Tag: pakistan

Pakistan Declares State of Emergency, Arrests Leaders of Former PM Imran Khan’s Party

Pakistan on Monday declared a state of emergency in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the stronghold of former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI party, and suspended the PTI-dominated government.

The central government claimed these drastic measures were necessary because provincial leaders were not doing enough to contain an Islamist insurgency leaking over the border from neighboring Afghanistan.

PTI officials dismissed the official government explanation as merely an excuse to arrest opposition leaders and prevent Khan supporters from marching on Islamabad.

Khan, 74, was ejected from the prime minister’s office in 2022 by a vote of no confidence and has been jailed since 2023 on numerous corruption charges – all of which his supporters denounce as political fabrications created by the administration of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to prevent Khan from making a political comeback.

PTI members have been rallying in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for days to prepare for the march on Islamabad, while government forces in the Pakistani capital have been blocking off roads and bracing for a siege.

Sharif asked PTI to postpone the march, due to the ongoing terrorist threat from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban – a violent insurgency that wants to overthrow Pakistan’s secular government and replace it with an Islamist caliphate modeled on the Afghan Taliban.

Just as the marchers were preparing to embark from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their week-long journey to Islamabad, President Asif Ali Zardari declared a state of emergency in the province and suspended the government. Zardari’s office said he signed the orders after the “failure of negotiations” between provincial representatives and emissaries from Islamabad.

Police arrested several high-ranking PTI members, including the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a Khan ally named Sohail Afridi. The police said some would only be detained temporarily, while others could face serious criminal charges. India’s The Hindu quoted two anonymous Pakistani police officials who said a total of 278 PTI members were detained.

The Hindu also said schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were closed on Monday, and “major disruptions to Internet connectivity” were detected in the province.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said a provincial governor would be appointed for at least six months, or until the state of emergency is lifted.

PTI leaders and spokesmen sneered at Zardari’s order as an “ambush on democracy” and “a coup disguised as an emergency.”

The provincial governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, posted a video message saying that residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would welcome President Zardari’s order, because they want “peace, stability, development and prosperity rather than unrest and insecurity.”

Kundi urged the people of the province to “refrain from violating the law, inciting violence or engaging in rioting.”

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Pakistani Christian Accused of Blasphemy, Properties Burned, Other Christians Flee

A Muslim mob in Pakistan set fire to a Christian’s house and shop on October 9 after he was accused of blasphemy. The incident forced more than 35 Christian families to subsequently flee their homes amid fears of further violence.

The previous day, police arrested Kamran Masih, a 40-year-old Christian father of three who ran a small pharmacy in Gharial Kalan village of Punjab Province. Local Muslims had accused him of sharing a blasphemous video in WhatsApp groups, a source told the Christian Daily International-Morning Star.

“As word of Masih’s arrest spread, his family and other Christians started fleeing the village, fearing a mob attack,” the source added.

Dozens of Muslims gathered outside Masih’s shop and adjacent residence on October 9 to protest, and some set both buildings on fire, the source said.

Ejaz Alam Augustine, a Christian member of the Punjab Assembly, said he and other Christian lawmakers had remained in contact with police and district authorities throughout the day to ensure residents’ safety.

“The police’s timely action of taking Masih into custody helped in containing the situation; otherwise, things could have gone out of hand,” Augustine said.

According to Pakistan’s laws, blasphemy against Islam is punishable by death or life imprisonment. Blasphemy accusations have repeatedly triggered mob violence, extrajudicial killings and prolonged detention of suspects awaiting trial.

On July 9, for instance, a violent protest erupted in Karachi, Sindh Province. Unidentified people allegedly mailed a desecrated page of the Quran to a Muslim shopkeeper, along with photographs of a Christian man and his mother. 

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Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan Sign Islamic NATO-Style Defense Pact Amid Iran War

On Friday Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a major defense agreement as leaders gathered in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It seeks to strengthen joint deterrence and expanding defense cooperation, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

It is essentially a NATO-style agreement for the ‘Muslim world’ – given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them.

Formally called the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, it “reflects the three nations’ commitment to bolstering their collective security and promoting peace, security and stability in the region and the wider world,” SPA reported.

The combined estimated population of these Muslim-majority countries is 380 million people, or according to the high estimates… approaching 400 million.

