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Pakistan’s counterterrorism force arrests militant leader for attacks on Rangers, Chinese workers

Pakistan’s counterterrorism force arrests militant leader for attacks on Rangers, Chinese workers
Rangers check motorcyclists at a security checkpoint set up near a university gate a day after a suicide attack on a van near the Confucius institute which is the cultural programme that China operates at universities around the world at the Karachi University in Karachi on April 27, 2022. (AFP/File)
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Updated 08 August 2024
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Pakistan’s counterterrorism force arrests militant leader for attacks on Rangers, Chinese workers

Pakistan’s counterterrorism force arrests militant leader for attacks on Rangers, Chinese workers
  • Muhammad Hanif of banned Sindh Revolutionary Army was caught with significant quantity of explosives
  • CTD says he took militant training in Kandahar where he traveled twice and learned to use different weapons
Updated 08 August 2024
NAIMAT KHAN
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KARACHI: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s southeastern province of Sindh announced the arrest of a local militant leader on Thursday, saying he was involved in violent activities targeting paramilitary personnel, Chinese workers and a prominent religio-political party in the country.

Muhammad Hanif, a member of the banned separatist outfit Sindh Revolutionary Army (SRA), was arrested in Shaheed Benazirabad district, previously known as Nawabshah, along with a significant quantity of explosives and detonators, according to an official statement.

The SRA is known for its violent activities aimed at promoting Sindhi independence, including attacks on law enforcement and government targets.

The group has also launched attacks against Chinese nationals working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, reflecting its opposition to foreign investment in the region.

“The suspect was found in possession of 460 grams of explosive material, one hand grenade, and seven detonators along with a battery and adapter,” the CTD said in its statement.

“The suspect was on the railway track, planning to carry out an explosion on a train traveling from Sindh to Punjab to spread terror,” it continued. “He was apprehended during an intelligence-based operation, thanks to timely and effective information received from sensitive agencies, before he could carry out any potential terrorist act.”

The CTD also shared a list of militant activities allegedly confessed by Hanif during the investigation following his arrest, including two separate attacks in 2019 on Rangers in Sindh, in which six paramilitary personnel were killed.

The statement said he admitted to attempting to detonate a vehicle used by Chinese workers using a magnetic explosive device in 2020, though his plan could not succeed.

The same year, he opened fire on Chinese nationals in Karachi, injuring one of them.

The CTD said the SRA suspect targeted a 2020 Jamaat-e-Islami rally, resulting in six deaths and 20 injuries.

The official statement informed Hanif admitted to receiving militant training in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he traveled twice and learned to use various weapons and make improvised explosive devices.

It added that charges had been framed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

Topics: Pakistan Chinese workers in Pakistan Pakistan China Ties

Pakistan spinner Noman Ali bags ICC’s prestigious men’s Player of the Month award

Pakistan spinner Noman Ali bags ICC’s prestigious men’s Player of the Month award
Updated 7 sec ago
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Pakistan spinner Noman Ali bags ICC’s prestigious men’s Player of the Month award

Pakistan spinner Noman Ali bags ICC’s prestigious men’s Player of the Month award
  • Noman Ali, along with spinner Sajid Khan, was instrumental in Pakistan’s Test series win over England last month 
  • Ali’s returned his career-best figures in second Test at Multan, taking 8/46 to help Pakistan secure 152-run victory
Updated 7 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani spinner Noman Ali bagged the International Cricket Council’s ‘Men’s Player of the Month’ award for October, cricket’s global governing body said on Tuesday, for his stellar 20 wickets in last month’s Test series against England that helped his team secure a 2-1 series victory. 

Ali took 11 wickets in the second Test match against England in Multan while he grabbed nine wickets in the second Test to ensure Pakistan beat England. In the first Test, Pakistan beat England by 152 runs while in the second, they completed a nine-wicket rout of the former ODI world champions. 

