ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday condemned a gun attack targeting the speaker of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan that left three people injured, tasking authorities to take stern action against the culprits, state-run media reported.
Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, a leader of the Sharif-led ruling coalition ally Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was visiting his constituency in Kakliyot village around 15km south of Muzaffarabad when the shooting took place on Sunday as per news reports.
Three PPP supporters who were part of the convoy were injured in the attack. Akbar had reportedly received threats from Raja Amir Zafar, a local district council member, who vowed that no one would be allowed to enter the village for Akbar’s visit.
“President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the incident of firing on the convoy of Speaker of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.
Zardari described the attack on the speaker as a “cowardly and despicable act,” praying for the early recovery of the injured.
In his statement, the Pakistani prime minister prayed for the early recovery of the injured persons.
“The Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to take immediate action and ensure the arrest of those responsible for the attack,” Radio Pakistan reported.
Azad Kashmir is a self-governing administrative unit under Pakistan’s control but is not recognized as a sovereign country. The Muslim-majority Kashmir region has long been a source of tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, leading them to fight two out of three wars since winning independence from the British Empire in 1947 over the disputed territory.
The scenic mountain region is divided between India, which rules the populous Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west called AJK, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north. Besides Pakistan, India also has an ongoing conflict with China over their disputed frontier.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan contacted top United Nations officials on Wednesday to raise concern over alleged rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir, as the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) reiterated its demand that New Delhi rescind its 2019 decision to revoke the disputed region’s special constitutional status.
Kashmir has remained a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both nuclear-armed neighbors claiming it in full but controlling only parts of it. They have fought wars over the region and continue to engage in diplomatic efforts to assert their respective positions.
Pakistan accuses India of committing human rights violations in the region while denying Kashmiris the right to self-determination. India, in turn, accuses Pakistan of supporting militancy in the territory. Both countries reject each other’s allegations.
On Aug. 5, 2019, India unilaterally revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, stripping it of the limited autonomy it had previously enjoyed. The move led Pakistan to downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.
“Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, met with Ambassador Fu Cong, Permanent Representative of China, who is also President of the UN Security Council, to hand over the letter written by Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan,” the Pakistani mission at the UN said in a social media post.
It added that the letter “drew the Security Council’s attention to the grave human rights violations in IIOJK [Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir] at the hands of the Indian occupation forces and urged the Council members to take decisive steps, without any further delay, to secure the implementation of its own resolutions and end India’s egregious violations of the human rights of the Kashmiri people, in particular the right to self-determination.”
The letter was also copied to the President of the UN General Assembly and the UN Secretary-General.
Separately, the OIC, a bloc of Muslim-majority nations, also reiterated its position on the Kashmir dispute.
“The General Secretariat reiterates the OIC’s call to revoke all illegal measures initiated on August 5, 2019, which aimed to change the demographic structure of the disputed territory,” the organization said in a statement.
The developments came as Pakistan marked its annual Kashmir Solidarity Day on Feb. 5 to express support for Kashmiris in Indian-administered territory.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, calling on India to engage in “meaningful and result-oriented” dialogue over the dispute. He asserted that New Delhi’s unilateral measures had failed due to resistance from the local population.
Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, also traveled to the region, expressing optimism that Kashmir would eventually become part of Pakistan as he vowed to defend the country’s territorial integrity.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan inaugurated the country’s first-ever solo “Made in Pakistan” exhibition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone in the Saudi-Pak trade relations.
Saudi Arabia presents a key export opportunity for Pakistani businesses, given its strong consumer demand, large expatriate workforce and ambitious Vision 2030 economic reforms that emphasize diversification and foreign investments.
Pakistan has sought to strengthen business-to-business (B2B) ties with the Kingdom, with both sides announcing during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Riyadh last October that they had signed 34 memorandums of understanding and agreements worth $2.8 billion to enhance private sector collaboration and commercial partnerships.
Addressing a gathering of Saudi officials, business leaders and diplomats at the three-day event, the Pakistani minister emphasized the importance of enhancing bilateral economic cooperation and exhibiting his country’s diverse industrial potential.
