Law enforcement agencies have foiled a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attempt to establish a foothold in Balochistan by arresting a most wanted commander and several other members of the banned outfit in different areas of the province.
The security situation in Pakistan has been deteriorating since the past few months, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
“With the arrest of the TTP commander and other terrorists, their efforts to establish centres in the province have been foiled,” stated a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Department on Thursday.
The CTD, along with other law enforcement agencies, conducted operations and arrested several militants, including the wanted TTP commander.
He also said, “The arrested commander was involved in various terrorist activities in different areas of the country.”
11 people, including miners, have been killed after inhaling methane gas inside a coal mine in Balochistan’s Sanjdi area, approximately 50 kilometres from Quetta.
Chief Inspector of Mines in Balochistan, Abdul Ghani Shahwani told Dawn that nine mine workers along with a contractor and a manager went inside at around 5 pm. After one and a half hour, they lost contact with the workers inside the mine.
“The coal miners were working around 1,500 feet deep in the mine when the gas eruption started and quickly spread. All the coal miners fell unconscious,” said the Chief Inspector.
As the rescue teams reached the site, no body was found alive. All the miners who lost their lives belonged to Swat.
The mine is owned by the United Coal mining company. The company has launched an investigation into the incident
The University of Oxford and the Balochistan government have agreed to provide scholarships to deserving talented students from the province.
The agreement was formalised at a ceremony attended by Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. It is also supported by the Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP) and its benefactors.
The graduate scholarships will be provided under the umbrella of the Benazir Scholarship Programme.
The programme will enable talented students from Balochistan to pursue higher education at one of the world’s most prestigious institutions with the help of full scholarship.
As the signing ceremony began, philanthropist Sarwar Khawaja donated 100,000 pounds to initiate the endowment fund.
Chief Minister’s principal secretary, Imran Zarkoon Khan, an alumnus of Oxford, also attended the ceremony and was praised for his instrumental role in initiating the scholarship programme.
Balochistan Home Minister Zia Ullah Langau announced on Friday that two suspects involved in the murder of barbershop workers in Gawadar have been arrested.
Seven barbershop workers from Punjab were killed when they were sleeping in their apartment near the Gwadar Fish Harbour in the Surbandar area of the coastal town earlier this month. One worker was injured in the incident.
“I congratulate all our institutions who fulfilled their responsibility and the government’s orders with their efforts, and we have arrested two killers of the Gwadar labourers,” Langau said while addressing a press conference in Quetta.
The arrested suspects revealed during the investigation that they had been ordered to kill any labourer from Punjab.
Zia Ullah Langau also stated that millitants targeted innocent citizens, worsening the peace and security situation in Balochistan.
“Terrorists have nothing to do with our rights. We will go the extra mile for those speaking up for the rights of Balochistan,” Langau added.
With record breaking temperatures, hours of load shedding of electricity have caused inconvenience for people in a number of cities across Pakistan.
In many areas of Hyderabad, the duration of load shedding has reached up to 12 hours.
Spokesperson of HESCO said that load shedding is happening on the basis of line losses. He also claims that load shedding is not interrupting examination hours.
Meanwhile, urban areas of Sukkur are experiencing six to eight hours of load shedding while Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Kashmore undergoing 12 to 14 hours.
Thatta city and its surroundings are subjected to 14 to 16 hours load shedding, six hours in Kamalia city, and eight hours in rural areas.
Wahari stands at four to six hours of load shedding while 10 hours in rural areas.
More than 10 hours of load shedding is taking place in Mingora city, more than 16 hours in suburban areas, while Bannu is experiencing 18 to 20 hours of load shedding.
Citizens say that business activities and life are being affected due to load shedding.
Quetta, Pakistan – At least 27 people were killed on Wednesday when a bus plunged off the road into a deep ravine in southwestern Pakistan, hospital and government officials said.
The crash happened around dawn in Basima town in Balochistan province while the bus was travelling from Turbat city to Quetta.
“The driver was navigating a turn in a mountainous area when the vehicle lost control and fell into a ravine,” Ismail Mengal, a local government official said, giving a toll of 27 dead.
“We are still investigating the cause of the incident. It could be that the driver fell asleep or was speeding, which led to the accident.”
More than 25 others, including the driver, were injured.
