Karachi: Uncertainty and chaos gripped the metropolis following the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed killer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, on Monday and cost the national exchequer a huge sum of Rs 5 billion. Shops, markets and business centres in the financial hub shut and opened many times after Qadri’s supporters and sympathisers came out on roads to observe black day over his hanging. Both supporters and sympathisers of Qadri came out of…
Posts published in March 2016
QUETTA: Balochistan’s Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti survived an armed attack on Monday near Dera Bugti while going to Sui area along with his security guards. “Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti and members of his convoy remained unhurt in the attack and reached Sui safely,” Javed Naveed Khosa, Dera Bugti’s Assistant Commissioner, told Dawn. Sources said that the minister was targeted as he was returning to Sui after distributing appointment letters among 70 Levies personnel…
The writer is a legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists. LAST week, the European Parliament decided to continue Pakistan’s GSP Plus trading status, an instrument of the EU’s trade policy that aims to encourage developing countries to comply with core international standards in return for trade incentives. The decision was based on the European Commission’s report assessing Pakistan’s performance in meeting the terms of the GSP Plus. In its January report, the European…
ISLAMABAD: A Senate committee was informed here on Monday that the government was planning to strictly implement laws to discourage ‘dummy newspapers’ and the circulation declared by newspapers would be linked to their tax filing certificates. A meeting of the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, presided over by Senator Mushahidullah Khan, was informed that newspapers were not fulfilling their responsibilities towards their employees. Officials of the information ministry told the…
QUETTA: Two suspected drug smugglers died while three others were injured in an ‘encounter’ with security personnel in the Mashkel area near the Iranian border on Monday. According to a spokesman for the Frontier Corps, Balochistan, FC personnel conducted an operation on receiving information about the presence of drug dealers and smugglers in the area. There was a heavy exchange of fire. Two suspects burnt to death when their vehicle caught fire due to the…
ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to tighten the noose around members of the banned organisations, under-observation suspects and human traffickers by cancelling their passports and blocking their national identity cards. The decision was taken at a meeting on Monday. It was chaired by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Those falling under the net would be denied facilities such as permission to open and operate bank accounts and obtain mobile phone SIMs and driving licences.…
ISLAMABAD: The authorities have cleared the introduction of drastic restrictions against suspected terrorists, members of proscribed organisations and human traffickers. On Monday, the interior ministry said it was ready to cancel the travel documents, computerised national identity cards and driving licences of suspects placed under the fourth schedule. They will not even be allowed to open a bank account or buy a mobile SIM either. The fourth schedule is a section of the Anti-Terrorism Act…
HYDERABAD: A terrorist plan to execute a jailbreak, besides carrying out a killing spree, in Central Prison Hyderabad might have been thwarted but the vulnerabilities of the prison still exist. The prison is home to around 2,500 inmates, among them are 57 high value targets (HVTs) including target killers and militants. The prison escaped the blitz thanks to an intelligence operation, which busted the group when the design was in the final stage of execution.…
The writer is a freelance contributor. General Raheel Sharif visited the Shawal Valley on February 24, to give the military commanders the go-ahead for launching the final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb and clear the area of the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban, who have reportedly relocated after their return from Afghanistan. As per reports, a fierce battle is raging between the security forces and the terrorists, who are deeply entrenched and well-equipped. However, the security…
KABUL: The National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Monday said that it has smashed four terrorist networks in southern Kandahar province. In a press statement issued here, the NDS said that its operatives succeeded to arrest 26 Taliban fighters and destroy four terrorist networks in the city of Kandahar. The arrested rebels planned to conduct multiple suicide attacks by using vehicles and three-wheel motorbikes full of explosives in Kandahar city. The vehicles and motorbikes were…
The former senior deputy interior minister for security Gen. Ayub Salangi slammed Pakistan’s military intelligence – Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for supporting the anti-government armed militant groups in Afghanistan. Gen. Salangi was speaking during his farewell ceremony in the Ministry of Interior (MoI) compound, a day after President Ghani nominated General Abdul Rahman Rahman to replace him as Senior Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs. He reiterated his stance towards ISI’s interference in Afghanistan by…