WASHINGTON: Pakistan is crucial for any sustainable solution in Afghanistan, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stressed late Friday night, as the situation in the country evolves rapidly with the withdrawal of foreign troops.
The Republican lawmaker’s comments came after his discussion with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan, where both sides exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan.
The US lawmaker termed the region as “complicated” and the times as “dangerous”, two days after explosions rocked Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul leaving more than 100 dead.
“We all must remember Pakistan is a nuclear-armed nation, and there is a Pakistan version of the Taliban who wishes [to] topple the Pakistani government and military,” Graham said.
Graham also appreciated the Pakistani government’s efforts to help evacuate people aspiring to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover — despite a general amnesty from the group.
“Very much appreciate the efforts of the Pakistani government to assist with the evacuation of US citizens, our allies, and other nations,” the US lawmaker said.
Responding to Graham’s tweets, the Pakistani ambassador said he had spoken to the senator on the evolving situation in Afghanistan and briefed him on Pakistan’s efforts to support evacuations from Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON: The United States launched a drone attack against a Daesh attack “planner” in eastern Afghanistan, the military said, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians.
President Joe Biden vowed that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
US Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.
“Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties,” a US military statement said. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against a Daesh militant planning future attacks.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
Daesh said it had carried out Thursday’s attack, which killed dozens of people – including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.
MULTAN: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman wants world leaders to support the Taliban instead of “imposing their conditions for establishing their Western desired government in Afghanistan”, which he believes would create problems in the region.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the JUI-F “warmly welcomed” the victories of the Islamic Emirates in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban can form their government independently and make efforts to form a broad-based government, PDM chief said.
“The 20-year policies of the West and bloodshed proved futile and they have failed. The West should confess to their blunders and back the Taliban in Afghanistan to form a broad-based government,” Fazl said.
A peaceful Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan, he said criticising Pakistan’s foreign policies, saying that it has failed on all fronts and Imran Khan has no knowledge about the current Afghan situation.
“Imran Khan is not running the government but the establishment is running the country. The establishment decides foreign policies, not the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is a noble person but not the authority to decide foreign affairs,” Fazl said.
The illegitimate and bogus government has failed to deliver in the last three years of its rule and made the life of a common man highly vulnerable, Fazl said.
“Imran Khan has presented fake statistics in his three-year performance and people are committing suicide, crying for relief but there is no sign of relief for them. The masses’ standard of living is declining after uncontrolled waves of price-hike and inflation,” he said.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the PDM heads is scheduled in Karachi on Saturday while a public meeting is due on Sunday.
The PDM has decided to release a white paper on the three-year performance of the government.
ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus epidemic fourth wave has continued to play havoc across the country as Pakistan reported 120 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, reporting over 100 deaths in a day after a gap of almost 15 days. The country last reported more than 100 deaths on August 12, 2021.
Besides 120 new deaths country has tested 4,191 people as positive to the coronavirus across the country during last 24 hours.
According to latest data appeared on National Coronavirus Dashboard of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan reported 120 new fatalities on Saturday morning while 4,191 people were tested positive to deadly virus.
The authorities have tested 61,306 people for coronavirus out f them 4,191 people were tested positive for the virus that bring the positivity rate to 6.83 per cent.
The total number of active cases in the country has surged to 93,107 on August 28. A total 1,029,930 people have so far recovered from the virus.
With 120 new deaths reported in the country the overall fatalities toll jumped to 25,535. With 4,191 people tested positive to coronavirus the overall tally surged to 1,148,572.
Earlier on August 27, the NCOC shared that Pakistan has achieved the milestone of 50 million COVID vaccine doses; taking the total number of doses administered to 50,985,184.
ISLAMABAD: United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres Saturday spoke to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi over the phone to discuss the evolving situation in war-torn Afghanistan.
According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the two leaders exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan and efforts to promote peace and stability in the country.
Qureshi underscored that Islamabad will continue to play its constructive role in support of the efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. World community must stay engaged with Afghanistan for the sake of peace and stability in the region, Qureshi said while talking to UN chief.
He appreciated the contribution of the UN in addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and noted that it was imperative for the international community to remain engaged with Afghanistan, including by supporting the Afghan people’s socio-economic and humanitarian needs.
The UN chief expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s role in facilitating the work and humanitarian mission of UN entities in Afghanistan. He sought Pakistan’s continued support in that regard.
The foreign minister assured the UN chief of all possible support to the UN in the fulfillment of its mandate.
He highlighted the facilitation being provided by Pakistan to the international community in evacuation and relocation efforts. FM Qureshi reaffirmed that Pakistan will continue to assist the UN in all possible ways.
Meanwhile, FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday received a telephone call from Dominic Raab, the secretary for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs and first secretary of state of the United Kingdom.
Matters of mutual interest, latest developments in Afghanistan and other matters were discussed during the telephonic conversation.
