Blaze News - Pakistan

Security forces killed 11 terrorists in separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Balochistan, targeting suspected members of Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan, security sources said on Thursday. According to the sources, the operations, which were carried out in South Waziristan and Bannu in K-P and Khuzdar district in Balochistan, also resulted in the recovery of weapons and ammunition and the destruction of a terrorists’ hideout. The federal government last year officially designated all terrorist groups operating in Balochistan as Fitna al-Hindustan, accusing India of sponsoring a proxy war through these outfits. Fitna al-Khawarij is the state-designated term for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The high-tempo intelligence-driven operations were conducted as part of the ongoing Rad-ul-Fitna-3 campaign, which the military's media wing has described as a counterterrorism operation aimed at eliminating Indian proxies. ...

Oil prices fell on Thursday, extending a streak of losses, on expectations that talks between Iran and Qatar might open the Strait of Hormuz and reduce supply disruptions from the ​war in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were down 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $87.43 a barrel, in line for a fourth day of declines. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.86, in line for a fifth day of losses. Iran and Oman are working on finalising details of an agreement to control the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after ​Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway that connects major Gulf oil ​producers to markets and its revenues. The strait carried oil and natural gas shipments equal to about one-fifth ⁠of global consumption of the fuels before the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28. Since Iran worked to shut ​the waterway in response, oil flows have dropped to about on...

The United States designated Palestine Action on Wednesday as a terrorist group, as President ‌Donald Trump's administration seeks to crack down on left-wing groups in its counterterrorism efforts. The action comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month told officials from more than 60 countries that Washington would seek to refocus international counterterrorism efforts on what he ​called "far-left terror". The conference sparked Democratic concerns that the Trump administration is politicizing counterterrorism efforts and diverting ​resources from other extremist threats. Trump singled out the anti-fascist antifa movement on the campaign trail ⁠in 2024 and vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the ​killing of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk last year. Economic tools "Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers ​should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of o...

Gaza Peace Board’s high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, said on Wednesday that Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza agreed for the first time to surrender their weapons and transfer full civilian and security authority to a UN-recognised transitional administration. Mladenov made the remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on the implementation of the US-backed Gaza peace plan, according to statements made by the board on X. “For the first time, Hamas and the armed factions in Gaza have agreed to hand over their weapons and to transfer full governing authority, civilian and security, to a transitional administration recognised by the United Nations,” he said. Mladenov claimed the move would “dramatically improve life in a sustainable way for Palestinians in Gaza; to provide durable security for Israelis”. Read: Trump announces deal to disarm Hamas The Board of Peace unveiled a 15-point roadmap in late July calling fo...

A constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued a written order on Tuesday in a petition seeking the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the disappearance and death of Mir Raza Ali. Ali, owner of dessert brand Wafflix, went missing on July 28 and his body was found in Gulistan-e-Jauhar the following day. Police initially described the death as suicide, but a subsequent post-mortem examination indicated that he had been murdered. The development came a day after the Sindh Home Department notified the formation of a judicial commission to probe the death of the 25-year-old. Justice Umar Sial was appointed its head following his nomination by the chief justice of the SHC. In its order, the constitutional bench raised several questions, including whether it could directly order the formation of a JIT and whether it had the authority to interfere in, alter or supervise an investigation and the submission of its report. Read: Judicial commission formed...

The death toll from a firing incident targeting labourers in the Saranan area of Balochistan's Pishin rose to six after an injured worker succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday, police said. According to police, five labourers were killed and another injured when armed men opened fire on them in Saranan a day earlier. The injured worker was taken to hospital for treatment but later died, bringing the total number of fatalities to six. The bodies were sent to Fort Munro, where they will be handed over to the relevant district administration in Punjab. In a separate incident in Chagai district, armed men intercepted a vehicle at the Barta Gizi area and abducted five people travelling in it, police said. The attackers later shot dead two of the abducted men and took the remaining three to an undisclosed location. Police reached the scene after receiving information about the incident and moved the bodies to a hospital. Read More: 13 killed in Balochistan accidents, shootings...