“This event is a testament to the enduring relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, rooted in shared faith, cultural ties and strategic partnership,” he said, according to a statement released by his office.
Khan expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia for its unwavering support in organizing the exhibition.
He maintained the event served as a platform to present Pakistan’s best products and services, including textiles, sports goods, light engineering, food items, construction materials and more.
The minister underlined the government’s commitment to expanding trade and investment ties with Saudi Arabia through strategic economic initiatives.
He noted that Pakistan’s evolving industrial base and dynamic economy offered immense potential for collaboration, particularly in sectors like food security, energy, mining and human resource development.
“Our government is dedicated to fostering an investment-driven environment, and Saudi Arabia, with its Vision 2030, is ideally positioned to benefit from these opportunities,” he said.
Khan praised the contributions of the 2.7 million-strong Pakistani diaspora in Saudi Arabia, describing them as a cornerstone of the countries’ bilateral ties. He also highlighted that over 1.7 million Pakistani workers had migrated to the
Kingdom in the past five years, making it the top destination for Pakistani emigrants.
The minister stressed the need for joint efforts in skill development to further enhance employment opportunities for Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia.
He called for deeper collaborations between Pakistani and Saudi businesses, emphasizing the potential for joint ventures targeting markets in Africa, Central Asia, and the Far East.
“Together, we can explore new markets and create successful trilateral partnerships, leveraging the vast experience of Pakistani entrepreneurs,” he said.
Khan described the exhibition as a symbol of growing economic partnership between our nations, saying it would open new avenues for cooperation and mutual growth.
The Made in Pakistan Exhibition, featuring 137 Pakistani companies, has attracted a number of potential buyers and companies.
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani minister said on Wednesday night the government was working to set up legal means for the youth to go abroad and make a living after the bodies of four nationals who died in a boat capsizing near Morocco last month while trying to reach Europe arrived in Islamabad, according to state media.
The Pakistani government has made several arrests of suspected human smugglers in recent weeks after the boat carrying 86 migrants to Europe, including several Pakistanis, capsized on Jan. 16, according to the rights group Walking Borders.
Moroccan authorities said a day later that 36 people had been rescued, while Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed that 22 of them were its nationals. Pakistani officials said earlier this week that 13 bodies had been identified following an extensive verification process.
“I have no words to express my pain and feeling over this incident,” Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan, as the bodies of the four Pakistani nationals arrived at Islamabad International Airport.
He said his ministry was working to create legal avenues for employment abroad to prevent such tragedies.
“Our ministry is creating many opportunities for the youth by setting up offices at the local level so that the middlemen mafia can be eliminated,” he added.
Hussain said the government was signing agreements with several countries to facilitate legal migration pathways and prevent human smuggling networks from exploiting desperate job seekers.
The latest boat disaster is part of a growing trend of dangerous sea journeys by migrants seeking to reach developed countries.
In June 2023, an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the Greek town of Pylos, killing hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, in one of the deadliest Mediterranean shipwrecks on record.
More recently, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14.
The sea was once a blessing for the Pakistani city of Gwadar. But it’s become a curse
In several areas near Gwadar, waves have swallowed up mosques, schools and settlements
Authorities have built seawalls, but they are not enough to resolve the climate change issue
Updated 06 February 2025
AP
GWADAR, Pakistan: There was a time when few people in the coastal Pakistani city of Gwadar understood what climate change was. After a decade of extreme weather, many more do.
Rain battered Gwadar for almost 30 consecutive hours last February. Torrents washed out roads, bridges, and lines of communication, briefly cutting the peninsula town off from the rest of Pakistan. Homes look like bombs have struck them and drivers swerve to avoid craters where asphalt used to be.
Gwadar is in Balochistan, an arid, mountainous, and vast province in Pakistan’s southwest that has searing summers and harsh winters. The city, with about 90,000 people, is built on sand dunes and bordered by the Arabian Sea on three sides, at a low elevation that makes it vulnerable to climate change in a country that has already seen its share of catastrophe from it.
“It’s no less than an island nation situation,” warned Gwadar-based hydrologist Pazeer Ahmed. “Many low-lying areas in the town will be partially or completely submerged if the sea level continues to rise.”