ISLAMABAD: Coronavirus pandemic fourth wave still taking toll across Pakistan as the death tally by the virus 25,000 mark after 70 more fatalities were reported during last 24 hours besides 3,239 people were contracted with the pandemic.
According to latest figures appeared on National Coronavirus Dashboard of the National Command and Operation Council (NCOC) the toll of fatalities has surged to 24,783 after 70 new deaths during last 24 hours. The toll of positive cases across the country jumped to 1,116,886 with 3,239 new cases during last one day.
The number of Coronavirus patients who have recovered from the deadly virus in Pakistan exceeded one million.
NCOC figures has shown that Pakistan has conducted overall 17,115,272 coronavirus tests while during last 24 hours 51,982 tests were conducted out of them 3,239 people were tested positive taking the positivity ratio to 6.82 per cent.
The number of active or currently ill patients, is at 89,673, which is the highest since May 2 when the country recorded 89,661 active cases.
The NCOC counted 1,002,430 recovered cases after 3,027 more survivors were recorded. Meanwhile, 70 more people lost their lives to the disease, raising the death toll to 24,783.
The daily positivity rate, or rate of infected patients among those tested, is 6.23% out of 51,982 tests as of August 20. The recommended rate by the World Health Organization is below 5%, since high numbers may mean high transmission.
The average number of new infections reported each day in Pakistan rose by more than 940 over the last three weeks, 16% of its previous peak, according to Reuters.
COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Pakistan, with 4,050 new infections reported on average each day. That’s 69% of the peak — the highest daily average reported on June 17.
Pakistan has administered at least 44,736,977 doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far. Assuming every person needs two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated about 10.3% of the country’s population.
During the last week reported, Pakistan averaged about 716,137 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 61 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.
According to latest report of the NCOC, Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The overall tally of fatalities was reported 24,783 out of which 11,479 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 6,556 in Sindh, 4,730 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 842 in Islamabad, 672 in Azad Kashmir, 335 in Balochistan, and 169 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
The tally of positive cases jumped to 1,002,430 out of which 417,439 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 377,208 in Punjab, 155,153 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 95,491 in Islamabad, 31,755 in Balochistan, 30,314 in Azad Kashmir and 9,526 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Afghanistan politicians visited Pakistan and have described Islamabad as a “major player” in Afghan affairs.
A day after the Taliban took control of Kabul, a delegation of Afghan leaders comprising Speaker Wolesi Jirga Mir Rehman Rehmani, Salahud din Rabbani, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, Ustad Mohammad Karim Khalili, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Abdul Latif Pedram, and Khalid Noor arrived in Pakistan.
“We held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and DG ISI,” said the delegation during a news conference today.
“We will especially like to thank the army chief and DG ISI,” it added, saying that Pakistan had agreed to extend its cooperation in the days to come.
The delegation said that a new chapter will be opened in Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, adding that it considered Islamabad an important player to achieve regional peace. It said that Pakistan had communicated a positive message during meetings held to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan.
The delegation clarified that it had held meetings with Pakistan’s leadership with the specific claim to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan, adding that one of the main demands its masses were pushing for was women’s rights.
It warned the Taliban that if it “repeated mistakes of the past”, it would not be able to survive for long, adding that capturing territory during conflict and governing it were two different matters.
“Everything the Taliban have said, till now, are mere words,” said the delegation. “Their actions will make the difference.”
The delegation further said that today’s Afghanistan was much different than the one in 1966, adding that the youth were more inclined towards technology.
The Afghan delegation said it wanted an inclusive government in place that would represent different groups in Afghanistan. “We want rights of minorities, women and press freedom guaranteed,” it said.
The Afghan leaders lashed out at Ashraf Ghani, saying that it had been clear from day one of the conflict that the president would flee.
“Ashraf Ghani says he left the country with only his sandals. If allegations are to be believed, he absconded with $69mn,” said the delegation.
The delegation of Afghan leaders said it wanted peaceful relations with Pakistan, adding that whatever happened in the past should not be repeated. “We chose Pakistan as the first country to seek support,” it added.
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan has ‘no favorites’ in Afghanistan and the country is on the same page with the international community when it comes to finding a political solution to the problems of Afghanistan.
Speaking during a press conference in Islamabad, the foreign minister said that “when the time comes, Pakistan will recognize the Taliban government in line with international consensus, ground realities, as well as Pakistan’s national interests”.
“Pakistan agrees that there should be no military solution to the Afghan issue and wants all problems to be resolved through dialogue,” he said, adding that the country’s agenda is to see the development and prosperity of Afghanistan.
Qureshi said that he will soon discuss the Afghan issue with the leadership of neighboring countries, including China, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, adding that India, too, should work to resolve the Afghan issue.
He said that the situation in Afghanistan is rapidly changing, however, the Embassy of Pakistan in the country is functioning normally.
“Pakistan has always played the role of a facilitator in Afghanistan and will continue to do so,” Qureshi said. “It is our neighbouring country, therefore, we want to establish good relations with it.”
