Category: 1. Pakistan

At least two Federal Constabulary (FC) personnel were martyred and 18 others were injured in a terrorist attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district, police said on Monday.

Kohat Regional Police Officer Abbas Majeed confirmed the incident to Dawn.com, saying that terrorists attacked an FC fort in the Torah Wadi area of ​​Doaba. “The terrorist firing martyred two FC personnel and injured 18 others,” he said.

The officer said that the FC soldiers retaliated to the attack, “resulting in the death of six terrorists”. He added, “The terrorists managed to escape with the bodies of their accomplices.”

He also said that the martyred and injured personnel were taken to CMH Hospital after being provided with first aid.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the terrorist attack on the Federal Reserve Police fort in Hangu by Fitna al Hindustan, state media APP reported.

In May, the government designated all terrorist organisations in Balochistan as Fitna al Hindu­stan — a new phrase aimed at framing India’s alleged role in terrorism as a deliberate destabilisation strategy, potentially to galvanise domestic support.

In a statement today, Naqvi paid tribute to the FC personnel “who embraced martyrdom while bravely resisting the assault” and directed authorities to ensure the best medical treatment for the injured personnel.

“The brave officers of the Federal Reserve Police [the term used for FC personnel] sacrificed their lives to foil the attack of India-sponsored terrorists,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. “The sacrifices of our martyrs will never go in vain.“

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Recent terrorist attacks have predominantly targeted the police, law enforcement agencies’ personnel and security forces. In response, the state has also intensified its counterterrorism operations.

Earlier this month, five cops were martyred and another eight left injured as militants attacked police checkpoints at different locations across KP, including Peshawar, Upper Dir and Lower Dir.

Last month, nine terrorists were killed and three security officers were injured in an exchange of fire during an operation in Hangu.

Three “wanted terrorists” were killed during a joint operation between the regional police and the Counter Terrorism Department in KP’s Bannu district on the night of July 16.

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan’s eastern city of Faisalabad sentenced senior aides of former prime minister Imran Khan for up to 10 years in prison on Monday for being involved in the attack on a federal minister’s house during the May 9, 2023, riots, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said in a statement.

Angry Khan supporters took to the streets on May 9, 2023, when the former prime minister was first briefly arrested by the country’s anti-corruption agency, NAB, in a land bribery case popularly called the Al-Qadir trust case. The government says supporters of Khan’s PTI had attacked important state buildings and damaged vehicles during the riots and ransacked military facilities. Khan and his aides deny instigating supporters to attack government and military installations. 

According to the PTI, the ATC sentenced 75 people out of a total of 109 accused, acquitting 34. Fifty-nine were issued 10-year prison sentences, including senior Khan aides Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul Wazir, and others for attacking the residence of Minister for Provincial Coordination Rana Sanaullah in Faisalabad during the May 9 riots, the party said. 

“Under the guise of May 9, innumerable injustices have been inflicted upon ordinary citizens, families and leadership of PTI, harassed, lives shattered, and individuals subjected to unspeakable torment,” the PTI said in a message to the media. 

Other aides of the former prime minister slapped with 10-year imprisonment sentences include Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, nephew of former railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Kanwal Shauzab, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Ahmad Chattha, Ansar Iqbal, Bilal Ijaz, Ashraf Sohna, Mehr Javed, Shakeel Niazi and others.

Former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Zain Qureshi, son of senior Khan aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were among those acquitted of the charges. 

Earlier this month, a court in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore sentenced over a dozen members of the PTI to as many as 10 years in prison for their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots. These included Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mahmood-ur-Rashid and Umar Sarfaraz Cheema. PTI leaders Alia Hamza and Sanam Javed were also sentenced to five years in prison. 

Earlier, an ATC in Pakistan’s eastern Sargodha city sentenced Khan aides Ahmed Chattha, Bilal Ejaz and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bachar to 10 years in prison on July 22 for their involvement in the 2023 riots as well.

It was followed by the sentencing of 108 PTI members on July 31, including Omar Ayub Khan, Faraz, Hamid Raza and Wazir to 10 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad on July 31.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has welcomed the court’s ruling, accusing PTI supporters of setting fire to government buildings, damaging military property and injuring law enforcement personnel during the May 9, 2023, unrest.

Khan, who remains popular despite being ousted from office after a parliamentary vote in April 2022, says the cases against him are politically motivated to keep him and his PTI away from power. The government denies these allegations and says Khan’s party carries out violent protests to derail the government’s efforts to ensure sustainable economic progress. 

Pakistan’s top court last week granted bail to Khan in eight cases linked to the 2023 riots. He has been in jail since August 2023 when a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts while he was the premier. The sentence barred the opposition leader from contesting in 2024 general elections. 

Lahore police have registered a case against the owner of a restaurant following the death of two minor girls who allegedly consumed contaminated food from the outlet.

According to officials, the FIR was lodged at Satto Katla police station on the complaint of Azeem Ahmad, the father of the victims. In his statement, Ahmad said his daughters, six-year-old Tehreem and four-year-old Irha, had dinner from Rolling Palace restaurant, a hotel located on PIA Road, on the night of August 16.