Ali and spinner Sajid Khan were both picked up for the second and third Test matches in Multan and Rawalpindi, respectively, after Pakistan dropped cricket stars Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and pacer Naseem Shah. The gamble paid off, as Khan and Ali spun Pakistan to a series victory on pitches that were made spin-friendly by curators via large fans and heaters. 

“I am delighted to be named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month and deeply grateful to all my teammates who helped me put my best performances forward to help Pakistan win a historic home Test series against England,” Ali said in a statement shared by the ICC. “It is always exciting to be a part of such memorable wins for your country.”

The award win comes after Noman entered the top ten of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings for the first time last month, bowling expertly in tandem with Khan. This was the career-best figures for the left-arm Pakistani spinner. 

Ali also contributed with the bat in the first innings of the third Test match in Rawalpindi, playing an impressive 45-run knock at number nine to help his side gain an impressive 77-run lead. 

Ali, a Test specialist, could next feature in Pakistan’s Test series against South Africa. The green shirts are scheduled to play two Test matches in the African country, three ODIs and three T20Is in December and January 2025. 

West Indies will also tour Pakistan for a two-match Test series in January 2025. 

Topics: noman ali ICC ICC player of the month Cricket Pakistan Arab News Pakistan

Cop ‘facilitator’ of attack on Pakistan police compound that killed 86 arrested — official

Cop ‘facilitator’ of attack on Pakistan police compound that killed 86 arrested — official
Updated 5 min 43 sec ago
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Cop ‘facilitator’ of attack on Pakistan police compound that killed 86 arrested — official

Cop ‘facilitator’ of attack on Pakistan police compound that killed 86 arrested — official
  • Chief of police says suspect arranged suicide jackets, explosives and militants from Afghanistan
  • Suicide bomber struck mosque inside police compound in Jan 2023, Kabul denies involvement 
Updated 5 min 43 sec ago
WASIM SAJJAD

PESHAWAR: A policeman considered the main suspect in planning a deadly blast at a police compound in northwestern Pakistan last year has been arrested, the Inspector General Police of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (IGP) province said on Tuesday. 

A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside the Peshawar Police Lines compound on Jan. 30, 2023, killing 86 and injuring nearly 250 people who had gathered for an afternoon prayer congregation. Most of the casualties were police officers. It was not clear how the bomber was able to slip into the walled compound, which houses the police headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar and is itself located in a high-security zone with other government buildings.

Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, IGP Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur said the suspect had been identified as Muhammad Wali, a police constable in Peshawar who had been arrested on Oct. 11 this year from the city’s Jamil Chawak. Two suicide jackets were recovered from the suspect who was nabbed in a joint operation by police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

 “The suspect was involved in providing suicide jackets, explosives, and terrorists from Afghanistan,” Gandapur said, explaining Wali’s alleged involvement in the planning of the attack. 

“The suspect is affiliated with the banned organization Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA),” he added, referring to a subgroup of Pakistan’s indigenous Taliban movement, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“He joined the police in 2019 and took leave three years ago and traveled to Afghanistan … The suspect provided the map of Police Lines to the suicide attacker through Telegram [messaging service] and escorted him from Khyber [district bordering Afghanistan] to Peshawar’s Pir Zakori area.”

Gandapur said the “facilitator” had received Rs 0.2 million for his assistance in the attack, adding that he was involved in other attacks as well for which he would move suicide jackets and explosives between various locations.

Pakistan has repeatedly blamed a surge in terror attacks on neighboring Afghanistan, saying most assaults are carried out by Afghan nationals and their facilitators and by TTP and other militants who cross over into Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan. 

The Taliban government in Kabul says Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue and cannot be blamed on the neighbor. 

