South Asia

Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials stand guard in this undated image. —Radio Pakistan/ FileLAHORE: Terrorists opened fire on law enforcement officials and gunned down two of their accomplices involved in 2021 Dasu Hydropower Project (DHPP) attack as they were being moved from the Sahiwal prison, said the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).The terrorists were on death row and were being moved from the prison due to security concerns, said a CTD spokesperson, adding one of them was mastermind of the attack.

“Accomplices of the arrested terrorists opened fire on police to get them freed, resultantly shooting both of them dead,” the spokesperson said. The incident took place on Sammundari road in Sahiwal.At least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals working on the Dasu Hydropower Project (DHPP), were killed in an explosion on July 14, 2021.A probe into the incident had later revealed that it was an act of terrorism involving the nexus between India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS).Following the explosion, the Chinese firm working on the project had stopped working on the site citing “security concerns” and laid off all but the most essential Pakistani workers.However, the company had later withdrawn the notification and the work on the project was resumed after a few months.In November 2022, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) handed down the death sentence on 13 counts to each of the two men arrested in the DHPP terrorist attack case.The court had also imposed Rs40 million fine on the two convicted terrorists, besides awarding them a total of around 800 years of imprisonment; including life imprisonment.The Foreign Office on November 14, 2022, welcomed the verdict saying the decision demonstrated Pakistan’s commitment to counterterrorism.”[…] the proactive investigation, prosecution and judgment in this case have once again demonstrated Pakistan’s abiding commitment to counterterrorism.”

A dust storm envelopes buildings in Karachi on October 10, 2024. — AFPKARACHI: The port city’s residents will have to bear with the rising temperatures for a few more days as mercury may rise up to 40°C, said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) chief meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz on Friday.According to the Met Office official, some parts of the city are expected to receive light rain and wind; however, it will not cool down the blistering heat.

A day earlier, Karachi received some respite from the hot weather after brief showers accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm hit some of the areas.
The city was reeling under sweltering heat when dark clouds blanketed different areas of the city and it started raining with some areas witnessing hailstorm.Areas across Karachi witnessed unexpected showers, drenching its central parts including Malir, North Karachi, Bufferzone, Gulshan-e-Hadid, Gulistan-e-Johar and Shah Faisal Colony.”Even today, the temperature in Karachi can reach 40°C,” said the weather expert during Geo News programme ‘Geo Pakistan’, adding that the temperature will likely decrease in the city.The PMD official said that rainfall was expected in the city’s suburbs with temperatures rising up to 39°C and 40°C. However, Karachi’s eastern and north eastern parts witnessed rain instead with some isolated, concentrated cells gathering in the same place.The weather expert said that the windstorm in the city was caused by the production of convective energy due to the earth’s heat.Sarfaraz revealed that night time temperatures in the northern regions has reached single digits.Separately, Sarfaraz told Geo News that low air pressure has formed in the south-east of the Arabian Sea, which may intensify and turn into depression during the next one to two days.”A depression can become a hurricane if the atmosphere is favourable,” said the weather forecaster.He maintained that most of the post-monsoon cyclones are directed towards Oman and there is currently no threat to Pakistan’s coastline from this system.

People gathered outside a medical facility where bodies of the deceased miners were kept, seen in this still taken from a video. — ReporterCitizens and traders recorded their protest on Friday against the deadly rocket attack on coal mines in Balochistan’s District Duki which left at least 20 miners dead and seven others injured. The attack came as the latest incident of violence in the southwestern province

The mineral-rich region borders Afghanistan and Iran has been troubled for decades due to frequent incidents of violence.No group has yet claimed responsibility. “A group of armed men attacked the mines in the Duki area in the wee hours [of Friday] using heavy weapons,” said Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, located east of the city of Quetta.They fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well, he added.Following the deadly attack, citizens staged a demonstration at Bacha Khan Chowk with the bodies of the slain miners.Meanwhile, traders announced a shutter-down strike in the entire district in condemnation of the dastardly attack. All trade centres and markets remained closed across Duki on Friday. The area surrounding the coal mines were cordoned off by the police and FC personnel and a search operation was launched soon after the attack. Bodies of the slain miners and the injured were rushed to nearby medical facility, Teaching Hospital Loralai for medical care.The police had initially reported the deaths of two miners but the death toll soared to 20 in the following hours, Medical Officer Dr Johar Sadozai confirmed. As per the official, two of the deceased miners belonged to Pishin and two others were residents of Qila Saifullah while one of them was from Kuchlak and three others came for work from Afghanistan, according to the medial officer.The owner of the coal mines, Haji Khairullah Nasir, said that the attackers not only carried out an assault on the mining site but also set the machinery on fire.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack and sought a report from the authorities concerned on the matter and reiterated his government’s resolve to purge the country of terrorism.He expressed deep grief over the loss of lives and conveyed his sympathies to the families of the slain miners.Taking notice of the matter, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti condemned the incident and ordered action against the “terrorists” involved in the attack.
“Terrorists working on the agenda of destablising Pakistan. Labourers are soft targets in cowardly attacks by terrorists,” he said, pledging to punish the elements involved in such activities. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since the Taliban government returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, mostly in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also in southwestern Balochistan, which abuts Afghanistan and Iran.Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee’s recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism.

Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik (left) accompanying Saudi Arabian Minister for Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih (right) in Islamabad on October 9, 2024. —Facebook/ @DrMusadikMalikSaudi Arabian Minister for Investment Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Falih has said he followed advice of Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik on how to build industrial cluster in Saudi Arabia. Speaking at the Pak-Saudi Business Forum in Islamabad on Thursday, he said the industrial cluster led to growth of their industrial sector.

“Musadik mentioned he was a consultant and a subject matter expert. He mentored and taught me. He was very humble when he called me his boss,” the Saudi minister stated.He said the petroleum minister told him how an industrial cluster could be built in Saudi Arabia, which they followed.”We took his advice and we are very proud that our industrial sector is booming. It is one of the fastest growing and most competitive certainly in the region,” he added. Musadik MalikVideo Player is loading.Play VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 1:04Loaded: 8.84%0:00Stream Type LIVESeek to live, currently behind liveLIVERemaining Time -1:04 1xPlayback RateChaptersChaptersDescriptionsdescriptions off, selectedCaptionscaptions settings, opens captions settings dialogcaptions off, selectedQuality LevelsHDHigh DefinitionSDStandard DefinitionAutoA, selectedAudio Tracken (Main), selectedFullscreenThis is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorTransparencyBackgroundColorTransparencyWindowColorTransparencyFont SizeText Edge StyleFont FamilyReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.Close Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. The Saudi investment minister is leading a high-level government cum business delegation, that arrived in Pakistan on October 9 for a three-day visit.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed 27 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) valuing $2.2 billion in various sectors including industry, agriculture, Information Technology (IT), food, education, mine & minerals, health, petroleum, energy and other areas of mutual cooperation.Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif accompanied by Saudi Investment Minister Khalid and Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir witnessed the exchange of the signed copies of the MoUs.Addressing on the occasion, the prime minister said the visit of Saudi business delegation was a true manifestation of great sincerity and affection for people of Pakistan from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.He expressed the government’s resolve to implement these MoUs and to transform them into agreements in future through “hard work and untiring efforts”.“Our Saudi brothers lead by Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Falih have done remarkable job to promote Saudi economy,” he remarked.Warmly welcoming the Saudi investment minister and his delegation to Pakistan, PM Shehbaz informed him about the privatisation programme, stressing that he was determined to remove all obstacles in investment agreements between the two countries.The agreements include a $70 million investment in agriculture sector, establishment of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing in Saudi Arabia, establishment of a textile industry, a white oil pipeline project, an MoU for exploring investment opportunities, a hybrid power project, development of transformer manufacturing facilities in both the countries, cyber security measures for customers and businesses, and the export of spices and vegetables from Pakistan.Additionally, the agreements outline the establishment of a manufacturing facility for surgical and dental equipment and collaboration on the federal government’s E-Taaleem and digitalisation programmes.

Workers sort coal near a coal mine in Datong, Shanxi province, China, on Nov 3, 2021. — AFPQuetta: At least 20 labourers were killed on Friday when unidentified armed assailants launched a deadly rocket attack on their coal mines in the Duki district of Balochistan in today wee hours.The bodies and the injured miners were transported to nearby Teaching Hospital Loralai for medical care. 

Teams of police and FC personnel have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. Police earlier said that two labourers were killed in the attack. However, Medical Officer Dr Johar Sadozai confirmed that the death toll from the attack had risen to 20, with seven miners injured.The outlaws gathered the miners at one place and opened fire at them. Police said the assailants used hand grenades and rockets in the attack.
The owner of the coal mines, District Chairman Haji Khairullah Nasir, said that there are ten coal mines located in the area where the attackers not only carried out an assault but also set the mining machinery on fire.Two of the deceased belonged to Pishin and two others were residents of Qila Saifullah while one of them was from Kuchlak and three others came for work from Afghanistan, according to the medial officer.Reuters adds: “A group of armed men attacked the Junaid Coal company mines in the Duki area in the wee hours using heavy weapons,” said Humayun Khan, the police station house officer for the town, located east of the city of Quetta. They fired rockets and grenades at the mines as well, he added.“We have received 20 bodies and six injured so far at district hospital Duki,” said Johar Khan Shadizai, a doctor in Duki.Terrorism re-surges in PakistanPakistan has witnessed a worrying surge in terrorist attacks in the ongoing year with fatalities in the first three quarters surpassing the numbers recorded in all of 2023.As per the third Quarterly Report (Q3) issued by Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the number of fatalities rose to at least 1,534 in the first three quarters of 2024 compared to 1,523 in 2023.It further said that nearly 97% of these fatalities occurred in KP and Balochistan — the highest percentage in a decade.However, despite the worrying numbers, the data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) show that there has been a significant reduction in militant activity in Balochistan following a surge in August.In September, the western province witnessed 27 attacks, leading to 22 deaths and 48 injuries as opposed to 43 attacks, 125 deaths, and 77 injuries recorded in August.