep Khan away from Pakistan’s general election, which will be held next week.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan handed 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets

Posted on by

Former Pakistan PM condemned trial as ‘a joke’ amid crackdown on his political party in run-up to election

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for leaking official secrets, amid a crackdown on his political party before the general election due next week.

The sentence is the harshest yet against Khan, who has been held in jail since August after he began to openly criticise the country’s military.

Continue reading...

Pakistan accuses Indian agents of two assassinations on its soil

Posted on by

Foreign minister draws comparison to similar claim in Canada and says India must be held to account

Pakistan has said it has credible evidence that Indian agents carried out two assassinations on Pakistani soil, and drawn comparisons to the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.

In a press briefing on Thursday, the foreign secretary, Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi, said India was running a “sophisticated and sinister” campaign of “extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings” inside Pakistan.

Continue reading...

Seemingly disparate Middle East conflicts show collective erosion of self-restraint

Posted on by

As pockets of war multiply across region so does the risk that conflict becomes more contagious and intractable

On Thursday morning the Iranian news website Entekhab ran, without irony, the headline: “Taliban call on Pakistan and Iran to show restraint and urge both sides to settle differences through diplomatic means”.

If proof were needed that a new, more dangerous world order may be upon us, the Taliban cast in the role of advocates for restraint seems conclusive.

Continue reading...

Pakistan hits separatist ‘hideouts’ in retaliatory strikes against Iran

Posted on by

Drone and missile attacks in Sistan and Balochistan province come after Iran struck sites inside Pakistan

Pakistan has launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders, heightening fears of further instability across the Middle East and surrounding region.

A statement by Pakistan’s foreign office early on Thursday said it had undertaken “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in the Sistan and Balochistan province of Iran, adding that “a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation”.

Continue reading...

Iran hails strikes in Pakistan as it is warned of ‘serious consequences’

Posted on by

Iran claims attack in south-west Balochistan province destroyed two strongholds of Sunni militant group

Iranian military officials were hailing one of the biggest projections of force in its recent history as Pakistan warned Tehran of “serious consequences” to a “completely unacceptable” attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan that left six dead or injured including two children.

Iran said its attack mounted on Tuesday using “precision missile and drone strikes”, destroyed two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl in the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan’s south-west Balochistan province.

Continue reading...

Iran strikes ‘militant bases’ in Pakistan in latest Middle East flashpoint

Posted on by

Pakistan says attacks killed two children in ‘unprovoked violation’ of its airspace, adding to regional instability sparked by Israel-Gaza war

Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike, and summoned Tehran’s senior diplomat in Islamabad to protest against the “unprovoked violation of its airspace”. The ministry did not give more details of the strikes, but Pakistani social media accounts said missile and drone strikes had been aimed at the Balochistan province which lies along the 1,000km border between the two countries.

Continue reading...

Pakistan: Imran Khan’s party loses cricket bat electoral symbol

Posted on by

Supreme court ruling is latest setback for jailed leader before general election

Pakistan’s supreme court has rejected an attempt by the party of the former prime minister Imran Khan to retain its traditional electoral symbol of a cricket bat, in the latest setback for the jailed leader before a general election.

Khan’s party, at odds with powerful army generals, has been grappling with a military-backed crackdown that has gathered pace before the vote due on 8 February. The party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), alleges the military is attempting to keep it out of the election race, a charge the army denies.

Continue reading...

Islamic State claims responsibility for Iran bombings that killed at least 84

Posted on by

Afghan affiliate of IS claims responsibility for blasts in memorial crowd as Tehran tightens security on its eastern borders

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on a crowd in southern Iran marking the anniversary of the death of the senior Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Suleimani.

At least 84 people died when two blasts ripped through the crowd near Suleimani’s tomb in the city of Kerman, four years after he was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad. Suleimani had been a staunch enemy of IS, which resents the damage he did to its cause in Iraq and Syria.

Continue reading...

Pakistan commission rejects Imran Khan’s bid to overturn election ban

Posted on by

Former prime minister is barred from standing in elections after being jailed for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office

Pakistan’s election body has rejected former prime minister Imran Khan’s nomination to contest the 2024 national elections in two constituencies, officials and his party’s media team said on Saturday.

The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister in April 2022. He has not been seen in public since he was jailed for three years in August for unlawfully selling state gifts while in office from 2018 to 2022.

Continue reading...