Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan government forces battled Friday to retake a border crossing with Pakistan from Taliban insurgents, and the Reuters news agency said one of its photographers was killed in the area.

The Taliban had overrun the Spin Boldak crossing earlier in the week. On Friday, witnesses on the Pakistan side of the border said they saw intense fighting and reported seeing bodies.

Reuters said Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Danish Siddiqui, who was embedded with the Afghan special forces, was killed as the commando unit sought to recapture Spin Boldak.

QUETTA, Pakistan, July 15 (Reuters) - Two Pakistani military officials were killed and three wounded when a bomb blew up their vehicle in an area of southwestern Pakistan where separatist insurgents operate, officials said on Thursday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the late Wednesday blast in Pasni, a coastal town in Balochistan province, 126 km east of Gwadar port, but separatists insurgents have claimed similar attacks in the area in the past.

ISLAMABAD, July 13 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said Pakistan stands with the Kashmiris in their just struggle and would not compromise till they get their right to self-determination guaranteed by resolutions of the UN Security Council.

“We stand with Kashmiris on the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day and pay tribute to 22 Shuhada of 13 July 1931, martyred when the Dogra Maharaja’s soldiers fired on peaceful protestors,” the prime minister said in a tweet.

ISLAMABAD, July 13 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that Pakistan wanted to adopt a joint strategy on Afghanistan after consultation with important countries of the region.

“As Pakistan is fulfilling its responsibilities, the improved situation in Afghanistan will benefit all. If, God forbids, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, all will be affected.” Qureshi said in a statement from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

ISLAMABAD, Jul 12 (NNN-APP) – Several labourers were trapped, after an explosion happened inside a coal mine in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province yesterday, local reports said.

The labourers were working inside the mine, in the Marwar area of the provincial capital of Quetta, when the explosion happened, due to the accumulation of toxic gas inside the mine, the reports added.

Rescue work to retrieve the trapped miners is underway.

Coal mines in the province are infamous for occasional blasts, in which scores of people have lost their lives.

ISLAMABAD, July 11 (APP): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Sunday left for Dushanbe, Tajikistan to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Foreign Ministers Council. 

During his three-day visit, the foreign minister will address the SCO ministerial council. 

The foreign minister Qureshi will also attend the meeting of SCO foreign ministers contact group on Afghanistan and reiterate Pakistan’s stance on the Afghan peace process, the changing regional situation and promotion of regional cooperation. 

Islamabad, Jul 11 (PTI) Pakistan is well prepared to deal with the spillover effect it may face in case of a civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan, the country's Army spokesman has said, insisting that Islamabad is only a facilitator of the Afghan peace process, not a guarantor.

Major Gen Babar Iftikhar's comments came as Taliban officials said the group had taken control of 85 per cent of territory in Afghanistan.

Islamabad, Jul 11 (PTI) Pakistan is bracing to battle the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic as the country saw a three-fold increase in number of people being tested positive everyday in less than three weeks.

Health experts are blaming the reopening of businesses and tourism sector for the resurge in cases and have urged the government to announce a lockdown so that Eidul Azha is celebrated with the observance of strict health-related restrictions.

Peshawar, Jul 7 (PTI) Pakistan on Wednesday showed its adulation for legendary Indian actor Dilip Kumar as tributes poured in from across the country for the 98-year-old cinema icon who was born here.

Kumar was born on December 11, 1922 at his ancestral home in Qissa Khawani Bazaar area of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. His original name was Yousuf Khan.

In a tweet, Pakistan President Arif Alvi said Kumar was "an outstanding actor, a humble man, and a dignified personality".

Islamabad, Jul 7 (PTI) Pakistan expects some five lakh fresh Afghan refugees in case of a civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan, according to a media report here on Wednesday, amidst the Taliban militants gaining rapid strides in the war-torn country.

The Express Tribune reported that this time the Pakistani authorities insist refugees would be kept at special camps in the bordering areas instead of letting them in the settled parts of the country.