Blaze News - Pakistan

Three people were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) provincial chief Maulana Abdul Khateeb in the Darsmand area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu, according to the police. “Maulana Abdul Khateeb’s son, Maulana Abdul Sami, and his two grandchildren were wounded in the attack,” District Police Officer (DPO) Khan Zeb Mehmood confirmed to The Express Tribune. He added that the injured were immediately taken to a nearby hospital and their condition was out of danger. Read More: JUI-S chief among six martyred in Nowshera suicide blast The JUI (S) leadership strongly condemned the attack in a statement. JUI-S chief Maulana Abdul Haq Thani expressed outrage over the incident, saying the provincial and federal governments had “completely failed” in maintaining law and order. He added, “No one’s life or property is safe in K-P.” Thani urged law enforcement agencies to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the attackers to justi...

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday rejected the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) report on party founder Imran Khan’s eye treatment, demanding that he be treated at Shaukat Khanum Hospital and that his family be allowed to meet him. PIMS had confirmed a day earlier that Imran was taken to the hospital late on the night between last Saturday and Sunday, where, after his consent was obtained, he was administered an anti-VEGF intravitreal injection to treat a right central retinal vein occlusion. PTI Central Secretary of Information Sheikh Waqas Akram, speaking on Express News programme 'Centre Stage', said the party did not accept any PIMS report. “Treatment of the PTI founder should be done at Shaukat Khanum, and the founder’s family should be allowed to meet him. Our response is that these reports and vlogs should stop. We will not be satisfied with these actions,” he stated. He recalled that during the PTI government, when PML-N President Nawaz Sharif...

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal to avoid military action, adding that the United States "armada" near Iran was bigger than the one he dispatched to topple Venezuela's leader. "We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela," the Republican president told reporters in the Oval Office. "Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens." Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal on its nuclear programme, ballistic missiles and other issues, Trump said "yeah I have" but added that "only they know for sure" what it was. Trump, however, cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt executions of protesters — after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed — as evidence to show Teh...

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department has issued a province-wide alert to all government and private hospitals over fears of the possible spread of Nipah virus following cases reported in India, officials said on Friday. Authorities confirmed that no case has so far been detected in Pakistan, but precautionary measures have been made mandatory. According to an official advisory circulated to district health officers, medical superintendents, and medical directors of MTI hospitals, the department has declared the situation a potential public health emergency and ordered immediate preparedness across the province. The director of public health has been designated as the provincial focal person for Nipah virus response and coordination. Also Read: Overall risk of Nipah outbreak in Pakistan remains low, NIH informs high-level meeting   Hospitals have been instructed to establish isolation units, form district-level rapid response teams, strengthen border health services, ...

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders on Thursday were once again denied permission to meet the party founder outside Adiala Jail, prompting the former to announce that he would spend the night at the site in protest. Afridi and the party leadership held a meeting near the factory checkpoint after the allotted visiting hours ended. They resolved to stage a sit-in on Adiala Road throughout the night until the founder was allowed to meet with his personal doctors, family members, and legal counsel. The CM also instructed that all provincial assembly members be summoned to the site to strengthen the demand for the founder’s access, while the police blocked Adiala Road, preventing any access to the facility. تمام پارلیمنٹیرینز اڈیالہ جیل پہنچ رہے ہیں۔ پاکستان تحریک انصاف کے تمام صوبائی اور ریجنل صدور کو اپنی تنظیموں سے مسلسل رابطہ رکھنے کی ہدایات مل چکی ہے۔ قوم بھی تیار رہے۔ — Sohail Afridi (@SohailAfridiISF) January 29, 2026...

Global problems will not be solved by one power “calling the shots", United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, warning that international law was being trampled and global cooperation was eroding. While Guterres did not name any specific country, his remarks come a week after United States President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace, initially aimed at cementing a fragile Gaza ceasefire but which Trump has said could take on a broader role — an approach that has raised concerns among some global powers. “Global problems will not be solved by one power calling the shots. Nor will they be solved by two powers carving the world into rival spheres of influence,” Guterres told a news conference marking the start of his 10th and final year in office. Read More: UN chief sounds alarm on global cooperation Trump, who began his second term a year ago, has revived what many in the international community long viewed as an outdated concept of gl...

