The Rawalpindi Police have arrested a man from the Jatali area for posting pictures with weapons on social media, The News reported on Wednesday.
The police arrested the suspect named Naqash because people were scared and worried about him sharing content about weapons.
SP (Saddar) Muhammad Nabil Khokhar said the man will face strict action, adding that this is a clear message that those who use social media platforms to spread fear and terror will be held accountable.
A senior US State Department official has resigned from his position on Wednesday in the light of the Biden administration’s role in the Israel-Palestine escalation.
Josh Paul, director of congressional and public affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, posted a letter on his LinkedIn account announcing his resignation and the reasoning behind it.
While he clarified his stance on October 7 and deemed the Hamas attack on Israel as “a monstrosity of monstrosities,” he also stated that “I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long term American interest.”
“I cannot work in support of a set of major policy decisions, including rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse”, he added
In the latest developments following October 7, Israel has been more aggressive in its attacks in Gaza which has resulted in the killings of more than 3,300 Palestinians whereas Biden pledged to support Israel in its so-called right to defend through and through.
“When I came to this bureau … I knew it was not without its moral complexity and moral compromises, and I made myself a promise that I would stay for as long as I felt … the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do,” Paul acknowledged in his letter.
“In my 11 years I have made more moral compromises than I can recall, each heavily, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact. I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain.”
He also pointed out that “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it any longer.”
HuffPost spoke to Paul following his resignation.
“I’ve been surprised by how many have said, ‘We absolutely understand where you’re coming from, we feel similarly and understand’”, he said.
Military weapons worth $7 billion that were left behind by the United States (US) after its exit from Afghanistan are being used by banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch separatist groups for terrorism in Pakistan, claimed a report by Radio Free Europe.
The report said that the US left behind firearms, communications gear and armored vehicles which gave the militants a “vast war chest”.
The Taliban government has rejected claims that it has supplied TTP fighters with US weapons and equipment, however, the report stands contrary to their assertion.
Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based researcher who tracks the TTP, said the group’s access to sophisticated combat weapons has had a “terrifying” impact, especially on the lesser-equipped police force in Pakistan.
Since government talks with the TTP broke down in November, the militant group has intensified its attacks across Pakistan including attacks on the police.
According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months for terrorism since July 2018.
The Lahore police has said that all the weapons that were recovered by the authorities from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s residence in Zaman Park are “unlicensed and illegal”.
On March 20, Punjab Police raided Khan’s Zaman Park home, taking apart the entrance gate with a crane and entering the house, stating that they had search warrants.
At the time, Khan was on his way to Islamabad to appear before a court in the Toshkhana case. He said that his wife Bushra Bibi was alone at home.
The police said at least 13 SMGs, 7 Kalashnikovs, and 340 bullets were recovered from Zaman Park.
Earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that police found 16 rifles, arms, bombs and a bomb-making factory in Zaman Park.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan admitted that during the Azadi March, PTI protesters were carrying weapons with them.
Khan’s comments came while speaking on 92 News‘ political talk show ‘Hard Talk’. The former premier said that had the march continued, the clashes between the protestors and the police would have led to anarchy in the country.
“There was already hatred among the people due to raids carried out by the Punjab Police on PTI lawmakers’ houses a day prior to the march. I was 100 per cent sure that the situation would lead to chaos after the protestors would have seen me,” said Khan.
“Our people had pistols on them too. I was afraid that the country will now face riots,” Khan told anchorperson Moeed Pirzada.
Khan further said that the decision to continue the march would have led to hatred against the police and the army and this would create further divisions in the country. He added that this hatred would have only benefitted the thieves who were now in power.
Khan also commented on police constable Kamal Ahmed who was shot dead during a raid of a PTI leader’s house in Lahore’s Model Town.
“We have never engaged in politics of provocation. The government blamed the PTI for the [martyred] constable’s death. Anyone would have thought that a thief has entered a house at 2am.”