Babar Azam says Pakistan not up to the mark after shock defeat to US in T20 World Cup

Babar Azam says Pakistan not up to the mark after shock defeat to US in T20 World Cup
Pakistan's captain Babar Azam, left, and batting partner Shadab Khan interact between the wickets during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between United States and Pakistan at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas on June 6, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 07 June 2024
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Babar Azam says Pakistan not up to the mark after shock defeat to US in T20 World Cup

Babar Azam says Pakistan not up to the mark after shock defeat to US in T20 World Cup
  • US beat Pakistan in a Super Over in one of biggest upsets in the World Cup history
  • Pakistan next face arch rivals India in a blockbuster game in New York on Sunday

BENGALURU: Pakistan have a tendency to underestimate less established teams at major tournaments, captain Babar Azam said, adding that his side played well below their standard in a shocking defeat to the United States at the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.
The US beat Pakistan in a Super Over in Dallas to achieve one of the biggest upsets in Twenty20 World Cup history and secure their second win of the tournament.
This is not the first time that Pakistan have suffered a defeat to lower-ranked opposition in major tournaments, with the 2009 champions losing to Zimbabwe in the 2022 T20 World Cup and Afghanistan at last year’s 50-overs World Cup.
“Whenever you come into any tournament, you always do the best preparation,” Babar told reporters after the defeat.
“But you can say it’s a kind of mindset, when you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. You take things a little lightly.
“If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will beat you. I believe that we are not up to the mark in executing. We are doing well in preparation, but in the match, we are not executing our plans as a team.”
Babar also lamented his side’s failure to take wickets in the first half of the US innings, with an early 68-run partnership between Mohank Patel and Andries Gous proving vital in the host nation’s chase.
“We are not playing good in all three departments,” Babar said.
“We are better than that in the bowling, we aren’t taking wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets then pressure is on us.
“But I think the way they finished the game in the super overs, credit to the US team.”
Pakistan next face arch rivals India in a blockbuster game in New York on Sunday.


Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan

Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan
Updated 12 sec ago
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Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan

Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan
  • Sistan-Baluchistan is one of most impoverished provinces in the Islamic republic
  • It has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs and Baloch militants

TEHRAN: Iranian security forces on Sunday killed at least three people during clashes with militants in the country’s restive southeast, state media reported, following a deadly attack on police last month.
“Three terrorists of the enemy were killed and nine others were arrested” during operations in Sistan-Baluchistan province, the official IRNA news agency said.
Some 15 militants have been reported killed since an October 26 attack claimed by Jaish Al-Adl, a Baloch Sunni militant organization that operates mainly in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.
That attack left 10 police officers dead in the province.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of the most impoverished provinces in the Islamic republic.
It has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, militants from the Baloch minority and extremists.
Formed in 2012 by Baloch separatists, Jaish Al-Adl is designated a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
 


Pakistan deputy PM calls for accountability of Israel over ‘war crimes’ in Gaza

Pakistan deputy PM calls for accountability of Israel over ‘war crimes’ in Gaza
Updated 38 min 23 sec ago
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Pakistan deputy PM calls for accountability of Israel over ‘war crimes’ in Gaza

Pakistan deputy PM calls for accountability of Israel over ‘war crimes’ in Gaza
  • Ishaq Dar said this while attending the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Riyadh
  • The development came a day before Arab–Islamic summit to address Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza, Lebanon

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, on Sunday said Israel must be held accountable for its “war crimes” in Gaza, calling for an end to the “genocide” in the Palestinian territory.
Dar said this while attending the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Riyadh to discuss Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The development came a day before an extraordinary Arab–Islamic summit between the Arab League and the OIC on Nov. 11 to address Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Speaking at the OIC CFM meeting, Dar condemned Israel’s “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Palestine and demanded the world hold Israel accountable for them.
“[Dar] expressed alarm at Israeli adventurism in the Middle East that is endangering peace and security in the region,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
“[He] called on the international community to bring an end to Gaza genocide.”
Since Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed over 43,000 people and injured thousands more. Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Iran and Syria have also heightened fears of a wider war in the Middle East.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters.”
The South Asian country has so far dispatched more than 1,300 tons of relief goods for Gaza and Lebanon, besides establishing the ‘Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for Gaza and Lebanon’ that aims to collect public donations for the war-affected people.
During his address, Dar also commended the OIC and the Arab League for their unwavering dedication to the Palestinian cause.
The Nov. 11 summit in Riyadh will be a follow-up to the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit held in November 2023 in Riyadh, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
The summit will be attended by PM Shehbaz Sharif who will reiterate Pakistan’s full support to the Palestinian cause.
 