Pluribus is the latest show by Vince Giligan, the creator of Breaking Bad. As best as I understand, Pluribus is about a future when AI has taken over the planet or has become the overwhelmingly large presence in humanity's lives or whatever is left of it. It is indeed a bleak future, rendering humanity's existence as a reflection of AI. In the show, all humanity has become one minded, which knows everything and is in complete harmony with everyone. Every human being unquestioningly does what he or she is required to do, without complaining, and without any opinion. There is zero individualism. All human beings exist as one human being and they know all the knowledge there is available to consume. They also are not capable of lying. I pray 5 times a day but I also like to ask questions when I do not understand Islamic truisms. This show, which sounds like it is going to be another masterpiece by Vince Giligan, has answered two fundamental questions I always had from Islamic scho...

Punjab Women Protection Authority Chairperson Hina Pervez Butt on Wednesday sought an immediate report from the Sheikhupura district police chief after a pregnant woman allegedly set on fire by her mother-in-law died from severe burns in Ferozewala. According to a statement from her offcie, the victim suffered around 70% burns to her face, arms and body and was five months pregnant. It added that the police said they were not informed directly about the incident and were alerted by hospital authorities, after which legal action was initiated. The statement said a case was registered on the basis of the victim’s video statement, and the nominated suspect — the mother-in-law — has been arrested. Read More: Woman tortured, poisoned, set on fire Reacting to the incident, Butt said: “Violence against women will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Setting a pregnant woman on fire is the worst form of brutality, and such criminals deserve no leniency. Punjab Chief Min...

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior on Tuesday approved the Islamabad Senior Citizenship Bill 2025, aimed at providing benefits to the capital’s elderly population. Under the legislation, senior citizens will be entitled to a 25 per cent discount on a range of government and private services, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The bill, presented by MNA Sharmila Farooqi, allows senior citizens aged 60 and above to receive special facilities and discounts based on their National Identity Cards (NIC), removing the need for a separate senior citizen card. MNA Nabeel Gabol suggested consulting the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) as in some cases fingerprints of citizens over 60 may not be clear. Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry stressed that the initiative should not be limited to Islamabad and should be implemented nationwide if deemed beneficial. Meanwhile, discussions on the Pakistan Citizenship Bill 2025 proved more complex. Th...

The United Arab Emirates will not allow attacks on Iran to be launched from its territory, the former's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. Last week, President Donald Trump said a United States "armada" was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely after a bloody crackdown on protesters. The foreign ministry said in a statement it "has reaffirmed the United Arab Emirates' commitment to not allowing its airspace, territory or waters to be used in any hostile military actions against Iran". الإمارات تؤكد التزامها بعدم السماح باستخدام أجوائها أو أراضيها أو مياهها في أي أعمال عسكرية ضد إيرانhttps://t.co/FFl4K2dsrk pic.twitter.com/TOrNPLgeNq — MoFA وزارة الخارجية (@mofauae) January 26, 2026 The UAE hosts thousands of US personnel at Al Dhafra airbase near the capital Abu Dhabi, one of several American military sites in the Gulf. Read More: Oil prices rise as US sends armada to Iran, slaps new sanctions The UAE also refuses...

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal clarified that Pakistan has not recognised Israel; it joined the Board of Peace for peace in Palestine. However, he said this has greatly upset India and the opposition in Pakistan. Addressing a public rally in Narowal on Sunday, Iqbal said Pakistan’s participation in the US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace was limited to efforts aimed at peace in Palestine but the move has caused “deep discomfort” among his political rivals. He said the opposition and India reacted negatively whenever Pakistan made progress, including with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Whenever there is a successful IMF programme, PTI and India become uneasy. PTI’s language mirrors India’s, but Pakistan will continue to move forward,” he said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was in Davos to sign the charter of the board as part of efforts to support the implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan, joined other world leaders in endorsing the initiative. Tru...

Several thousand people protested in Paris Sunday over the death in custody of a Mauritanian immigrant worker, yelling slogans including against "a police force that kills us", an AFP journalist saw. The demonstration gathered at the shelter in the northeast of the capital where the man, El Hacen Diarra, 35, had been living and in front of which he was violently arrested by police on the night of January 14. Video filmed by neighbours, shared on social media, showed a policeman punching what appears to be a man on the ground as another officer stands by and watches. The protesters, gathered to support Diarra's family, members of whom also took part, unfurled banners demanding "Justice" and "RIP", before marching to the district police station. The family has filed a legal complaint accusing security forces of "intentional violence that led to a death", their lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou told AFP a week ago. Paris police have launched an internal i...