Houses reflect in standing water in a neighborhod of Gwadar, Pakistan, on January 14, 2025. (AP)
The sea, once a blessing for Gwadar’s fishing and domestic tourism sectors, has become an existential threat to lives and livelihoods.
Warming oceans mean bigger and more powerful waves, and those waves get whipped higher by summer monsoon winds. Warmer air holds more moisture — about 7 percent more per degree Celsius (4 percent per degree Fahrenheit) — and that means more big rain events.
“Waves have become more violent due to the rising sea temperatures and eroded beaches,” said Abdul Rahim, deputy environment director at Gwadar Development Authority. “The tidal actions and patterns have changed. Hundreds of homes have been washed away. It is very alarming.”
Melting glaciers contribute to rising sea levels, another cause of coastal erosion. The sea level at Karachi rose almost 8 inches (almost 20 centimeters) between 1916 and 2016, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s projected to rise another half-inch (about 1.3 centimeters) by 2040.
A laborer works at the construction site of a drainage system by the local government in the downtown of Gwadar, Pakistan, on January 13, 2025. (AP)
In areas near Gwadar, like Pishukan and Ganz, waves have swallowed up mosques, schools, and settlements. There are gashes in the cliffs at the popular picnic spot of Sunset Park, and rocks have cascaded onto the shore. Beaches run flat for dozens of kilometers because no structures remain on it.
Authorities have built seawalls from stone or concrete to hold back saltwater intrusion. But they’re a small solution to a massive problem as Gwadar’s people and businesses are fighting climate change on different fronts.
Saltwater pools on government land, salt crystals glistening in the sunshine. In the Shado Band neighborhood, former local councillor Qadir Baksh fretted about water seeping up through the ground and into his courtyard every day, held at bay only by regular pumping. Dozens of houses have the same problem, he said.
Amanullah shows a wall impacted by rising water in the compound of his home in a neighborhood of Gwadar, Pakistan, on January 14, 2025. (AP)
Officials, including Ahmed and Rahim, said changes in land use and unauthorized building are worsening flooding. Locals said some major construction projects have destroyed traditional drainage pathways.
Gwadar is the centerpiece of a massive Chinese-led initiative to create an overland route between its western Xinjiang region and the Arabian Sea through Gwadar. Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into the town to create a deep seaport, an international airport, expressways and other infrastructure. The more sensitive projects, especially the port, are tightly secured by the Pakistani military, out of sight and off-limits to the public.
But there is no proper sewage or drainage system for residents despite a decade of foreign investment, and Gwadar’s porosity, high water table, rising sea levels, and heavier rainfall are rocket fuel for the town’s vulnerability.
There’s nowhere for the water to go.
People walk along a beach next to a cliff in Gwadar, Pakistan, on January 13, 2025. (AP)
“In the past when it rained, the water disappeared up to 10 days later,” said Baksh. “But the rain that came last year hasn’t gone. The water rises from the ground with such speed it will reach the four walls of my home if we don’t run the generator every day to extract it. Officials say it’s because of climate change but, whatever it is, we’re suffering.”
Gwadar’s fishing community is also hurting. Catches are smaller, native fish are disappearing, and migration patterns and fishing seasons have changed, said Ahmed and Rahim. There is also algae bloom and the invasion of unwanted marine species like pufferfish.
Illegal fishing and foreign trawlers are responsible for a few of these things, but it’s mostly rising sea temperatures.
People have migrated from places like Dasht and Kulanch because of water scarcity. What agriculture there was in Gwadar’s surrounding areas is vanishing due to loss of farmland and livestock deaths, according to locals. It’s part of a wider pattern in which Pakistan’s farmers are seeing declining crop yields and increasing crop diseases due to climate extremes, particularly floods, droughts and heat waves, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“There are heat waves and dust storms in Gwadar,” said Ahmed. “But the main impact of climate change here is that there is too much water and not enough of it. If nothing is done to address this problem, we will have no option but to retreat.”
