Imran Khan’s party decries ‘crackdown’ as caravan nears Punjab amid government’s protest ban

ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed seven militants in separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Sunday.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the state broke down in November 2022. The militants have stepped up attacks against police and security forces in recent months, with the military reporting deaths of 383 soldiers and 925 militants in various clashes in the country in 2024.

In the latest incident, three militants were killed and two others injured in an intelligence-based operation in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing. Four suspected militants were killed in a gunfight in the North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan, while three others were injured.

“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji [militant] found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.

The development came a day after militants attacked a police check-post in KP’s Bannu district, leaving two policemen dead and two others injured, according to a local police official.

No group immediately claimed for Saturday’s attack, but suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have frequently targeted security forces and police convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in the region.

Islamabad has frequently blamed the surge in militancy on Afghanistan, accusing it of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan held the inaugural session of the Aman Dialogue 2025 in Karachi on Sunday to foster international maritime cooperation among several countries around the world, stressing the importance of “unhindered activity” in seas to promote economic cooperation. 

The Aman Dialogue is being held from Feb. 9-10 and brings together chiefs of navies, coast guards and defense forces. It aims to provide them an opportunity to exchange views on global and regional security and adopt innovative solutions. 

This year’s conference is themed: “Secure Seas, Prosperous Future,” and focuses on security challenges in the Indian Ocean. These include strategic competition, piracy, narco-trafficking, non-state actors, resource exploitation, climate change, emerging technologies such as AI and unmanned systems, the blue economy and the need for global collaboration to ensure stability and prosperity.

“The global economic system is almost wholly dependent upon unhindered activity in the maritime domain,” Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said at an event held to mark the opening of the dialogue. 

“The uninterrupted use of seas and oceans remain the strategic interests of all nations,” he added. 

Asif called on countries to synergize their efforts to extract greater economic gains, saying that the maritime domain is at a “critical crossroads.”

“Our oceans carrying over 80 percent of global trade represent not only shipping lanes but the arteries of global prosperity,” the minister said, adding that the Indian Ocean alone holds over 50 percent of global oil and gas reserves. 

The dialogue coincides with the AMAN-25 multinational naval exercise, which kicked off on Friday in Karachi. Pakistan Navy’s fleet commander lauded the participation of 60 nations on Friday, hailing it as a testament to the world community’s desire for peace.

The Pakistan Navy has conducted the AMAN maritime exercise every two years since 2007 under the theme “Together For Peace,” involving ships, aircraft and special operations forces.