Thousands of Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan via Torkham as Pakistan intensifies deportations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani prime minister’s aide on polio eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, on Tuesday acknowledged the Islamic Development Bank’s (IsDB) financial and strategic contributions to sustain its anti-polio program in the country. 

The IsDB has contributed over $587 million to eradicate poliovirus from Pakistan since 2013, making it one of the largest financiers of the country’s anti-polio program. It announced a loan of $100 million in December 2023 to support Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts. 

Farooq met a high-level delegation of the IsDB’s Regional Hub in Turkiye at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme said. 

“The Islamic Development Bank has been a pillar of strength for the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, especially during its most challenging phases,” Farooq was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s anti-polio program. 

“Your financial and strategic contributions have been instrumental in sustaining the program and ensuring that vaccination campaigns reach the most vulnerable children across the country.”

Pakistan is only one of two countries worldwide where polio remains endemic. The Pakistani government launched a seven-day nationwide campaign on Monday to vaccinate over 45 million children against the disease. 

Dr. Walid Mohamad Abdelwahab, director of the IsDB’s regional hub in Turkiye, reaffirmed the institution’s support for Pakistan in achieving a polio-free future, the statement said. He commended Pakistan for its efforts and collaboration in the fight against polio, it added. 

The delegation briefly visited the NEOC control room following the meeting, where they were informed about the national reach of the campaign. The IsDB delegation was told the campaign would cover over 45.4 million children through the efforts of more than 400,000 frontline health workers via door-to-door vaccinations.

“IsDB commended the Government of Pakistan’s relentless efforts and reaffirmed its support in reaching the last mile of polio eradication,” Pakistan’s anti-polio program said.

In 2024, Pakistan reported an alarming 74 polio cases. The country’s polio program, launched in 1994, has faced persistent challenges including vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners, who claim immunization is a foreign conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or a guise for Western espionage. 

Militant groups have also repeatedly targeted and killed polio vaccination workers during nationwide drives.

KARACHI: Pakistan has transformed the Cybercrime Wing of its Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) into an autonomous organization and named the new agency as the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), the FIA said on Tuesday, amid digital crackdown concerns in the South Asian country.
The development comes months after Pakistan introduced a new law to regulate social media content, with journalist groups and rights activists saying it is aimed at curbing press freedom and dissent on social media.
Enacted in 2016 and further tightened with amendments this January, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) was drafted with the stated aim to combat cybercrimes such as hacking, online harassment, and data breaches.
In its statement on Tuesday, the FIA said the Pakistani government had given autonomous status to its erstwhile cybercrime wing in view of the “growing threats of cybercrime” and transformed it into the NCCIA.
“This new organization has been established under the name of National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, which has full authority to prevent, investigate and prosecute cybercrime across the country,” it said.
“This organization will take effective measures against online fraud, harassment, digital blackmail, fake websites, identity theft, social media crime and other cyber activities.”
The FIA said the public will now have to contact the NCCIA for the sake of investigation or complaints relating to cybercrimes, the FIA said, adding that the new agency could be reached at helpline number 0519106691 or email helpdesk@nr3c.gov.pk.
The development comes weeks after the Freedom Network, a Pakistani media and development sector watchdog, said the new social media law was being used as a “tool” by state authorities to suppress freedom of expression and target journalists. It released a data analysis for March 2025 documenting eight instances of threats against journalists, with three cases directly involving the contentious PECA legislation.
Pakistani officials have defended the PECA law, which provides for a social media regulatory authority that will have its own investigation agency and tribunals, according to a draft on the parliament’s website. Such tribunals will be able to try and punish offenders with prison sentences of up to three years and fines of two million rupees ($7,200) for dissemination of “false or fake” information.
“This is the first time the government has defined what social media is,” Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told reporters after the amended law was passed this year.
“There is already a system in place for print and electronic media and complaints can be registered against them.”
Journalists have long complained of increasing state pressure on traditional and digital media in Pakistan, which is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries on press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media watchdog that promotes and defends press freedom.
Social media platform X is officially banned in Pakistan, but accessible using VPNs, while YouTube and TikTok have faced bans in the past.