Noor Ullah, chief doctor at Civil Hospital Basima, told AFP that 27 bodies were taken there, including three women and two children.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has “expressed deep sorrow and grief over the tragic traffic accident”, his office said in a statement.
Road accidents with high fatalities are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax, driver training is poor and transport infrastructure often decrepit.
At least 17 pilgrims were killed and 41 injured in a crash in April as they travelled to a shrine in Balochistan’s Hub district.
In January last year, 41 people were killed when their bus, which was also loaded with containers of flammable oil, careered off the road into a valley and burst into flames.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Wednesday that security forces have killed almost 29 terrorists over the last month along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.
The intelligence-based operations were carried out in response to a “surge in terrorist incidents orchestrated from Afghan soil, wherein terrorists from Afghanistan attempt to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan Border and target security forces as well as the innocent civilians.”
The military’s media wing also stated that security forces conducted operations in Balochistan’s Zhob district and other border areas.
Over 350 Pakistani students have landed in Lahore and Islamabad from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Two of the three special flights landed at the Islamabad and Lahore airports on Sunday night, with 180 students on board each plane. The third plane was also expected to land later in the night.
At the Islamabad airport, the students who arrived were welcomed by federal minister Musadik Malik while in Lahore, the students were greeted by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
The Civil Aviation Authority had set up an immigration desk and provided transport to the students on arrival.
As per the instructions of the PM, the federal government will bear the expenses for these special flights.
Ishaq Dar downplayed mob violence
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar — who put off his trip to Kyrgyzstan — downplayed the mob violence saying the situation in Bishkek was normal and there was no need to panic.
According to Ishaq Dar, 16 foreign students, including “four or five” Pakistanis, were injured in the violence.
FM Dar said that the government would cover the expenses of Pakistani students wishing to return home as 540 students would take three flights to return on Sunday. He said as many as 11,000 Pakistani students were studying in Bishkek, and those returning would be fully facilitated.
He quoted the Kyrgyz foreign minister as saying that the incident in Bishkek was due to a “misunderstanding”.
Students say all is not well
Many students on social media said that the embassy was not providing any help and that the situation in Bishkek was still bad. They said that the foreign students were attacked by Kyrgyz students and locals, adding that they were not even safe on the roads.
Balochistan students ‘ignored’
In Balochistan, Sajid Hussain, an educationist, claimed that the government had taken no steps to bring back at least 300 students from Balochistan stranded in Bishkek.
“Over 300 students from Balochistan are also studying in Kyrgyzstan but they have not been brought back,” Mr Hussain said.
His son and daughter are studying at the Asian International University in Kyrgyzstan along with five other students enrolled there.“I am in contact with my children,” he said, adding that no steps had been taken for the return of Baloch students.
He claimed that the federal government was repatriating students from other provinces and that parents of students from Balochistan were being asked to pay Rs100,000 for each student.
He appealed to Balochistan’s government officials to take notice of the situation and make special arrangements for the province’s students. CM Bugti has reportedly established a special desk in this regard, reported Dawn.
“To reach the students, the foreign ministry is in contact with the embassy of Kyrgyzstan,” the CM said, assuring “every possible assistance” for the students.
Superstar Mahira Khan appeared as a guest in Pakistan Literature Festival, held in Quetta, where she talksd about stardom, her achievements and work ethic. However the talk got interrupted when something was thrown at her from audience. Mahira Khan stopped her conversation and said, “That was wrong.”
She remained smiling, however, gracefully dealing with the interruption. The crowd asked her to recite a famous dialogue. She replied, “I shouldn’t because you threw something on me,” but laughed when the crowd suggested a long dialogue. She then continued her discussion and agreed to act in a Balochistan production.
Fans believe that Mahira Khan patiently and gracefully dealt with the situation. They criticized the behavior of the crowd, calling it shameful. Some fans advised Mahira not to go to these kinds of public gatherings because she is a well-known figure worldwide. Here are the comments:
The military’s media wing reported on Tuesday that a Pakistani army major was martyred and three terrorists were killed during a heavy exchange of fire between terrorists and army officials in the Sambaza area of Zhob district in Balochistan.
Security officials conducted an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in a remote area of Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
The troops bravely attacked the terrorists’ location and killed three terrorists.
However, ISPR said in a statement that 33-year-old Major Babar Khan was martyred while fighting fearlessly with the terrorists during the operation.