Political parties, parliamentarians and members of the legal community condemned the conviction and sentencing of human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, on Saturday, describing the verdict as “unfair” and a “grave miscarriage of justice”. A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Saturday convicted the two in a case related to controversial social media posts and sentenced them to 17 years in prison. The case pertains to alleged posts and reposts on X, formerly Twitter, which authorities described as “anti-state”. The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) registered the case in August last year under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, alleging the content was intended to incite divisions and portray state institutions negatively. The couple was arrested on Friday in Islamabad while reportedly heading to the district courts, and the court announced its verdict today. تحریک تحفظ آئین پاکستان ایمان مزاری اور ہادی ...

Three men appeared in a London court on Saturday accused of being part of a conspiracy to target YouTuber Adil Raja and former accountability czar Shahzad Akbar in Britain and attack them on Christmas Eve last year. The men, all British, were part of a "sophisticated and planned agreement" to go to the houses of the two at almost exactly the same time on December 24 and assault them, prosecutor Warren Stanier told Westminster Magistrates' Court. Prosecutors say Akbar, a former adviser to jailed ex-premier and PTI founder Imran Khan, was struck many times in the face after opening the door to his house in Cambridge, central England, to a masked man who had asked for him by name. Meanwhile, two men called at Raja's home in Chesham, to the northwest of London, and tried to force entry. Raja, who was convicted in absentia in January of terrorism-related offences linked to online support for Imran, was not there at the time. Read More: Adil Raja, six others handed double l...

An influential Iranian cleric warned on Friday that Iran may target US-linked investments in the region in retaliation for any US attack on the Islamic Republic, Iranian news agencies reported. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US had an “armada” heading toward Iran but hoped he would not have to use it, as he renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme. “The one trillion dollars you have invested in the region is under the watch of our missiles,” said Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, a leader of Friday prayers in Tehran held before a large gathering. He did not specify which investments he was referring to. Read More: Iran Guards chief says 'finger on trigger', warns US against 'miscalculations' Separately, Iran’s top prosecutor Mohammad Movahedi denied that Iran had called off 800 executions of people arrested in recent nationwide protests, as Trump has said. “This claim is completely false. No such number exi...

Ten judges were sworn in as permanent members of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday. The oath was administered by SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput. The newly confirmed permanent judges include Justice Miran Muhammad Shah, Justice Tasneem Sultana, Justice Riazat Ali Sahar, Justice Muhammad Hassan Akbar, Justice Abdul Hameed Bhurgari, Justice Jan Ali Junejo, Justice Nisar Ahmed Bhanbhro, Justice Ali Haider Ada, Justice Muhammad Ali Qasim Alvi, and Justice Muhammad Jafar Raza. All of the judges previously served as additional judges of the SHC. Their confirmation as permanent judges was approved by President Asif Ali Zardari on January 22. Meanwhile, Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani and Justice Faizul Hassan Shah were not confirmed as permanent judges. Their tenure as additional judges has been extended for a further six months. The oath-taking ceremony, held at the SHC premises, was attended by sitting judges, the additional attorney general, the Sindh advocate general, the prosecuto...

The District East administration in Karachi sealed a petrol pump operating on the University of Karachi’s land on Thursday after it continued functioning despite the cancellation of its No-Objection Certificate (NOC). The petrol pump, located near Kaneez Fatima Society close to Khatm-e-Nabuwat Chowk, had its NOC revoked on Tuesday by the District East deputy commissioner. However, it resumed operations on Wednesday, selling fuel and raising concerns among the university’s academic community. Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Iraqi told The Express Tribune that the administration immediately informed the deputy commissioner through an official letter after learning about the pump’s unauthorised operation. Read More: Govt wakes up to illegal petrol pump on KU land “During the DC’s visit to the university a day earlier, he suggested initiating a motion and conducting a land survey of the affected area. Letters regarding this were sent to the relevant authorities on Thursday morning,” he added...

