Eighteen days after the federal government imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province is being run through an unusual mix of arrangements: a governor assisted by an advisory council, special emergency measures in 12 districts, a court case that will not be heard again for another two weeks, and an elected...
The federal government has approved the deployment of Pakistan Rangers across Islamabad Capital Territory and several Punjab districts ahead of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned march on the federal capital scheduled for September 27, as security preparations in the twin cities intensify into one of the largest law-enforcement mobilisations the region has seen in recent years. The...
With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s planned long march to Islamabad now just three days away, the federal government has delivered its clearest message yet to the party: the protest will not be permitted in the capital, come what may. Sources say the message has been conveyed to PTI leadership, even as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi,...
Three sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan were being held in Kot Lakhpat Jail on Monday under 30-day detention orders, after a sequence of detentions that unfolded in less than a day and sharply raised the political temperature just days before the party’s planned September 27 march on Islamabad. Aleema Khan was the first to...
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s planned address at a PTI rally in Karachi was thrown into uncertainty on Sunday as authorities blocked several key arteries across the city, causing massive traffic disruption and repeatedly delaying his arrival from Hyderabad. Afridi’s caravan left Hyderabad before sunset but ran into roadblocks almost immediately on its route toward...
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on behalf of Pakistan on Tuesday, using his address at the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Bishkek to lay out the country’s priorities for its one-year term, from artificial intelligence and energy cooperation to poverty reduction and disaster management....
Dharna at Shahrah-e-Faisal Jamaat-e-Islami Blocks Road. Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Chief Monem Zafar announced that Jamaat-e-Islami will hold nationwide protests today against the petroleum levy charges, calling for public participation across the country, with Karachi’s own demonstration centred on Shahrah-e-Faisal, one of the city’s busiest arteries. Party workers are expected to block traffic along the road as...
A detailed opinion piece examining the timeline behind Azad Kashmir's JAAC ban, internet blackout and the July 27 Rawalakot killings.
A long-running dispute over the treatment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan inside Adiala Jail has resurfaced, with prison authorities pushing back publicly against claims from the party that the former prime minister is being held in isolation and denied adequate access to family and legal counsel. Jail officials say Khan, who has been in...
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement that Pakistan would host the signing ceremony of a US-Iran peace agreement in Geneva marked one of the more striking diplomatic moments of his tenure, and it continues to shape the government’s political narrative weeks later. Addressing the National Assembly shortly after news broke of the agreement, Sharif described the...