Topics: Pakistan police

Pakistan wants ICC explanation after India’s Champions Trophy snub

Pakistan wants ICC explanation after India’s Champions Trophy snub
Updated 18 min 40 sec ago
Reuters
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Pakistan wants ICC explanation after India’s Champions Trophy snub

Pakistan wants ICC explanation after India’s Champions Trophy snub
  • India have refused to travel across the border for next year’s Champions Trophy
  • India have not toured Pakistan since 2008 because of soured political relations 
Updated 18 min 40 sec ago
Reuters

The Pakistan Cricket Board has sought clarification from the sport’s governing International Cricket Council (ICC) following India’s refusal to travel across the border for next year’s Champions Trophy, a PCB spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

India have not toured Pakistan since 2008 because of soured political relations between the neighbors, who play each other only in global multi-team tournaments.

Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup last year but winners India played all their matches in Sri Lanka under a “hybrid model.”

The PCB has ruled out a similar arrangement for the Feb. 19-March 9 Champions Trophy despite the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) maintaining its stance of not sending a team to Pakistan citing government advice.

“The PCB has sent a letter to the ICC seeking clarification,” the spokesperson said, adding it was awaiting Pakistan government advice before deciding their next step.

“The PCB received an email from the ICC late last week, stating that the BCCI has informed them that their team will not travel to Pakistan...

“The PCB has forwarded that email to the government of Pakistan for their advice and guidance.”

ICC officials were not immediately available to explain how it planned to resolve the uncertainty around the elite 50-overs tournament.

While India’s presence is crucial to the commercial success of the ICC event, Pakistan might pull out of the tournament should it be shifted out of the country, the Dawn newspaper reported on Tuesday citing sources.

The ICC is in talks with the PCB and the participating boards before finalizing the schedule of the eight-team tournament.

Topics: Pakistan India Ties ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Beijing pushes for own security staff to provide protection to citizens in Pakistan

Beijing pushes for own security staff to provide protection to citizens in Pakistan
Updated 24 min 22 sec ago
Reuters
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Beijing pushes for own security staff to provide protection to citizens in Pakistan

Beijing pushes for own security staff to provide protection to citizens in Pakistan
  • String of recent attacks have angered China, pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system
  • Pakistani officials say consensus developing on setting up joint system, Chinese officials sitting in on security meetings and coordination 
Updated 24 min 22 sec ago
Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Beijing is pushing Pakistan to allow its own security staff to provide protection to thousands of Chinese citizens working in the South Asian nation, during talks after a car bombing in Karachi that was seen as a major security breach, sources said.
Last month’s airport bombing in the southern port city that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work on a project after a holiday in Thailand was the latest in a string of attacks on Beijing’s interests in Pakistan.
The attacks, and Islamabad’s failure to deter them, have angered China, which has pushed Pakistan to begin formal negotiations for a joint security management system.
Five Pakistani security and government sources with direct knowledge of the previously unreported negotiations and demands spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the talks are sensitive.
“They (Chinese) want to bring in their own security,” said one official, who sat in on a recent meeting, adding that Pakistan had not so far agreed to such a step.
It was not clear whether Beijing wants to bring in state or private security personnel for the task.
Neither Beijing nor Islamabad confirmed the talks officially.
The source, and two other officials, said there was a consensus on setting up a joint security management system, and that Pakistan was amenable to Chinese officials sitting in on security meetings and co-ordination.
But there was no agreement on their participating in security arrangements on the ground.
The first official said Pakistan had asked China for help in improving its intelligence and surveillance capabilities instead of direct involvement.
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry told Reuters it was not familiar with talks on a joint security scheme, but added, “China will continue to strengthen co-operation with Pakistan and make joint efforts to do its utmost to maintain the security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions.”
Inter-Services Public Relations, the information wing of the Pakistan army, declined to comment. The interior and planning ministries did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
In a statement last week, Pakistan’s interior ministry said both sides agreed to develop a joint strategy to prevent similar incidents in the future.

