ISLAMABAD: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Pakistan’s Sindh province said on Saturday it had arrested a “trained terrorist” belonging to the Iran-backed Zainabiyoun Brigade in Karachi, who was accused of an assassination attempt on a top Pakistani cleric among other militant activities.
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, a former Pakistan top court judge and a permanent member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy, narrowly escaped the assassination attempt on him in the port city of Karachi in March 2019.
The attack had killed two of Mufti Usmani’s guards and wounded a fellow religious scholar, Maulana Amir Shahabullah, with police at the time calling it an apparent attempt to disrupt peace and stoke sectarian tensions in the South Asian country.
In its statement issued on Saturday, the CTD Sindh said it had arrested a “trained terrorist from a neighboring country” from Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar area, who had confessed to carrying out reconnaissance of “high value targets” and provide information regarding them to his accomplices, Syed Raza Jaffri and Abid Raza.
“Syed Muhammad Mehdi, a terrorist working for Hostile Intelligence Agencies (HIAs) and is linked to the Zainabiyoun Brigade, was arrested from Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar area,” the statement said.
“The suspect further disclosed that his accomplices, Syed Raza Jaffri and Abid Raza, had also been involved in the attack on Mufti Taqi Usmani and they have targeted several important figures who belonged to the opposite sect.”
Mehdi would keep weapons and explosives received from the HIAs at his home and provide hand grenades, weapons and ammunition when they were required to eliminate the targets, according to the CTD. He had also been involved in the sale and purchase of weapons.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is believed to have formed the Zainabiyoun Brigade, and based on material posted online and reviewed by Pakistani intelligence agencies, the group could have up to 1,000 fighters. Between 2019 and 2021, the Pakistan government said the Brigade was among outfits “found actively involved in terrorist activities” in the country.
Mehdi’s arrest comes at a time of heightened tensions between Pakistan and Iran, since Iran this week conducted drone and missile strikes inside Pakistan against what it said were militant bases.
Islamabad sharply reacted to the strikes, recalling its ambassador to Iran and barring the Iranian envoy from returning to Islamabad. On Thursday morning, Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat strikes against alleged militants in Iran’s southeast, killing nine.
Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer (560-mile), largely lawless border where smugglers and militants roam freely. Both countries suspect each other of supporting, or at least behaving leniently, toward some of the groups operating on the other side of the border.
Late Friday, Pakistan’s top security body, after hours of deliberation, decided to restore diplomatic relations with Iran and said it would welcome all “positive measures” from Tehran.
Pakistan arrests Iran-backed Zainabiyoun militant accused of attack on top cleric
https://arab.news/2sa98
Pakistan arrests Iran-backed Zainabiyoun militant accused of attack on top cleric
- Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on him in port city of Karachi in March 2019
- Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department says arrested suspect, accomplices were involved in attack on Mufti Usmani, others
Pakistan reopens key Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan after over ten-day closure
- Torkham crossing was closed over Afghan truck drivers not having proper travel permits and visas
- Pakistan reopens border for a month after which Afghan drivers will need to show passports and visas
PESHAWAR: Pakistan opened a key northwestern border crossing with Afghanistan on Tuesday, police and customs officials said, more than ten days after it was closed over Afghan truck drivers not having proper travel documents.
Truckers have for years been able to pass the border without documents so they generally do not have them but Pakistani officials have recently started asking for passports and visas from Afghan drivers.
The Torkham border crossing has been closed a number of times in recent months, including in September when it was shut for nine days due to clashes between border forces.
“Torkham border has been reopened under a specific arrangement for one month. After one month, the Afghan drivers will require proper traveling documents such as visas and passports,” Naheed Khan, a senior police officer deputed on the border, told Arab News, saying officials had decided to relax document requirements temporarily as a “goodwill” gesture.
The flow of a large number of transit trade vehicles had started on Tuesday morning soon after the border opened, Khan added.
Asghar Ali, a Pakistani customs clearing agent at the border, said the gates of the busy crossing point were reopened at around 9:00 am today, Tuesday, after which movement of vehicles began.
“It is open for a month. After one month, transporters and drivers will be required to carry valid traveling documents while crossing the border,” he said. “Let’s see what happens next.”
Pakistan has deported more than half a million Afghans without valid papers in recent months. The country has long hosted about 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet war. More than half a million fled Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power.
Pakistan says it is concerned that many Pakistani Taliban leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan and have been emboldened to carry out more attacks on security forces in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban government insists it does not allow the Pakistani Taliban to use its soil to launch attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan has also blamed a number of recent bombings and attacks on Afghan nationals, saying security concerns were a major reason for its crackdown against illegal migrants.