Towards the end of his press briefing, FM Qureshi said that the Afghan leadership must work together to find a solution that will save lives as well as the property of the Afghan people.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)slammed the government’s “Anti-State Trends Deep Analytics Report”, lashing out at the Centre for the inclusion of journalists and political opponents in the document “based on assumptions”.
National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf and Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had unveiled the report in a press conference two days back.
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, addressing a press conference in Islamabad, likened the incumbent government’s policies to those seen during martial law eras.
“Under a martial law, political leaders and journalists are called traitors […] what is the difference between [those allegations] and a political government that implicates political parties and patriots as anti-state?” Abbasi asked.
The former prime minister went on to point out that the government had shown Kashmir as part of India on six or five different occasions in the report and maintained that “had the Centre even read the report, they would have been more responsible”.
Abbasi said the document claims three million tweets were made, but fails to mentions what were they about — and does not even indicate whether the tweets are against or pro-Pakistan.
“If this government has expertise in anything, it is lying,” he said, questioning why the government has clubbed journalists and the Opposition together with India and Israel based on “mere assumptions”.
“A large portion of the report is against Pakistan’s political parties,” he said, adding that it failed to determine whether the tweets were in favour of Pakistan or against its interests.
“The names of several journalists have been included in this report and when they were are asked for evidence, they said it was based on assumptions,” Abbasi continued.
Former senator Afsaryab Khattak, PPP leader Farhatullah Babar, former MNA Bushra Gohar, and other prominent personalities have been included by the government among people who uploaded anti-state tweets, he said.
Moreover, the name of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ex-wife, Reham Khan, is also included in the anti-state tweet list, Abbasi said, taking a jibe at the government.
“This government’s policies have left us isolated from the world […] we were so helpless that we had to take data from a Canada-based company,” the former premier went on to say, continuing to deride the government.
Drawing attention to a recent 8-hour meeting — where Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed briefed the parliamentarians on the situation in Afghanistan — he said PTM and PML-N members were present during the session.
“Such actions (releasing the report) are being taken to divert attention from the developing situation in Afghanistan,” he said, reminding the government that “mere reports and tweets do not improve a country’s situation”.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Security Advisor, Moeed Yusuf has said the Ashraf Ghani-led Afghan government to focus on its battles at home, instead of running campaigns against Islamabad on Twitter.
The government has been hitting out against Afghanistan in recent days after the Ghani-led regime blamed Pakistan on several occasions for its troubles at home.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the international community needed to look into the “meltdown” of Afghan security forces in the face of Taliban offensives across Afghanistan, instead of blaming Pakistan for the fast-deteriorating situation.
Two days back, NSA Yusuf and Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry also revealed a report on anti-Pakistan social media trends that were launched between 2019 and 2021, the majority of which were traced to India and Afghanistan, with the aim of running a “targeted, deliberate and conscious disinformation campaign against Pakistan”.
FM Qureshi, a day earlier, had said India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) were involved in the Dasu incident that occurred in July.
The NSA, during an interview with CNN today, said Pakistan was “affected the most due to the war in Afghanistan”. Reiterating that the country was a victim of the war, he asserted that it seeks an end to it.
“Pakistan is not responsible for the failure of the incumbent Afghan government,” he asserted.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has always stated that the Afghan issue can only be resolved through an inclusive political method, not by military action, the advisor said.
The NSA said Pakistan was also not responsible for the lethargy of the Afghan security forces, as the Taliban continue to capture more land in the war-torn country with every passing day.
Yusuf highlighted that India was using Afghan land to launch attacks against Pakistan.
At the same time, he urged the world not to isolate Afghanistan during these tough times.
“Afghans are our brothers and sisters, but we cannot bear any more refugees,” he said.
The international community should ask the Afghan government what has happened to the billions of dollars that they had received in donations, the NSA said.
Pakistan crucial for sustainable solution in Afghanistan: US lawmaker
WASHINGTON: Pakistan is crucial for any sustainable solution in Afghanistan, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham stressed late Friday night, as the situation in the country evolves rapidly with the withdrawal of foreign troops.
The Republican lawmaker’s comments came after his discussion with Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan, where both sides exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan.
The US lawmaker termed the region as “complicated” and the times as “dangerous”, two days after explosions rocked Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul leaving more than 100 dead.
“We all must remember Pakistan is a nuclear-armed nation, and there is a Pakistan version of the Taliban who wishes [to] topple the Pakistani government and military,” Graham said.
Graham also appreciated the Pakistani government’s efforts to help evacuate people aspiring to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover — despite a general amnesty from the group.
“Very much appreciate the efforts of the Pakistani government to assist with the evacuation of US citizens, our allies, and other nations,” the US lawmaker said.
Responding to Graham’s tweets, the Pakistani ambassador said he had spoken to the senator on the evolving situation in Afghanistan and briefed him on Pakistan’s efforts to support evacuations from Afghanistan.
Read more: Over 60 civilians, 13 US troops killed in bloodbath at Kabul…