Blaze News - Pakistan

Voting will be held on Tuesday in LA-27 Kotla and at 51 polling stations in LA-28 Lachhrat constituencies, where polling was deferred after adverse weather conditions prevented election material from reaching the stations in time during the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections on August 2. The Election Commission has completed arrangements for the polling with heightened security measures in place. Personnel from the Pakistan Army, Rangers and police will be deployed at polling stations to ensure a peaceful and orderly voting process. Polling at the affected stations could not take place on Sunday as severe weather disrupted the transportation of election material. The Election Commission subsequently rescheduled the voting for Tuesday. In LA-27 Kotla, the electoral contest is being closely watched with the main battle expected among IPP candidate Sardar Tabarak Ali, PML-N’s Noreen Arif and PPP’s Sardar Javed Ayub. The constituency has 107,061 registe...

Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said that the "countdown for the federal government had begun" as he lashed out at the federal coalition partner for alleged rigging in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections. Senior leaders from both parties have held competing press conferences as rigging accusations have intensified. The PPP accused the federal government of interfering in the elections through development announcements and misuse of official resources, while the PML-N alleged the PPP was itself attempting to manipulate the vote, claiming ballot papers had been recovered from the residence of a rival candidate. In a series of posts and video messages on X, Bilawal said the recent elections were not transparent and fair but were "rigged elections, these were bullet elections, these were killer elections, these were bloody elections". He added: "Despite all this, you have made the PPP victorious on nine parliamentary s...

Rescuers on Sunday found the body of celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who, along with nine mountaineers, was killed during an expedition in northern Pakistan earlier this week, an official confirmed to Anadolu. Purja's body was found at approximately 5,700 meters (18,700 feet) on Broad Peak -- three days after he and other members of his team were reported missing following an avalanche, said Ayaz Shigri, secretary general of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the country's official mountaineering body. Read More: Nirmal Purja among 10 dead in avalanche Shigri said that seven bodies and parts of an eighth body had so far been found, while a search operation would continue for the recovery of the remaining two bodies. Purja was leading a 10-member expedition that included Nadhira Ahmed Abdullah Al Harthy of Oman; Sohail Sakhi of Pakistan; Wang Zhong of China; Mallory Geis of the US; and Pur Bahadur Gurung Yukta, Kili Pemba Sherpa, Nima Sherpa, Nawang Thindu Sherpa and ...

The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation (PCMLF) has called for a judicial investigation into the devastating methane gas explosion at the Sorange coalfield near Quetta that claimed the lives of 36 miners, urging the federal and Balochistan governments to undertake comprehensive reforms to improve safety standards across Pakistan's mining sector. Addressing a press conference at the Quetta Press Club on Saturday, federation leaders expressed profound grief over the loss of the miners, describing the incident as a tragic reminder of the hazardous conditions faced daily by thousands of coal workers. They extended condolences to the bereaved families and offered prayers for the deceased, many of whom were the sole breadwinners of their households. The labour leaders said repeated mining disasters expose serious shortcomings in the enforcement of safety regulations, adding that expressions of sympathy alone are insufficient without meaningful action to protect workers. They ...

The protesting Jammu and Kashmir Awami Action Committee on Saturday expressed its willingness to engage with the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it responded to a letter written by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on the initiative. The development came after the JAAC wrote a letter to Bilawal on July 14, to which the PPP chairman responded by reiterating his proposal to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the consent of all stakeholders. In response to the letter, the JAAC conveyed its willingness to consider the proposed commission as a possible way forward to address the recent violence and political crisis in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “I have received JKJAAC’s response to my letter proposing the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, together with their accompanying proposal,” Bilawal said in a post on X. I have received JKJAAC’s response to my letter proposing the establishment ...

Coalition partners in the federal government, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, on Saturday continued their war of words, which began during the Azad Jammu and Kashmir election campaign, with leaders from both sides escalating their rhetoric by targeting each other's leadership and past governments. The two parties, allies in the federal coalition government, have been exchanging accusations since the PML-N emerged victorious in the elections in AJK's Mirpur division. The PPP has alleged that the PML-N rigged the polls in Mirpur and has demanded fresh voting in the constituency. With the second phase of the AJK elections set to be held on Sunday in nine constituencies of Muzaffarabad division, political temperatures rose further as senior PML-N leaders responded to the PPP's allegations of electoral manipulation, rejecting claims of rigging not only in the AJK polls but also in the 2024 general elections. The latest exchanges marked a furth...