Fear grips travelers a day after deadly bombing at Pakistan train station

Fear grips travelers a day after deadly bombing at Pakistan train station
Updated 11 min 8 sec ago
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Fear grips travelers a day after deadly bombing at Pakistan train station

Fear grips travelers a day after deadly bombing at Pakistan train station
  • The suicide bombing at Quetta Railway Station killed 26 people and injured 64 others on Saturday morning
  • This was the deadliest attack since coordinated assaults in August that killed over 50 people in Balochistan

QUETTA: Fear gripped passengers traveling via trains on Sunday from Quetta to different parts of the country, a day after a deadly suicide bombing killed more than two dozen people in the southwestern Pakistani city.
At least 26 people were killed and 64 others injured when a bomb blast struck the Quetta Railway Station early on Saturday morning in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, according to officials.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest since a string of coordinated assaults on Aug. 25-26 in which more than 50 people, civilians and security officials, were killed in the region.
On Sunday, signs of destruction and blood stains were still visible at the railway station and passengers traveling from Quetta to other cities described the environment as “fearful.” 
“There is silence at the railway station this morning because everyone is in fear due to Saturday’s attack,” Muhammad Mubashir, a 24-year-old passenger who was traveling to Sibi, told Arab News.
“After any attack, the government increases the security arrangements but after a couple of days, they end the stringent security.”

Police personnel stand guard outside a railway station, a day after an explosion allegedly by Pakistani separatists in Quetta, Pakistan, on November 10, 2024. (AFP)

Muhammad Ijaz, who came to see off his family at the railway station, was concerned about safety of his children who were traveling to Multan.
“The government must provide security to the commuters traveling through trains because it is a reasonable traveling service for poor passengers,” he demanded.
Imran Hayat, the Quetta divisional superintendent of Pakistan Railways, said they had beefed up security measures at the railway station following Saturday’s attack.
“It is very difficult to take preventive measures against suicide bombings, however, we have increased vigilance and due diligence at the Quetta Railway Station,” he told Arab News.

People mourn the death of their relatives in a hospital following a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, on November 9, 2024. (AP)

Balochistan is a resource-rich but impoverished province where separatist militants have been fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the region. Insurgents say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation at the center.
The Pakistani government and military deny they are exploiting Balochistan and have long maintained that neighbors such as India, Afghanistan and Iran foment trouble in the remote province and support and fund the insurgency there to impede its development potential. Balochistan is home to major China-led investment projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine.
In a statement shared with the media, the BLA said its suicide unit, the Majeed Brigade, had carried out the bombing to target a “Pakistani army unit” returning via train after completing a course at an infantry school. The claim has not yet been confirmed by the Pakistani military.
The rise in separatist attacks in Balochistan poses a major challenge for the weak coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is battling an economic crisis and political instability as well as a rise in militant violence by both religiously motivated and separatist groups across the country.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Army Chief General Asim Munir visited Quetta on Saturday to attend funeral prayers of those killed in the railway station attack.

In this handout photo, taken and released by Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan’s civil and military leadership attend the funeral prayers of army officers, who were killed during a suicide bombing in Quetta early Saturday, in Quetta on November 10, 2024. (ISPR)

“We must battle this terrorism together. Apart from the Balochistan government and the federation, the people of Pakistan have to fight against it too,” Naqvi told reporters in Quetta alongside Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti.
“And you will see, God willing, as the chief minister said, we will eliminate this wave of terrorism.”
 


Pakistan says an estimated 500,000 children missed vaccinations in recent anti-polio drive

Pakistan says an estimated 500,000 children missed vaccinations in recent anti-polio drive
Updated 14 min 15 sec ago
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Pakistan says an estimated 500,000 children missed vaccinations in recent anti-polio drive

Pakistan says an estimated 500,000 children missed vaccinations in recent anti-polio drive
  • PM’s coordinator on health says refusals, unavailability of people caused children to miss vaccinations in November
  • Says unvaccinated Afghan refugees traveled to other parts of Pakistan to escape deportation, leading to spread of polio 

ISLAMABAD: An estimated 500,000 Pakistani children missed polio vaccinations during this month’s countrywide inoculation drive, the country’s chief health official confirmed this week, attributing it mostly to people refusing vaccines or being unavailable due to traveling when the campaign was launched. 

Pakistan has reported 48 polio cases this year, with 23 of those reported from the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, 13 from Sindh, ten from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

The alarming surge in cases prompted Pakistan to conduct a countrywide anti-polio vaccination drive from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, aiming to inoculate over 45 million children against the infection.

Pakistan remains one of only two countries worldwide where polio remains endemic. Misinformation about vaccinations and attacks by religiously motivated militants on polio teams have been major impediments to immunization campaigns.