Spain police arrest Pakistani man in ‘love scam’ triple murder
- Tragedy likely linked to a fake online love affair between two sisters and two apparent US servicemen
- Suspect had reportedly lent the sisters at least 50,000 euros, which they had never repaid
MADRID: Spanish police on Monday said they had arrested a Pakistani man in connection with the killing of three siblings in their 70s, over debts reportedly linked to an online romance scam.
The suspect turned himself in on Sunday, “admitting his involvement in incidents related to the triple murder in a house in Morata de Tajuna,” a police statement said.
Judicial sources said the suspect had previously been convicted for attacking one of the sisters with a hammer a year ago.
Police had on Thursday found the three bodies, which were partially burnt inside their home in the village some 35 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Madrid.
Neighbours raised the alarm after not seeing the two sisters and their disabled brother for some time, with police saying their deaths were being treated as murder over a suspected debt.
Police on Monday said the man, referred to only as D.H.F.C, was the “main suspect” in the case as he had “previously injured one of the female victims last year,” with the courts confirming his arrest and conviction.
Quoting local residents, Spanish media said the tragedy was likely linked to a fake online love affair, with the two sisters embarking on what they thought was a long-distance relationship with two apparent US servicemen.
They were led to believe one had died and that the other needed money so that he could send them a multi-million-euro inheritance, causing the sisters to rack up huge debts.
Initially, they began borrowing money from neighbors.
During that time, the suspect had reportedly lent the sisters at least 50,000 euros ($55,000), which they had never repaid, prompting his violent attack on one of the sisters.
According to a statement from the Madrid region’s top court, the suspect was arrested in February 2023 at their house, where he was living as a tenant.
According to the sentence, he hit the victim “on the head, at least three times, with a hammer” then when she fell to the floor, he kicked her.
He was held in pre-trial detention until his case came to court in September when he was handed two years behind bars, slapped with a 2,900 euro ($3,150) fine and banned from being within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the victim for two years and six months.
But under Spanish law, anyone receiving a jail term of up to two years on a first offense automatically has their sentence suspended, so he was released after agreeing to pay the compensation, the statement said.
Police initially said the suspect was 43, but court records showed that he was 42.
When they called the police last week, neighbors said they hadn’t seen the siblings since before Christmas.
Speaking to Spanish media, they said the sister had repeatedly asked to borrow large sums of money, refusing to believe it was a scam and saying they would pay it back when they got the seven-million-euro ($7.6 million) inheritance payout.
“They weren’t asking for 100 euros or 20, they were asking you for 5,000 or 6,000 euros,” one neighbor had told state-owned broadcaster TVE on Friday.
Police did not comment on those reports.
Pakistan’s economy fared best in past three decades under Nawaz Sharif — Bloomberg Economics report
- Bloomberg calculates misery index, an informal measure of state of economy generated by adding rates of inflation and unemployment
- Results showed Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League at 14.5%, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf at 16.1%, Pakistan Peoples Party at 17.2%
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government under three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party had the best performance in managing the South Asian nation’s economy over the past three decades compared with rivals, an analysis by Bloomberg Economics published this week said.
Using a misery index for Pakistan — an informal measure of the state of an economy generated by adding together its rates of inflation and unemployment — Bloomberg Economics found that Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) scored better than Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The past three decades saw the PML-N rule Pakistan four times under Sharif and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif. The PPP under the Bhutto dynasty has held power three times, while Khan was in office for a four-year term ending in April 2022 when he was ousted from power in a parliamentary no-trust vote.
“Bloomberg Economics used an average of the index values over the respective years when each of the major political parties ruled the country since 1990. A higher value indicates more economic hardship for citizens,” the publication said, explaining its conclusions.
Bloomberg Economics Misery Index Results for Pakistan showed the Pakistan Muslim League scored 14.5 percent, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 16.1 percent and the Pakistan Peoples Party 17.2 percent.
Despite a higher misery index, Khan’s party is still the most popular politician, with an approval rating of 57 percent, according to a recent Gallup opinion poll. Sharif’s ratings have jumped to 52 percent from 36 percent in the past six months.
“The public may be giving Sharif the benefit of the doubt,” Ankur Shukla of Bloomberg Economics wrote in the report, adding that “road ahead won’t be easy for any party that wins the election,” given inflation remains near record highs and unemployment is also elevated.
Inflation is close to 30 percent in Pakistan, the currency was Asia’s worst performer last year and foreign exchange reserves have slumped.
The country is currently relying on a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund, and under the fund’s conditions, the new government will need to implement policies that may be unpopular with voters, such as withdrawing subsidies and raising taxes.
The IMF expects Pakistan’s economy to grow 2 percent in the current fiscal year after contracting in the previous year.
