Pakistan

04 October 2023; MEMO: A Pakistani court, on Wednesday, ordered an open hearing of a case that accuses the jailed ex-Prime Minister, Imran Khan, of exposing state secrets, a court document said, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) turned down a plea by the country’s key investigation agency seeking an in-camera trial of the ex-premier’s bail application in the “cipher case”, which is related to a diplomatic document that reportedly went missing from his possession.

03 October 2023; MEMO: Pakistan, on Tuesday, gave a one-month deadline to all the “illegal immigrants” to leave the country, Anadolu Agency reports.

Addressing a news conference in the capital, Islamabad, caretaker Interior Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, said the government is giving a deadline to all foreigners living illegally to leave the country by 1 November.

After the deadline, he said, all the illegal immigrants will be deported.

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said in its report on Tuesday that Pakistan's real GDP growth is likely to recover to 1.7 percent in the ongoing fiscal year from July 2023 to June 2024.

The World Bank projected in its report "Pakistan Development Update: Restoring Fiscal Sustainability" that Pakistan's real GDP will recover to 2.4 percent in the next fiscal year (July 2024 to June 2025).

The bank said that Pakistan's economic growth is expected to remain below potential over the medium term with some improvements in investment and exports.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 01 (APP): Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack targeting the Ministry of Internal Affairs of brotherly Turkiye and reaffirmed that it resolutely stood with Turkiye in its fight against the scourge of terrorism.

“We pray for the swift and complete recovery of those injured in this heinous attack,” Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release.

“We are confident that with their characteristic grit and determination, the Turkish nation will defeat this menace and emerge ever stronger,” it was further added.

29 September 2023; MEMO: Suicide bombings ripped through two mosques in Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 57 people and injuring dozens more as believers marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad, police and health officials said, Reuters reports.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, one of which was reported to have trapped dozens under rubble.

01 October 2023; MEMO: A two-week multinational exercise involving special forces from Türkiye, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan concluded in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The “Eternal Brotherhood-II” exercise was begun on Sept. 17 in Brotha, in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

QUETTTA, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll from a bombing in southwestern Pakistan as people celebrated the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday rose to 54 after two critically wounded patients died in hospitals overnight, officials said Saturday.

A suspected suicide bomber or bombers blew themselves up Friday among a crowd in the Mastung district. It was one of the deadliest attacks targeting civilians in Pakistan in months. Nearly 70 people were wounded, including five who remain in very critical condition, authorities said.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of people celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 52 people and wounding nearly 70 others, authorities said, in one of the country’s deadliest attacks targeting civilians in months.

An open area near a mosque was left strewn with the shoes of the dead and wounded, TV footage and videos on social media showed. Bodies lay covered with bedsheets. Residents and rescuers were seen rushing the wounded to hospitals.

27 September 2023; MEMO: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, was shifted to a prison near the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday following a court order, officials and local media reported, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Islamabad High Court, on Monday, directed the authorities to shift Khan from Attock Jail to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on the request of his lawyers.

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26 (NNN-APP) – Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), arrested seven drug traffickers in various operations across the country, an ANF spokesperson said.

During the operations, the force seized over 115 kg of drugs, including hashish, opium and heroin, while impounding several vehicles that were being used for smuggling, the ANF said in a statement, yesterday.