Pioneering Pakistan woman MMA fighter breaks barriers ... and arms
Anita Karim comes from Gilgit-Baltistan and is nicknamed ‘the arm collector’ due to her fierce performances
She originally trained in taekwondo and jiu-jitsu before discovering MMA at high school in Islamabad
Updated 06 February 2025
AFP
ISLAMABAD: Growing up in the rugged northern reaches of Pakistan, Anita Karim honed her combat skills fighting with three older brothers who pulled no punches.
The bruising experience prepared her for a career in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) — blending Thai kickboxing, Japanese judo and wrestling — and she is now the nation’s pre-eminent woman fighter.
“The village where I come from, they support women fighters,” she told AFP. “But when I started MMA, they had no awareness of this sport.”
“They said it’s a men’s game exclusively and a woman cannot do that one,” the 28-year-old said.
In this photograph taken on December 11, 2024, Anita Karim (R) and Bushra Ahmed, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, take part in a training session at a club in Islamabad. (AFP/File)
Eight years ago she won the right to enter the ring, swiftly becoming Pakistan’s first internationally competing woman MMA fighter and appearing in Asia’s biggest promotion, ONE Championship.
“Now misogynistic comments and criticisms have stopped,” she said at her gym in the capital Islamabad, where she trains without heating in the octagonal “cage” where fighters face off.
It is unusual for women to take up sport in deeply conservative Pakistan, where it is often forbidden by families.
But Karim’s native Gilgit-Baltistan region — where female modesty codes are more relaxed — has become an incubator for women’s sport.
In October, two sisters from the region, Maliha and Maneesha Ali, brought back gold and bronze from a taekwondo competition in Indonesia.
Karim’s brother Uloomi, who became her coach after being on the receiving end of her blows, said support began at home.
In this photograph taken on December 11, 2024, Anita Karim (2L), a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, warms up with her brother and coach Uloomi (L) before a training session at a club in Islamabad. (AFP/File)
“When she showed the commitment, the dedication, we knew that she was going to make it,” said the 33-year-old, standing in their family-owned gym.
“We knew that she could take it and we did not have any issues with her training with any guy.”
Surprisingly timid outside the ring, Karim is at the head of a cohort of Pakistani female MMA fighters — five from Gilgit-Baltistan, according to the regional government.
“She’s shy, but when she enters the cage, it’s completely different,” said Uloomi, who has also competed in the sport.
Her speciality is the armlock, deployed with an agonizing all-body grip, which aims to force an opponent to “tap out” in submission before bones are broken or joints wrecked.
In 2022 she was pictured atop a podium in Pakistan with two opponents wearing slings on their injured arms — a performance that earned her the nickname “the arm collector.”
“They could have tapped to stop the fight, but they didn’t, so I went through with it,” she said.
In this photograph taken on December 11, 2024, Anita Karim (top) and Bushra Ahmed, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, take part in a training session at a club in Islamabad. (AFP/File)
In her hometown, Karim originally trained in taekwondo and jiu-jitsu before discovering MMA at high school in Islamabad — to the consternation of her community back home.
“A lot of people close to me criticized me, but that’s part of the game. Now they know how it works,” she said.
The message emanating from her hometown now is one of pride.
“The way she has made the name of Gilgit-Baltistan and all of Pakistan shine on the international level, serves as a lesson,” said the regional government’s sports chief Shah Muhammad.
After losing on her professional debut in 2018, where the referee refused to let her fight unless she raised her leggings above the knee, she moved to Thailand to train at an MMA academy.
She now earns a living from competition prizes, modest government grants and coaching at her Islamabad gym.
When she returns after competitions, small crowds gather to greet her at the airport and she is followed by a fledgling community of female fighters.
They too want to turn professional in a nation where only one in five women have jobs, according to United Nations figures.
“Anita is a role model for us,” said Bushra Ahmed, a few years Karim’s junior and out of breath as she trains alongside her, another woman and a dozen men.
Karim also wants to “give Pakistani women confidence and self-defense techniques,” with over 80 percent having been victims of public harassment, according to the UN.
Recently she “hit a man who was harassing me in a market in Islamabad,” Karim said.