IMF cuts Pakistan’s external financing estimate for FY 2023-24 to $24.96 billion
- Earlier this month, IMF board approved roughly $700 million loan for Pakistan under $3 billion bailout
- This brought total disbursements under a Standby Arrangement signed last year to about $1.9 billion
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its projection for Pakistan’s external financing needs for the fiscal year 2023-24 to $24.965 billion, or about 7.1 percent of GDP, the lender said in its report “First Review under the Stand-By Arrangement” released this month.
Earlier this month, the IMF board approved a roughly $700 million loan for Pakistan under a $3 billion bailout, bringing total disbursements under a Standby Arrangement (SBA) signed last year to about $1.9 billion.
The South Asian country is operating under a caretaker government and the IMF loan program, approved in July, helped avert a sovereign debt default.
Ahead of the bailout, Pakistan had to undertake a slew of measures demanded by the IMF, including revising its budget, a hike in its benchmark interest rate, and increases in electricity and natural gas prices.
In its report entitled “First Review under the Stand-By Arrangement,” the IMF revised its projection for Pakistan’s external financing for FY 2023-24 to $24.965 billion, which is about 7.1 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and marks a decrease from an earlier estimate of $28.361 billion or 8.1 percent of GDP.
“Following the 2022 floods and the acute financial pressures earlier in the year, economic activity has stabilized and inflation has begun to gradually decline on the back of strong policy adjustment,” the report said.
“External pressures have eased somewhat since June, and the SBP has taken advantage of renewed inflows to begin rebuilding foreign exchange (FX) reserves.”
Fiscal performance had also improved, the IMF said, with the general government achieving a primary surplus in FY24Q1.
“Despite this welcome progress, the outlook is still challenging, and downside risks remain exceptionally high,” the report added.
Under the bailout deal, the IMF got Pakistan to raise $1.34 billion in new taxation to meet fiscal adjustments. The measures fueled all-time high inflation of 38 percent year-on-year in May, which is still hovering above 30 percent.
The fund said that despite elevated inflation, “with appropriately tight policy” it could fall to 18.5 percent by end-June. It added the exchange rate has been “broadly stable.”
Pakistani painters who once thrived in election season a dying breed in the digital era
- Past election cycles were a lucrative season for painters, walk chalkers and poster artists in Pakistan
- Election painting and banner printing now done digitally, reducing work and incomes of older artists
KARACHI: Muhammad Irshad whitewashed a wall in a densely populated, low-income neighborhood in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi last week with a solution made of lime and water and then got to work painting an election promotion in vibrant colors.
While past elections were a lucrative season for painters, walk chalkers and poster artists like 48-year-old Irshad, the advent of digital printing has left him worried about the future amid a lackluster polling season ahead of general elections scheduled for Feb. 8.
These days, even with elections less than three weeks away, Irshad often sits idle for hours at his small shop called Naushad Painter in Karachi’s Orangi Town.
“In the past, we had a lot of work, and we would rule this field,” he told Arab News as he dipped his paintbrush in a tub of red paint.
“We didn’t have much time, but today, we don’t have that much work. Nowadays, if there is work, we do it, otherwise, we just sit free.”
For Irshad, who has been painting walls for the last 35 years, elections meant a surge in demand for his craft, long months painting walls and filling orders for banners and increased incomes.
“We used to write banners with hand, but now [digital] printing has come into banner-making,” he said.
“Panaflex [posters] has also arrived, and with the advancement of printing work, the work related to our banners has also come to an end.”
The earnings are also meagre now. Irshad said he earned between Rs150-250, less than a dollar, for painting a wall, out of which he also had to buy his materials.
“The materials required for this work have become expensive and we don’t save much from it,” Irshad said.
His elder son often accompanies him on jobs but he said he didn’t want to encourage him to pursue this line of work.
“My children come to the shop after the school and they see me working,” Irshad added. “But I don’t feel that they should be inclined to learn or pay attention to this work. I don’t think this work will exist in the future.”
But while Irshad grapples with a decline in the demand for his services, others like digital designer and printer Adnan Qaise are thriving.
“This is now the digital era, in which big panaflex hoardings are fixed, streamers are applied on poles, and what we call van-branding takes place,” Qaiser said as he finished designing the poster of a candidate from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a popular party in the southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.
“Because of this, [our] total work has shifted to panaflex and their [wall chalkers and painters] work has shrunk to almost 10 percent.”
Muhammad Waqas Anwar, 29, a client of Qaiser’s, said the digital era had transformed the election campaign process “for the better.”
“The digitalization and printing of promotional materials have made our lives easier,” Anwar said. “The cost has decreased, time is saved, and we have the liberty to choose from a variety of designs.”