“This year I don’t have the exact figure but we are expecting around 500,000 refusals, unavailability [of people for vaccinations],” Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, coordinator to the prime minister on national health services, told Arab News in an exclusive interview. 

“But we are not going to leave them [children] we are going to chase them, we are going to track them, trace them and we are going to get them vaccinated for this polio.”

Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of poliovirus cases, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding years when cases dropped in 2023 to six, 20 in 2022 and just one in 2022.

Attacks on polio vaccinators and security teams deployed to protect them have also increased. 

Seven people, including five children, were killed when a bomb targeted police traveling to guard vaccine workers this month. Days earlier, two police escorts were gunned down by militants.

The official regretted that over 90 polio vaccinators have been killed in the country since 2012. 

“[Overall] more than 90 have been martyred just because they are serving the nation and I do not think so anywhere in the world this happens,” Bharath said. 

Speaking on the recent surge in polio cases, Bharath said there was nothing wrong with Pakistan’s polio program, adding that the country has one of the best surveillance systems to monitor the disease. 

He said one of the major causes of the surge in polio cases this year was due to a repatriation drive launched in 2023 by Pakistan against “illegal immigrants,” causing many Afghan refugees who were not vaccinated against polio to travel to other parts of the country and spread the infection. 

“The major factor is the Afghan refugees’ repatriation program started [last year],” Bharath said. “Because they were unvaccinated, they just traveled from south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KP to all over Pakistan to just escape from that repatriation, and that is one of the biggest causes of this spread of poliovirus across Pakistan.”

He said another reason for polio spreading countrywide was because of vaccine refusals in some tribal areas of the country, where the polio teams could not administer drops and due to the deteriorating security situation which made some areas inaccessible for volunteers.

Bharat said the prime minister’s focal person on polio, the country’s polio team and the Ministry of Health developed a strategy in July and August to target previously inaccessible areas with vaccination drives. 

These were the Karachi, Quetta and south KP divisions, the official said.

“The main areas of concern were the Quetta block, that is Quetta, Chaman, Killa Saifullah, Killa Abdullah and adjoining areas,” he said.

Bharath said 64 union councils in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, seven districts in southern KP were some areas where the government had been unable to eliminate polio for a very long time.

“To deal with the situation, we are working on a different plan for each area,” Bharath said. “In South Punjab, there is a different plan and If we are going in south KP, there is a different plan,” he added. 

He said authorities were determining which programs, influencers or Islamic scholars should be involved in each area to achieve better results.

“There is a segregated campaign for south KP from 11th or 12th [November] which they are going to start in five or four districts,” he informed. 

Bharath said synchronized campaigns with Afghanistan to target polio were “crucial” to eliminate the disease.

“We are going to hold a dialogue in the first week of December in Doha, Qatar, along with WHO and we are going to discuss how we are going to have synchronized campaigns,” he said. 


Pakistan issues over 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend religious event

Pakistan issues over 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend religious event
Updated 10 November 2024
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Pakistan issues over 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend religious event

Pakistan issues over 3,000 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims to attend religious event
  • Islamabad provides visas to Indian pilgrims to attend Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak’s birthday celebrations from Nov. 14-23
  • A visa-free corridor in Pakistan’s Punjab provides easy access to Indian pilgrims to Nanak’s final resting place in Narowal

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said on Sunday it has issued over 3,000 visas to Sikh pilgrims in the country to attend the birthday celebrations of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak.
Pakistan last month renewed its agreement with India regarding the Kartarpur Corridor that gives Sikh pilgrims from the neighboring country visa-free access to the final resting place of Nanak, their religion’s founder. 
The visa-free border crossing, from India to Kartarpur in the Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab, was inaugurated in November 2019 just ahead of Nanak’s 550th birthday. 
The corridor connects the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak in India to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Nanak’s final resting place, in Kartarpur and is seen as a rare example of cooperation and diplomacy between the two South Asian neighbors.
“The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued over 3000 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India to participate in the birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji to be held in Pakistan from 14-23 November 2024,” the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi wrote on social media platform X.
It said Pakistan’s Charge d’Affaires to India, Saad Ahmad Warraich, extended his heartfelt felicitations to the Sikh pilgrims and wished them a “fulfilling yatra.”
Much of Sikh heritage is located in Pakistan. When Pakistan was carved out of India at the end of British rule in 1947, Kartarpur ended up on the Pakistani side of the border, while most of the region’s Sikhs remained on the other side.
For over seven decades, the Sikh community had lobbied for easier access to their holiest temple.
Pakistan’s initiative to open the corridor earned widespread appreciation from the international community, including the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who had described it as a “Corridor of Hope.”