Al Jazeera comments on the significance of the historic pact as follows:

This is more than a diplomatic get-together and the signing of an agreement.

This essentially puts three of the largest Muslim populations together on the roadmap for joint peace, for deterring any act of aggression against them, for making sure that they are in tune with each other when it comes to intelligence sharing, gathering all of the information that is required, and also enhancing cooperation in all sorts of spheres – whether it’s energy, defence expenditure or manufacturing, among others.

Pakistan brings with it, obviously, its nuclear arsenal, battle-hardened military, and munitions it has been supplying. Turkiye, with its advanced drone and munitions systems, is a NATO member, combined with the economic power of Saudi Arabia.

The three of them combined now present a force that will take this region towards a different security architecture than the one in place over the last few decades, especially in the wake of the Iran war.

Indeed this further formalizes Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella for Saudi Arabia, which lacks atomic weapons. Turkey does not have its own nukes either, but plays host to US nuclear weapons as part of NATO. Turkey maintains the second-largest military within the NATO alliance, behind the United States.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia already have a bilateral defense pact, somewhat recently inked, which has lately seen Islamabad deploy 8,000 troops, a ​squadron of fighter jets, and an air defense system to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi kingdom has lately been subject of sporadic ‘retaliatory’ attacks from Iran in the context of the war, and has earlier even responded by launching numerous unpublicized strikes on Iran.

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Pakistan Sent 8,000 Troops, Jets And Air Defenses To Saudi Arabia

Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defense system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defense pact, ramping up military cooperation with the kingdom, all while playing the lead role in mediating talks between the United States and Iran.

The deployment was first announced by Saudi Arabia last month, specifically on April 11 — three days after the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran came into effect.

At the time, the Saudi Ministry of Defense said that the deployment came “as part of the Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement signed between the two brotherly countries.”

It added in a statement that the presence of Pakistani forces in the kingdom came with the purpose of “enhancing joint military coordination and raising the level of operational readiness between the armed forces of the two countries,” but didn’t elaborate on the scale of the deployment.

Iran attacked Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones on a near-daily basis right after the start of the American-Israeli war. Most attacks targeted Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops and aircraft, but the kingdom also accused the Islamic Republic of hitting infrastructure, including energy facilities.

The new details on the Pakistani military deployment in Saudi Arabia came in a report published by Reuters on May 18. The report cited three security officials and two government sources, all of whom described it as a substantial, combat-capable force intended to support the kingdom’s military if it comes under further attack.

The full terms of the defense agreement, signed last year, are confidential, but both sides have said it requires Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to come to each other’s defense in the event of an attack. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has previously implied that it places the kingdom under Pakistan’s nuclear umbrella.

According to the sources, Pakistan has deployed a full squadron of around 16 aircraft, mostly JF-17 fighter jets. Meanwhile, two of the security officials revealed that Pakistan had also sent two squadrons of drones.

All five sources said that the deployment includes around 8,000 troops, with a pledge to send more if needed, as well as a Chinese HQ-9 long-range air defense system.

The report came just a day after Saudi Arabia reported that three drones were intercepted and destroyed after entering the Kingdom’s airspace from Iraq, where several armed factions allied to Iran are active. The incident highlighted growing tensions amid the ceasefire.

The forces sent by Pakistan to Saudi Arabia are very capable. However, it is clear that the deployment is purely defensive in nature.

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Pakistan: Professor Sentenced to Death Following Blasphemy Charges

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are among the world’s most egregious tools of religious repression. They enable abuse, mob violence, and the targeting of individuals and religious minorities (including Christians) for criminal prosecutions that carry life sentences and death penalties.

Pakistani professor Junaid Hafeez, for instance, is imprisoned and sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. 

In 2013, police in Punjab Province arrested Hafeez, who was then an academic in his twenties. The professor has remained incarcerated ever since.

In 2019, a court sentenced Hafeez to death under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws following a trial whose delays spanned several years. The trial finally took place inside a high-security prison amid fears of mob violence. Hafeez’s appeal has yet to be heard.

According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), 

In March 2013, authorities arrested Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University, after his students accused him of blaspheming Islam on social media. In 2014, authorities placed him in solitary confinement after other prisoners repeatedly attacked him. That same year, two gunmen shot to death Hafeez’s lawyer, Rashin Rehman, in his office.