’GRAVE SECURITY BREACH’

The nature of the Karachi bombing has angered Beijing, which is now pushing harder to achieve a long standing demand to control security arrangements for its citizens.
A pick-up truck rigged with nearly 100 kg (220 lbs) of explosives waited unchecked for about 40 minutes near the outermost security cordon of the heavily guarded airport before its driver rammed it into a vehicle carrying Chinese engineers, officials said.
“It was a grave security breach,” admitted one of the officials investigating the bombing, which came just a week before Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Islamabad, the first such trip in a decade.
The official said investigators believe the attackers had “inside help” in securing details of the itinerary and route of the engineers, who had returned from a month off in Thailand.
They were to be escorted back to a power plant set up as part of plans for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Longtime Pakistan ally China has thousands of nationals working on projects grouped under the CPEC, a $65-billion investment in President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to expand China’s global reach by road, rail and sea.

’CHINESE FRUSTRATIONS’

Publicly China has mostly backed Pakistan’s arrangements, even as it calls for enhanced security.
Privately, Beijing has expressed frustration. At one recent meeting, the Chinese side provided evidence that Pakistan had failed to follow security protocols agreed on twice in recent months, three officials said.
Such protocols usually feature high standards for deployment and movement of Chinese officials.
Chinese nationals have been in the crosshairs of separatist militants who see Beijing as helping Pakistan exploit minerals in the underdeveloped southwestern province of Balochistan, where China has a strategic port and mining interests.
Thousands of Pakistani security officers from the army, police and a dedicated force called the Special Protection Unit are posted to guard Chinese nationals.
Only China’s embassy in Islamabad and its consulates are allowed Chinese official security personnel, the Pakistani officials said.

Topics: Pakistan China Ties Pakistan Beijing

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Australian skipper Pat Cummins bashed for attending Coldplay concert while team lost to Pakistan

Australian skipper Pat Cummins bashed for attending Coldplay concert while team lost to Pakistan
Updated 56 min 17 sec ago
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Australian skipper Pat Cummins bashed for attending Coldplay concert while team lost to Pakistan

Australian skipper Pat Cummins bashed for attending Coldplay concert while team lost to Pakistan
  • Cummins was rested for third ODI at Perth which Pakistan won after humiliating Australia by eight wickets
  • Former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke criticizes selectors for resting Cummins, other stalwarts for India series
Updated 56 min 17 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Australian skipper Pat Cummins was criticized by his country’s former captain Michael Clarke and other media personalities this week for attending British rock band Coldplay’s concert the night Pakistan beat the world champions to complete a rare 2-1 ODI series win.
Australia rested stalwarts Cummins, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Marnus Labuschagne in the third ODI against Pakistan in Perth on Sunday with the series level at 1-1. The Australian cricketers were given rest ahead of Australia’s Border-Gavaskar Test series against India which will start later this month. 
Pakistan won the one-sided match comfortably on Sunday, beating Australia by eight wickets to secure their first ODI series win in the country in 22 years. Cummins’ wife posted a picture of her husband enjoying a Coldplay concert with him on Sunday night, triggering criticism from ex-Australian football and rugby players Mat Rogers and Scott Sattler. 
“It was a decider, the one that matters and our captain went to a Coldplay concert,” Rogers said in a discussion with Sattler on Australia’s SEN radio network. “If you’re going to do it, just keep a low profile.”
Sattler criticized Cummins’ wife for posting a picture of the couple on social media, citing it as an invitation to “open yourself up to criticism when you’ve made yourself unavailable to represent your country.”
Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke said he was “confused” with the selectors’ decision to rest Cummins and the other cricketers with 11 days left till the first Test match against India.
“If Australia had won the first two games, then you can understand why they rest their big fish, but it was series on the line,” Clarke said on a radio show. “I understand resting for Test cricket, I love that, but it’s a one-day game. They are going to bowl more than that at training.”
 Another former Australian captain Tim Paine came to the selectors’ rescue, defending them for giving younger players a chance to prove themselves. 
“We’re blooding some youth and giving them experience while the big boys get ready for the Test series,” Paine said. 
Pakistan will play a three-match T20I series against Australia starting Thursday. The first match will be played in Brisbane, the second in Sydney on Saturday while the third will be contested between the teams on Monday in Hobart.

Topics: Pat Cummins Pakistan vs Australia coldplay

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