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday directed the Sindh Safe Cities Authority (SSCA) to launch Phase I of the "non-negotiable" Karachi Safe City (KSC) Project within the next two months. Presiding over a meeting of the SSCA at CM House, the chief minister said: “The safety of Karachi is non-negotiable. We are moving from the project phase to a fully functional authority." The chief minister further stated that surveys for Safe City projects in Hyderabad and Sukkur, as well as smart camera installations at provincial entry and exit points, were completed by the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation.  He ordered preparations for Safe City projects in the two cities. “I want a comprehensive plan with a clear timeline submitted for approval,” he added. Sindh CM ⁦@MuradAliShahPPP⁩ chaired a meeting of Safe Cities Authority. Phase-I of Karachi Safe City Project will be operational within two months. Project includes 1,300 cameras, fully functional facia...

I was reading NYT when I came across a very astonishing phrase. It was about the future government of Venezuela. The headline was: "House Foreign Affairs Members Call for Machado to Govern Venezuela". And the article was talking about how the members of the said house of the United States government wanted to place Maria Corina Machado to be the next leader of the country whose sitting leader was kidnapped by the United States a few weeks ago. Last time I checked, the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the US government were not citizens of Venezuela. But somehow, not only do they decide who the leader of Venezuela should be but also somehow deep down we have come to terms with this foreign interference driven global politics. It seems as though the nations of the world all agree that democracy is the best form of government, yet, that is also the most common grudge any given nation holds against the other. The United States is angry with the Iranian regime for...

The United States Embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday expressed pride in what it said was President Donald Trump's role in ending the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India. The military escalation between India and Pakistan was triggered following an attack on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). New Delhi attributed the attack to Pakistan without presenting any evidence. Islamabad rejected the allegations and called for an independent investigation. In response, India launched air strikes on Pakistan's Punjab province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in the wee hours of May 7, leading to four days of hostilities that concluded with Trump's mediation on May 10. Trump has since repeatedly claimed that his administration prevented a full-scale war between India and Pakistan, asserting that American intervention saved millions of lives. He repeated this claim again during his address at the World Economic Forum today. “I have been working on th...

Deterrence was once meant to prevent war. Today, it is designed to make war manageable. When the United States attacks Iranian-connected targets, but does not attack Iranian territory, when Iran retaliates using its proxies, but not its missiles flying its flags, when neither side says anything, but both sides act in a manner calculated as cautiously as their words, we are informed that deterrence is holding. And it is — but not as we think. What we are witnessing is not the success of classical deterrence, but a quiet redefinition. The Iran-US relationship is symbolic of this change. The drone attacks, cyber attacks, targeted assassinations and sanctions are used as an unending pressure campaign as opposed to a move towards resolution. Each move is calculated to be painful yet absorbable, visible yet deniable. Revenge will be meted out, even anticipated, but in moderation. This is deterrence by calibration, not fear. A parallel reasoning takes place elsewhere. Russia and NATO are ...

The police have launched an investigation after transgender activist Bindiya Rana narrowly escaped an attack at her Karachi home in the early hours of Monday, highlighting growing concerns over the community's safety in the metropolis. The first information report (FIR) of the incident was lodged at her complaint at the Baloch Colony Police Station under Sections 34 (common intention) and 324 (attempt to murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, the incident took place at around 2am when two unidentified armed suspects rang the doorbell of the activist’s residence and began firing when it opened. It said Rana and fellow transrights Zehrish Soomro, town councilor Of Town Municipal Committee-Safoora-PPP, were at home at the time. Soomro told The Express Tribune that the attackers tried to forcibly enter the house, prompting Rana to attempt to protect herself. She said Rana reportedly fell during the attack while the assailants fled the scene. ...

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti asserted on Tuesday that there would be no further enforced disappearances by the state or government after February 1. The chief minister made the remarks while presiding over the 22nd meeting of the provincial cabinet at the Chief Minister Secretariat in Quetta. The session took up several key administrative, legal, social, educational, and developmental matters, including the issue of missing persons. The issue of missing persons has become one of the most sensitive and complex human rights challenges in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. For many, it represents not only a legal and political crisis, but also a deeply personal one.  Unraveling the Missing Persons Crisis: Realities, Misconceptions, and the Path to Resolution Urging the need for a permanent solution, CM Bugti alleged some elements and parties had "politicised" the matter as a “systematic propaganda tool” against Pakistan, but no serious effort had been ma...