Soon after returning home, both girls fell seriously ill and were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were admitted in critical condition. Despite medical treatment, their condition worsened, and both later passed away. Ahmad alleged that the food served by the hotel staff was toxic and directly responsible for the deaths of his daughters.

Police confirmed that an investigation is underway and that the restaurant owner has been booked under relevant sections of law.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Faisalabad sentenced on Monday senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz and 57 others each to 10 years in prison in the May 9 case about an attack on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah’s residence. 

Of the 59 persons convicted in the case, 17 were PTI leaders. Sixteen other accused were also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison each. The latter group included MPA Sheikh Shahid Javed of PP-115. 

Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and PTI lawmaker Zain Qureshi were acquitted. 

The case was part of a series of trials relating to the violent unrest that erupted during protests against the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan from Islamabad High Court premises on May 9, 2023.

On July 31, ATC in Faislabad sentenced top Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders to up to 10 years in prison in cases on the May 9 protests

Opposition leader in National Assembly Omar Ayub, opposition leader in Senate Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, MNA Sahibzada Hamid Raza and former MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq were among the 108 PTI leaders convicted out of the 185 implicated in the cases while 77 others were acquitted.

Read: PTI’s Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz sentenced to up to 10 years in May 9 cases

Around 60 of those convicted, including Faraz, Ayub, Gul and Raza were sentenced to 10 years in prison each while other convicts were each handed prison terms of three years.

Meanwhile, Fawad Chaudhry was acquitted along with Zain Qureshi, Khayal Kastro, Faizullah Kamoka, Rana Asad Mehmood Khan, Bilal Ashraf Basra, Haroon Rasheed, Amara Rasheed, Sahibzada Hassan Raza, and Kamran Warraich.

Shafiq was absent from court during the hearing and did not appear. He has reportedly gone into hiding to avoid arrest.

Earlier, the Supreme Court granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan on the principle of consistency in eight cases linked to the May 9 riots, overturning an earlier Lahore High Court ruling that had refused him bail.

Read more: Supreme Court grants Imran Khan bail in eight May 9 cases

“The case of the petitioner has to be positively considered in view of the principle of consistency, as others similarly placed have been granted bail by this Court,” said the four-page order authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Afridi, allowed Khan’s petitions against the June 24 decision of the Lahore High Court. The cases stemmed from multiple FIRs registered in Lahore after violent protests that followed Khan’s arrest.

 

The first meeting of the 11th National Finance Commission (NFC) will be held on August 29, with Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presiding as the Chairman of the NFC.

According to sources, invitations have been sent to all members of the commission to attend the session.

The meeting will focus on a three-point agenda, including a review of recommendations for the NFC Award, formation of sub-groups and developing a roadmap.

The National Finance Commission comprises nine members, with the Federal Finance Minister designated as its head.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad, while delivering its verdict in the case related to the attack on Special Assistant to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah’s house during May 9 riots, sentenced 59 accused, including former opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, former opposition leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Zartaj Gul, to 10 years in prison each.

Whereas, the ATC has acquitted former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi in the same case.

The case of the attack on Sanaullah’s house in Faisalabad on May 9, 2023, was heard in the ATC.

In addition, ex-MPA Farah Agha, ex-MNA Kanwal Shauzab, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, ex-MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, ex-MPA Rai Murtaza Iqbal and Ismail Sila have also been sentenced to 10 years in prison each. The court has sentenced Sheikh Rashid Javed and 15 other activists to 3 years in prison each.

May 9 riots: Punjab Assembly opposition leader, PTI MNA sentenced to jail

The court convicted total 75 of the 109 defendants in the case, in their absence.

It should be recalled that on May 9, four cases were registered in Faisalabad for arson, encirclement and vandalism, out of which the verdicts in 3 were announced earlier.

The fourth case was registered at Samanabad police station for the attack and vandalism of Sanaullah’s house, in which 109 people, including the central leadership of PTI, were named.

The fresh court judgement adds to the embattled PTI’s legal and political woes that started following the May 9 violent incidents during which military installations including Rawalpindi’s General Headquarters (GHQ) were vandalised by the party supporters upon former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest in a case on May 9, 2023.

Leaders and supporters of embattled PTI have been facing different charges in numerous cases related to the May 9 incidents, since the violent protests and clashes broke out across Pakistan.

ECP disqualifies several PTI lawmakers including Shibli Faraz, Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul

The protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers were agitated due to their chairman’s arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order.

Earlier, announcing verdict in three different cases related to the May 9 riots, an ATC in Faisalabad on July 31 sentenced over 100 PTI leaders and supporters including Omar, Shibli, Zartaj and Sahibzada Hamid.

The court had announced its verdict in cases filed against 185 workers and leaders of the former ruling party. According to the judgement, 58 accused including the central leadership had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment over terrorism charges, while 77 suspects, including some leaders, had been acquitted.

MNA Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Ayub, Gul and Faraz were sentenced to 10 years in prison each and MPA Junaid Akbar Sahi was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Whereas, the ATC had vindicated former Fawad, Khayal Ahmad Kastro and Zain, in the case pertaining to attack on Ghulam Muhammadabad police station, over “insufficient evidence”.