Category Archives: Pakistan

All eight people rescued from cable car dangling above valley in Pakistan

Posted on by

Cable car ordeal ends as authorities say everyone brought to safety after hours-long operation in Battagram

All eight people have been rescued from a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistan valley, a spokesperson for the state-run emergency services said.

Pakistani authorities said army commandos, with the help of civilians, made the final rescues after an operation lasting hours. Floodlights were installed and a ground-based operation reached the remaining three people late on Tuesday more than 12 hours after their cable car snagged, leaving it hanging precariously at an angle.

Continue reading...

Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi detained

Posted on by

Reason for arrest of former foreign minister and leader of PTI is not immediately clear, party says

The Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi was detained on Saturday, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said, just hours after he said it would challenge any delay to the country’s election in the courts.

Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters the specific reason for the detention of Qureshi, twice Pakistan’s foreign minister, was not immediately clear. The caretaker information minister did not respond to a request for comment.

Continue reading...

Pakistani police searching for father in connection with death of Sara Sharif

Posted on by

Urfan Sharif, father of 10-year-old girl found dead at her home near Woking, may be in hiding in Punjab, say police

Pakistani police are searching for a man in connection with the death of his 10-year-old daughter in Surrey, officers in the eastern Punjab province have said.

Sara Sharif was found dead at her home near Woking on 10 August. Surrey police identified her father, Urfan, as well as his partner Beinash Batool and his brother Faisal Malik, as people with whom they wanted to speak as part of their investigation.

Continue reading...

Mob attacks churches in eastern Pakistan after blasphemy claim

Posted on by

Christian family accused of desecrating copy of Qur’an, setting off rampage in Faisalabad

Hundreds of Muslim men have attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan, vandalising several churches and a cemetery and setting scores of houses on fire, after accusing its members of desecrating a copy of the Qur’an.

Hundreds of people armed with sticks and rocks stormed a predominantly Christian area in Faisalabad on Wednesday. Images on social media showed smoke rising from church buildings and people setting fire to furniture.

Continue reading...

Pakistan’s outgoing PM denies vendetta against Imran Khan

Posted on by

Exclusive: Shehbaz Sharif accuses jailed predecessor of ‘shabby treatment’ of political rivals in final interview as leader

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has denied pursuing a personal vendetta against Imran Khan, his political rival and immediate predecessor, who was jailed and barred from politics on corruption charges earlier this month.

Speaking to the Guardian in his last interview before handing over to a caretaker leader, Sharif said that “victimisation is not in [his] dictionary” and accused Khan of “shabby treatment of opposition leaders and putting them behind bars” when he was in power from 2018 to April last year.

Continue reading...

Pakistan appoints little-known senator as caretaker PM

Posted on by

Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to navigate economic and political turmoil after Imran Khan conviction

A little-known senator from Pakistan’s least populous province has been announced as caretaker prime minister to see the country through to the next election, the leader of the opposition said.

The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and opposition leader, Raja Riaz, agreed on Saturday to name senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker premier.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan barred from politics for five years by Pakistan election commission

Posted on by

Former prime minister appealing against conviction and three-year jail term for corruption in high court

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has been barred from politics for five years by the country’s election commission after his conviction on corruption charges, local media reported.

Several local TV news channels said the election commission of Pakistan issued the notification on Tuesday in line with the guilty ruling.

Continue reading...

Dozens die in train crash in southern Pakistan after 10 carriages derail

Posted on by

Thirty people reported dead and more than 90 injured after Rawalpindi-bound express overturns

A train has derailed in southern Pakistan, killing 30 people and injuring more than 90.

Ten carriages of a Rawalpindi-bound train derailed and some overturned near the Pakistani town of Nawabshah on Sunday, trapping many passengers, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho. Officials said rescue operations had been completed by early evening.

Continue reading...

Fears grow Pakistani government will delay general election due this year

Posted on by

Law minister claims new census needed for vote but supporters of Imran Khan, who is facing jail, believe his popularity is a factor

Concerns are mounting in Pakistan that a general election due later this year could be delayed after the government announced that the vote could take place only after a new census was completed and new constituency boundaries drawn.

The announcement from the nation’s law minister that it could take four months to complete the process came on the same day that the former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for “corrupt practices”, involving the sale of state gifts, and disqualified him from politics.

Continue reading...

Imran Khan: former Pakistan prime minister sentenced to three years in jail

Posted on by

Khan arrested in Lahore after court ruling bans him from politics for five years for corruption

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested after a court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in jail and disqualified him from politics for “corrupt practices” involving the sale of state gifts.

Khan, 70, was picked up by police from his home in Lahore on Saturday after a court ruled on the Toshakhana case, in which he was accused of illegally selling gifts from heads of state worth hundreds of millions of rupees.

Continue reading...