Iran may lift its internet blackout in a few days, a senior parliament member said on Monday, after authorities shut communications while using massive force to crush protests in the worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In the latest sign of weakness in the authorities’ control, state television appeared to be hacked late on Sunday, briefly showing speeches by United States President Donald Trump and the exiled son of Iran’s last shah calling on the public to revolt. Iran’s streets have largely been quiet for a week, authorities and social media posts indicated, since anti-government protests that began in late December were put down in three days of mass violence. An Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the confirmed death toll was more than 5,000, including 500 members of the security forces, with some of the worst unrest in ethnic Kurdish areas in the northwest. Western-based Iranian rights groups also say thousands were killed. Read More:...

Last week, amid widespread protests in Iran, US President Donald Trump openly urged Iranian protesters to continue their campaign and take over government institutions. He then added a loaded line: "Help is on the way." The message instantly triggered speculation of a US military strike on Iran. But that "help" never arrived. As days passed, US media reported that President Trump had put any plan to attack Iran on hold. Subsequent reporting suggested that Trump reconsidered after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who advised against launching military strikes. This was surprising. Israel has long been seen as eager to seize any opportunity to corner Iran, militarily or politically. The advice, however, was driven by two hard realities. First, Israeli intelligence assessments concluded that while the Iranian regime appeared under pressure, it was not weak enough to be overthrown through external military action and internal unrest. Protests...

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)’s Immigration and Anti-Human Smuggling Cells claimed on Sunday to have arrested four suspects in two separate operations for attempting to travel abroad through unlawful means, including the use of forged documents, fake residency cards and other migrant-smuggling channels. Investigations have been initiated against all four individuals. According to officials, two members of an organised visa-fraud and migrant-smuggling network were apprehended on the identification of the American Embassy. Read: K-P govt raises compensation for Bajaur homes damaged in security operation FIA Immigration officers at Islamabad International Airport off-loaded and detained two outgoing passengers — Hasnain Azhar and Muhammad Atif — for attempting to travel abroad using fraudulent documentation. Azhar allegedly sought to enter Portugal on a fake Portuguese resident card, while Atif was reportedly in contact with agents for illegal entry into Europe. Both men have bee...

At least three people have been killed and 14 were injured after a fire broke out at a shopping centre on Karachi's MA Jinnah Road on Saturday night. A statement from Rescue 1122 said it received information about the fire at Gul Plaza, following which fire and rescue teams, along with ambulances and fire brigade trucks, were immediately dispatched to the scene. “The operation to control the fire is ongoing,” a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said. A statement from Chipa Foundation spokesperson Chaudhry Shahid Hussain said three people died due to suffocation while 14 were injured, adding that they were taken to Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment. Karachi's Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan said that all shops and godowns on the ground floor were gutted, adding that "firefighters are using foam to extinguish the blaze". Visuals showed plumes of smoke in the night sky as shopkeepers rushed to salvage their wares and take them out of the burning shops. A statement from the Kar...

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has had "constructive" discussions with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over moving their Twenty20 World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka, the country's governing body said on Saturday. Uncertainty looms over Bangladesh's participation in the Twenty20 World Cup following an earlier request by the BCB to the ICC to move their World Cup matches out of India over safety concerns amid political tensions. Bangladesh are in World Cup Group C and will play West Indies, England and Italy in Kolkata before facing Nepal in Mumbai. Read More: BCB and ICC hold video conference on Bangladesh team’s T20 World Cup participation The February 7-March 8 tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. BCB and ICC officials met in Dhaka on Saturday. "During the discussions, the BCB reiterated its formal request to the ICC to relocate Bangladesh's matches to Sri Lanka," the BCB said in a statement. "The board also share...

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that he expected progress on the Senate opposition leader's appointment by next week following the appointment of Mahmood Khan Achakzai as the opposition leader in the National Assembly. In October last year, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had nominated Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas as its candidates for the positions of the NA and Senate opposition leaders, respectively. Following months of delay, Achakzai was appointed to the position today after NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq issued his notification. However, a decision regarding the Senate opposition leader is yet to be taken. Speaking in an interview on Naya Pakistan on a private news broadcaster, Sanaullah said the NA speaker completed the required process and issued the notification appointing Achakzai after seeking the opinion of opposition members. "There is now no hurdle remaning in the Senate [process] as well. I th...