Pakistan says potential cyclone in Arabian Sea may affect coastal areas this month

Pakistan says potential cyclone in Arabian Sea may affect coastal areas this month
Children play, with the rainbow and rain clouds in the background, following reports from the Pakistan Meteorological Department of a potential cyclonic storm that could develop over the Arabian Sea, at Clifton Beach in Karachi, Pakistan on August 30, 2024. (REUTERS/File)
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Updated 08 October 2024
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Pakistan says potential cyclone in Arabian Sea may affect coastal areas this month

Pakistan says potential cyclone in Arabian Sea may affect coastal areas this month
  • The weather system is currently positioned near India’s Lakshadweep Valley and expected to move northwestward
  • Early forecasts suggest the possibility of landfall along the Pakistani coast, depending on its trajectory and intensity

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC) said on Monday a low-pressure system was developing in the Arabian Sea that could transform into a cyclone and affect coastal areas of the country later this month.

The system is currently positioned near India’s Lakshadweep Valley and is expected to move northwestward, according to an early advisory issued by the NEOC.

Early forecasts suggest the possibility of landfall along the Pakistani coastline in the third week of October, depending on its trajectory and intensity.

“There is a chance that this low-pressure system may evolve into a full-fledged tropical cyclone, with the potential to affect the coastal areas of Pakistan,” the NEOC said in a statement.

“Citizens and stakeholders, particularly those residing in coastal regions, are advised to stay informed of official updates and adviseries as the situation evolves.”

The NEOC said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in collaboration with relevant departments, was continuously monitoring the situation to provide timely updates and issue further adviseries.

In August, a cyclonic storm, ASNA, in the Arabian Sea caused heavy rains in coastal areas in Pakistan’s southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces.

Pakistan has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns which have led to frequent heat waves, untimely rains, cyclones and droughts in recent years. Scientists have blamed the events on human-driven climate change.
 


Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities

Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities
Updated 35 sec ago
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Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities

Government justifies ban on Pashtun rights group, cites alleged militant links, anti-state activities
  • Pakistan’s Interior Ministry recently declared the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement a ‘proscribed organization’
  • Information minister says PTM ‘burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistani embassies’ in other states

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar announced on Tuesday that the government’s decision to ban the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) stemmed from its alleged links to militant groups and involvement in anti-state activities.
PTM, a prominent Pashtun rights group, has long advocated against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan. While its leaders have contested and won national elections in the country’s northwestern region, the movement has yet to gain significant influence in Pakistan’s parliament.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry declared the PTM a “proscribed organization,” citing activities harmful to the nation’s peace and security.
“If you look at the activities of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement over the past six months, [you will see] how they have burned the Pakistani flag, attacked Pakistan’s embassies abroad and not only attacked embassies but also actively funded the promotion of an anti-Pakistan narrative,” Tarar said in a televised statement.
He said the PTM had carried out such activities with the help of Afghan nationals.
“Not only do they have links with TTA or Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan but also Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” he continued while referring to the Taliban administration in Kabul and a banned militant network reportedly operating from Afghanistan while targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces.
Earlier this year in July, a group of Afghan nationals stormed the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, pelting stones at the building and desecrating the Pakistani flag.
The administration in Islamabad formally lodged a protest with the German authorities, urging them to arrest and prosecute those responsible and to ensure better security for its diplomatic missions.
PTM has previously denied any links with militant groups or violent entities, pointing out that it believes in waging peaceful struggle for the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
“Whenever an organization is declared proscribed,” the minister added, “it is done on the basis of evidence.”
The PTM alleges Pashtuns have faced rights abuses during Pakistan’s war against militants, mainly in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It blames Pakistan’s powerful military for rights abuses in the northwestern province, a charge the institution has consistently denied.


Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister

Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister
Updated 6 min 18 sec ago
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Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister

Chinese engineers killed in Pakistan worked for a power plant, says minister
  • Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs
  • A top security official in Islamabad said the latest attack in southern city of Karachi was a security failure

ISLAMABAD: Two Chinese nationals who were killed in an explosion near Pakistan’s Karachi international airport on Sunday worked for a power plant, Pakistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
It was the most serious attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed five Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project in March, which prompted Beijing to call on Islamabad to implement more stringent security measures.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad and Pakistan’s foreign ministry have described Sunday’s blast as a “terrorist attack.”
In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was a suicide attack carried out by them, using a vehicle-borne bomb.
Pakistani media has reported that nearly a dozen people were injured in the blast.
A top security official in Islamabad told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the latest attack was a security failure and that all senior staff responsible for Chinese security in Karachi had been removed from service.
Pakistan’s interior ministry is primarily responsible for the Chinese nationals’ security.
There has been little information released about the identities of the Chinese nationals who were killed in a highly secured area of the southern port city.
“They were engineers who belong to those IPPs (Independent Power Producers) with whom we were negotiating tariff revision,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a video statement broadcast by local TV news channels.
Pakistan has been renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in electricity tariffs as households and businesses buckle under soaring energy costs.
The Chinese embassy said a convoy from the Port Qasim Electric Power Company was attacked near the airport.
The BLA is one of many separatist militant groups, which seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.
BLA specifically targets Chinese interests — in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit local resources. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
The port is part of Beijing’s $65 billion investment in Pakistan’s road and infrastructure building called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative.


Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon

Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon
Updated 08 October 2024
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Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon

Pakistani cabinet approves setting up PM’s relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon
  • After 12 months of Gaza war, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas
  • An all parties conference in Pakistan on Monday called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to convene a summit on the situation in Gaza

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has approved the establishment of a special relief fund for Palestine and Lebanon, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Tuesday, a day after the South Asian country held an all-parties conference on Israel’s war on Gaza which has widened to Lebanon and other regional countries.
Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
After 12 months of war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, Israel has shifted its focus to Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas. The Israeli military has also conducted strikes in Yemen and Syria.
In the aftermath of the destruction in Palestine and Lebanon, the Pakistani cabinet approved the establishment of the PM’s Relief Fund for Palestine and Lebanon and instructed the Pakistani central bank to open an account, according to PM Sharif’s office.
“Federal Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal will supervise the relief operations regarding Palestine and Lebanon,” the PM’s office said in a statement.
The development came a day after an all parties conference (APC) in Pakistan called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene an emergency summit to address the situation in Palestine.
“Pakistan has decided to form a special working group which will go to different lobbies and reach out to other countries in the Islamic world to raise a collective voice against Israeli atrocities,” PM Sharif said at the APC.
“The first priority should be to stop the bloodshed in Palestine, which is a foremost duty and for this, the platform of the OIC is available.”
Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other multilateral platforms and demanded international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza. The South Asian country has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.


England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test

England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test
Updated 26 min 58 sec ago
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England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test

England off to brisk start after Agha century propels Pakistan to 556 in 1st Test
  • Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and were spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82
  • England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Crawley smashed 11 fours in unbeaten 64, Joe Root was not out on 32

MULTAN: England chipped at Pakistan’s massive 556, three-centuries total by reaching 96-1 at stumps on day two Tuesday of the first Test.
Pakistan started the day on 328-4 and was spearheaded by Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 104 and Saud Shakeel’s 82.
On a pitch which still looks good for batting with little help for fast bowlers or spinners, England raced at nearly five-runs-per-over as Zac Crawley smashed 11 fours in his unbeaten 64. Joe Root was not out on 32.
England lost stand-in captain Ollie Pope without scoring in the second over to a stunning one-handed catch by a diving Aamer Jamal at midwicket off Naseem Shah. England trails Pakistan by 460 runs.
Pope had to open the innings after Ben Duckett injured his left thumb while grabbing a sharp chest-high catch of No. 11 Abrar Ahmed in the slips that finally ended England’s heat-sapping 5 1/2 sessions on the field at Multan Stadium.
Whether Duckett bats was yet to be determined.
England’s Jack Leach took 3-160 and Shoaib Bashir 1-124 but Pakistan dominated both spinners.
Brydon Carse’s long wait for his first wicket in his debut test came on Tuesday, which he finished with 2-74. Gus Atkinson (2-99) and Chris Woakes (1-69) toiled without finding any reverse swing on the green square.
England did well in the first session and allowed Pakistan only 69 runs with Carse breaking the resistance of nightwatchman Naseem, who gloved a legside catch after scoring his test-best 33.
Naseem denied England a breakthrough for 1 1/2 hours and braved a couple of blows. He got a knock on the back of his helmet when he was struck hard by an Atkinson short ball and also received brief treatment when Carse struck the batter’s right thumb off another short ball before round-the-wicket worked for the right arm fast bowler.
Leach had Mohammad Rizwan caught at mid-off for a 12-ball duck.
Shakeel, who began the day on 35, showed plenty of resistance and raised his half-century with a swept boundary off Bashir. Shakeel was undone by the off-spinner after lunch and feathered a low catch to Root in the slips.
Agha took charge with meticulous drives and sweeps. His third test century followed tons by captain Shan Masood (151) and Abdullah Shafique (102) on day one.
Agha gave Pakistan an ideal finish on the benign pitch. In the company of Shaheen Shah Afridi (26), Agha hit 10 boundaries and three sixes in his 119-ball knock to propel Pakistan past 550.
England was scratchy late in Pakistan’s innings as wicketkeeper Jamie Smith missed an easy stumping of Abrar, and Atkinson couldn’t judge a catch over his shoulder before Root folded the innings.


Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad

Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad
Updated 08 October 2024
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Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad

Imran Khan, KP chief minister named in police complaint over constable’s death in Islamabad
  • The cop lost his life during a clash with PTI supporters who wanted to protest for Khan’s release in the capital
  • Police specifically mention the PTI president of Islamabad, accusing him of torturing the constable who died

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur have been named in a police complaint after the death of a constable in Islamabad during the recent protest by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Clashes erupted in the federal capital and nearby cities on Friday and Saturday as police tried to stop PTI supporters from entering Islamabad, with officials accusing protesters of throwing stones, firing bullets and launching tear gas shells, causing dozens of injuries and one death.
PTI supporters, mainly arriving from KP under Gandapur’s leadership, were responding to Khan’s call to gather in Islamabad and protest near the parliament building.
The police complaint, filed over the weekend and reported by the media on Tuesday, also named PTI stalwarts Omar Ayub, Azam Swati and Islamabad president Aamir Mughal, accusing some of inciting the violent protests while others of actively participating in them.
“Through court orders, Imran Khan has been given unusual and unnecessary contact and meeting facilities outside of the jail manual, due to which he continues to incite his political workers to violence against the state and its institutions,” the police complaint read.
“He directs the PTI to lead such violent crowds that could create chaos and disorder in the country,” it added. “Acting on these orders, Ali Amin Gandapur, using provincial government resources, provided support and directly and indirectly led the protesters, ordering them to reach D-Chowk [in Islamabad for protest] and attack or kill any security personnel who stood in their way to free Imran Khan.”
The official document particularly mentioned the PTI’s Islamabad president, accusing him of direct involvement in the death of the police constable.
“Aamir Mughal, along with other participants, forcibly grabbed Constable Abdul Hameed and assaulted him with kicks, punches, sticks and stones,” it said while referring to a clash at the entry point of the capital.
The police said that violence occurred despite warnings to PTI supporters that the government had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibits large gatherings.
It claimed that Constable Hameed was “kidnapped” and tortured.
He was later found unconscious by his colleagues but succumbed to his injuries.