Pakistan PM condemns Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, demands ceasefire in Gaza

Pakistan PM condemns Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, demands ceasefire in Gaza
Prime Minister Shehbaz addresses a news conference in London, on September 28, 2024.
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Updated 29 September 2024
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Pakistan PM condemns Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, demands ceasefire in Gaza

Pakistan PM condemns Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, demands ceasefire in Gaza
  • Israeli airstrikes killed 32 people across Lebanon on Saturday, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah 
  • Shehbaz Sharif hails improvement in macroeconomic indicators, says country heading toward progress

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Israel’s recent air strikes in Lebanon, calling on global powers to intervene and put an end to the Jewish state’s war in Gaza that has killed over 41,000 people. 

The Pakistani premier’s condemnation came hours after Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut suburb. The bombardment triggered condemnation worldwide and alarmed several countries as fears of a wider war in the Middle East continue to loom. 

Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon killed 33 people on Saturday, the country’s health ministry said in a statement. 

Sharif told reporters at a press conference in London, where he had arrived after attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, that he had presented Pakistan’s stance at the summit on key global issues, including the Palestine crisis. 

“I made a humble effort to carry the voice of the people of Pakistan in front of the world, about the injustice and barbarity in Palestine,” Sharif said.

“Over 40,000 Palestinians have been martyred, thousands of children have been martyred. In the same way, we have also strongly condemned the attacks in Lebanon.”

The Pakistani prime minister said he had demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza at the 79th UNGA session, calling on the “global conscience” to awaken. 

Speaking on the country’s economic situation, Sharif said Pakistan is now moving toward stability and progress, adding that the same has been acknowledged by international institutions. 

The premier expressed his satisfaction over the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval of a $7 billion loan for Pakistan this week. 

He said the country’s inflation rate stood at 9.6 percent currently compared to 32 percent in September last year, noting that the rates of daily commodities were showing stability as well. 

“Everything is not hunky-dory,” he cautioned. “We have to sweat hard and broaden the tax net without burdening those already paying it.”


India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says

India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says
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India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says

India declines to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy, ICC says
  • Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy cricket tournament from February 19 till March 9
  • Pakistan Cricket Board has forwarded the ICC’s email to the government of Pakistan for further advice

ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council informed Pakistan that India has declined to play any Champions Trophy games in the country next year, a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.
“We have received an email from the ICC in which they have said that India will not be coming to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy,” the PCB spokesperson said.
Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy tournament Feb. 19-March 9.
The PCB has forwarded the ICC’s email to the government of Pakistan for further advice.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said last Friday that he was not prepared to accept a shared hosting model and added that “no discussion” of any such proposal has taken place.
Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all of India’s games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid hosting model for the tournament. Several months later Pakistan traveled to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Political tensions between the countries have led to the India team avoiding travel to Pakistan since 2008 and the two have tended to only compete together in multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups. Pakistan also traveled to India in 2012 for a bilateral ODI series.
The PCB has spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi that are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi said that he hoped all three stadiums will be ready in the next two months.
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament though the schedule is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
 


Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan

Iran says three militants killed in province bordering Pakistan
Updated 10 November 2024
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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 10 November 2024
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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 59 min 1 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 10 November 2024
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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.