In December 2019, a district and sessions court in Multan sentenced Hafeez to death for “insulting the Prophet Muhammad” (Sec. 295-C PPC). He was also sentenced to life in prison for “desecrating the Qur’an” (Sec. 295-B PPC) and 10 years’ imprisonment for “intending to outrage religious feelings” (Sec. 295-A PPC). United Nations experts swiftly condemned Hafeez’s sentence.

Prior to his arrest, Hafeez received a master’s degree in the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship. He specialized in American literature, photography, and theatre.

On February 26, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement about Hafeez’s case. In it, HRW said:

“Junaid Hafeez’s case is emblematic of the unjust and abusive nature of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should quash Hafeez’s conviction and safely release him and others held under the blasphemy laws.”

The blasphemy laws, section 295-C, and other provisions of Pakistan’s penal code carry what is effectively a mandatory death sentence. Although there have been no executions, several people are currently on death row, while dozens are serving life sentences for related offenses. Hundreds have been charged under the law in the past three decades.

On February 27, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) submitted an official contribution to the U.N. Special Rapporteur regarding summary, extrajudicial, or arbitrary executions in Pakistan. In it, the ECLJ denounces the mandatory and automatic imposition of the death penalty for blasphemy against Islam in the country:

Those accused of blasphemy in Pakistan are sentenced to death by hanging. The death penalty, let alone by hanging, is egregious and disproportionate in blasphemy cases. It clearly amounts to torture. Notably, the Pakistani government has never carried out the death sentence in blasphemy cases. However, the accused spend years on death row. Additionally, many accused, their families, and communities have faced mob violence…

The authorities have also failed to stop mob attacks by private actors, such as fundamentalist individuals and organizations in blasphemy cases. In many cases, mobs gather and attack the accused, their families, and their communities. Where the accused are arrested and tried, fundamentalist organizations continue to pack the courtrooms to intimidate judges. As a result, trial courts rarely acquit the accused, leaving their fate up to the higher courts.

Even an accusation of blasphemy can provoke mob violence against victims, as well as their families and the wider Christian community. On Aug. 16, 2023, allegations of blasphemy against two Christian residents in Jaranwala (Faisalabad district of Punjab Province) led to a Muslim mob vandalizing and destroying over 20 churches and more than 80 Christian houses.

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White House ‘signed off’ on Pakistan’s declaration that Iran ceasefire included Lebanon: Report

The White House was directly involved in “shaping” the ceasefire announcement by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, having reviewed and approved it before publication, according to a New York Times (NYT) report on 8 April.

The report says Washington saw and signed off on the statement in advance, indicating that the announcement was not an independent diplomatic move but part of coordinated communication. 

US President Donald Trump had issued an 8:00 pm deadline on Tuesday for Iran to surrender, saying that he would erase an entire civilization if Tehran did not agree to his terms for a deal.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.

The NYT report notes that, behind the scenes, US officials were actively seeking a way out as the deadline approached, even as US President Donald Trump was threatening Iran with annihilation if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz.

It asserts that diplomatic channels were far more active than the public messaging indicated, with the ceasefire appeal reflecting a managed effort rather than a spontaneous initiative.

Sharif’s post itself had appeared earlier with the header “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X,” fueling speculation that the text had been provided externally before publication. It called for extending the deadline by two weeks, reopening the Strait of Hormuz as a “goodwill gesture,” and implementing a temporary ceasefire across all fronts. 

Iran’s 10-point plan includes US non-aggression, sanctions removal, compensation, troop withdrawal, uranium enrichment, and Iranian control of Hormuz, alongside a halt to fighting across all fronts, directly naming Lebanon. 

The Pakistani premier’s statement on X explicitly stated that “the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”

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Thousands of Christian Families Are Facing Eviction in This Muslim Country

There are currently 25,000 Christians in Islamabad, Pakistan, who are suddenly being asked to leave their homes by the nation’s Islamic authorities.

Christian families living in the capital city were told that they must leave within the next few days, per a report from International Christian Concern.

These families were resettled in Islamabad after the Rimsha Masih case in 2013, during which Masih, then a 14-year-old girl, was arrested on blasphemy charges.