A year on, the devastating long-term effects of Pakistan’s floods are revealed

Posted on by

Country’s health and economy ruined as Islamic charity says rich nations must compensate those suffering worst of climate crisis

A year after Pakistan’s worst floods in living memory, a report by Islamic Relief Worldwide has revealed the devastating long-term impact on people, especially children, and argued that rich nations must compensate those countries most affected by the climate emergency.

Researchers from Islamic Relief who talked to people in the flood-affected areas found 40% of the children they surveyed had stunted growth and 25% were underweight as families struggle to access food and healthcare. About 80% of mothers reported sickness among children, with outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever increasing.

Continue reading...

Pakistan government faces backlash over ‘draconian’ arrest powers

Posted on by

Amendment to bill would allow intelligence agencies to search ‘enemies’ and their premises without warrant

The Pakistan government is facing a backlash from MPs and senators after introducing an amendment to a colonial-era secrets act that critics have said will grant “draconian” powers to its military intelligence agency to detain and arrest citizens with impunity.

The amendment was quietly added in a parliamentary session and passed without providing copies to MPs, creating concern among parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle.

Continue reading...

Islamic State says it carried out Pakistan suicide bombing that killed 54

Posted on by

Blast took place at political rally for a pro-Taliban party as country faces a rising tide of militant attacks

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 54 people in Pakistan, as the country battles a rising tide of militant attacks.

The bombing took place at a rally for a pro-Taliban party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has faced a rapidly declining security situation due to attacks from militant groups including the Pakistan Taliban and Islamic State’s regional affiliate.

Continue reading...

Pakistan police suspect Islamic State in bomb blast that killed at least 44

Posted on by

Nearly 200 injured at gathering of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party ahead of elections expected later this year

At least 44 people have been killed and almost 200 injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that targeted a political party gathering.

Police said the explosion at a rally on Sunday afternoon for the conservative Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party (JUI-F), a government coalition partner, was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives vest close to the stage where several senior leaders of the party were sitting.

Continue reading...

Barbie release delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over ‘objectionable content’

Posted on by

Film being reviewed to ensure it is not violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values

The launch of the highly anticipated Hollywood movie Barbie has been delayed in Pakistan’s Punjab province over “objectionable content”.

Officials said the film would be reviewed and needed clearance from the provincial boards that censor scenes violating the country’s social, cultural and religious values.

Continue reading...

Greek shipwreck: hi-tech investigation suggests coastguard responsible for sinking

Posted on by

Research into loss of trawler with hundreds of deaths strongly contradicts official accounts – while finding a failure to mobilise help and evidence that survivor statements were tampered with

Attempts by the Greek coastguard to tow a fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants may have caused the vessel to sink, according to a new investigation by the Guardian and media partners that has raised further questions about the incident, which left an estimated 500 people missing

The trawler carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the coast of Greece on 14 June. There were 104 survivors.

Continue reading...

At least 50 dead in Pakistan monsoon floods since end of June

Posted on by

Most of the deaths were in Punjab province and mainly caused by electrocution and building collapses

At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials have said.

The summer monsoon between June and September brings 70-80% of south Asia’s annual rainfall every year. It is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security in a region of about 2 billion people – but it also triggers landslides and floods.

Continue reading...

Russia is more united than ever, Putin tells allies after failed mutiny

Posted on by

President also told leaders from China, Pakistan and India that Russia would stand up to western sanctions

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia remains “united as never before” in the wake of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and claimed the country continued to flourish in the face of heavy western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.

In an address from the Kremlin to a virtual gathering of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group founded by Russia and China to counter western influence, the Russian president attempted to rebuff any suggestion that he had been weakened by last week’s chaotic but short-lived rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Continue reading...

Greek shipwreck does little to dissuade Pakistanis leaving for Europe

Posted on by

Officials in Punjab say they can’t to stop the exodus, as families tell of loved ones lost on the perilous route via Africa and the Mediterranean

In one of the busiest hubs for trafficking in Pakistan, would-be migrants are continuing to leave for Europe despite hundreds of people drowning after a trawler sank off the Greek coast last month, the Guardian has found.

In the past week, at least two more people from the district of Mandi Bahauddin, in eastern Pakistan, have left with the help of traffickers. The continued migration comes as families mourn loved ones believed to be on the Greek shipwreck, most of whose passengers were from Pakistan, and those missing after previous forlorn attempts to reach Europe.

Continue reading...

Disbelief and anger among Greek shipwreck victims’ relatives as millions spent on Titan rescue effort

Posted on by

Disparity between rescue responses has sparked debate in Pakistan about double standards

Anees Majeed, who lost five relatives in the boat that sank off Greece on 14 June, watched in disbelief and growing anger as a frantic, multimillion-dollar rescue effort played out for five other men lost at sea last week.

Like thousands of others across Pakistan, Majeed, a law student from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, grieved at funeral prayers without a body to bury. At least 350 Pakistani citizens were on the overcrowded craft, the interior minister, Rana Sanaullah, confirmed on Friday.

Continue reading...