Authorities claimed that she desecrated pages from the Quran.

Two weeks later, the Muslim cleric who reported her to the police was arrested for allegedly planting the pages in her bag, and she was eventually acquitted.

International Christian Concern noted that because Masih was a Christian, the case created “serious threats against the Christian community.”

Many families were moved to the communities in Islamabad “so they could live without fear,” and have built new lives there over more than a decade.

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Pakistan says talks imminent: Trump’s vice president to meet Iranian officials as Israel fears concessions

A Pakistani source said Tuesday that U.S. Vice President JD Vance, along with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are expected to meet Iranian officials in Islamabad as early as this week, according to Reuters.

The source said the summit would follow a call between President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Asim Munir.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Pakistan is seeking to position itself as a central mediator to help end the war. Pakistani officials have also passed messages between Tehran and both Witkoff and Kushner, the newspaper said.

The report noted that Pakistan — which does not host U.S. military bases — is one of the few U.S. allies in the region that was not targeted by Iran during the war. Three sources told the Financial Times that this helped Islamabad present itself as a neutral intermediary between the sides.

Israeli concerns over US stance

Israeli officials are increasingly concerned that Trump may not insist on Washington’s stated red lines in talks with Iran and could accept any outcome that allows him to declare victory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier Tuesday with Vance and was briefed on the contacts between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. message to Israel, according to Israeli officials, is that Washington intends to uphold red lines largely aligned with Israel’s: removal of enriched uranium from Iran, halting its nuclear program, restoring intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, limiting Iran’s ballistic missile program — with a U.S. demand for a five-year freeze — and ending support for militant groups.

Trump is also insisting on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and having a role in overseeing it.

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Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of killing 400 in hospital strike

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of conducting an airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul, which Taliban officials say killed at least 400 people.

Pakistan has been striking alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan since February, accusing the Taliban government of supporting attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban has denied any involvement in the string of terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Taliban government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike on Monday evening destroyed large sections of the Omid Addiction Treatment Hospital.

“Unfortunately, the death toll has so far reached 400, while around 250 others have been reported injured,” Fitrat wrote on X.

Afghan media published a video showing a building engulfed in flames.

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The War Nobody’s Watching: Pakistan’s Three-Front Conflict

On Feb. 22, 2026, a Pakistani airstrike hit the village of Girdi Kas in eastern Afghanistan. As one family lost 18 of its 23 members, Pakistan termed it a targeted counterterrorism operation against militant hideouts. Afghanistan, in contrast, said the strikes hit civilian homes and a religious school. The United Nations confirmed credible reports of civilian casualties, including women and children.

Five days later, Pakistan’s defense minister declared “open war” as Pakistani warplanes struck Kabul, Kandahar, and targets at the former American air base at Bagram, though the Taliban denied significant damage. Afghanistan retaliated with drone strikes and cross-border offensives. Both sides claimed to have killed hundreds.

“They have a great prime minister, a great general,” Trump declared, that same day. “Pakistan is doing terrifically well.”

The State Department backed Pakistan’s “right to defend itself against attacks from the Taliban, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.” Three days later, the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and the Pakistan-Afghanistan war vanished from the news.

Yet Pakistan is now fighting on three fronts.

To the northwest, an open war with Afghanistan. To the southwest, an escalating insurgency across the province of Balochistan, where separatist militants launched coordinated attacks across a dozen cities in January, killing nearly 200 people. To the east, an unresolved military standoff with India following their brief war last May – the heaviest engagement between the two nuclear powers since 1971.

Meanwhile, the United States is entangled on every side: backing Pakistan’s military against the Taliban while partnered strategically with the India that hosts the Taliban, that Pakistan accuses of fueling the Baloch insurgency, and that just went to war with Pakistan last year. Yet the U.S. is too busy bombing Iran to notice.

Pakistan shares a 1,600-mile border with Afghanistan to the northwest – a contested colonial-era line that splits the Pashtun population and that no Afghan government has ever recognized. Its southwestern province of Balochistan, the country’s largest and poorest, borders both Afghanistan and Iran and sits atop vast reserves of coal, gold, copper, and gas. To the east lies India, with the disputed territory of Kashmir the eternal sore point between them.

Three borders. Three conflicts.

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