A powerful suicide blast ripped through a mosque in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Friday, killing at least 52 people and injuring over 50 others gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday, authorities said.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, also known as 'Taliban Khan' has announced taking a peace caravan to Waziristan in late September. But the Taliban factions there are divided over the rally. Tahir Ali reports.
The Pakistan government has banned 25 religious and other organisations, including the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashker-e-Tayiba, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday said they had not threatened to kill cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan if he holds a march to Waziristan, and blamed a Western news agency for falsely reporting the threat.
Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, the alleged mastermind in the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto died on Tuesday after protracted illness, a media report has said.
'The army has been open about its determination to keep the PML-Nawaz out of power at all costs.' 'Both the military and the higher judiciary have indicated a preference for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The drone fired three missiles on a compound believed to be owned by the Haqqani network of Afghan Taliban in the village of Darga Mandi in Ghulam Khan Tehsil late last night.
The maiden meeting between the Pakistan government and a Taliban-nominated committee to frame a roadmap for peace talks was postponed on Tuesday, with representatives of the banned group claiming state negotiators had pulled out under "pressure".
Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N has emerged the single largest party in Pakistan's landmark general elections by bagging 122 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls on May 11, the election commission announced Tuesday.
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has accused the ruling Pakistan People's Party and main opposition Pakistan Musolim League-Nawaz of providing 'refuge' to terrorists of banned groups, including the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and making seat adjustments with them for the upcoming general election.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Pakistan's next Prime Minister, on Tuesday reached out to his rival Imran Khan and suggested that the two of them should play a "friendly match".
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday threatened to target Indians 'anywhere' in retaliation for the execution of Ajmal Kasab and demanded that India should return the body of the LeT militant involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to his family.
The rather amateurish, even ham-handed, attack would lend some credence to a 'false flag' theory, of the PTI leadership staging this incident, to provide new impetus to a flagging agitation, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
Terming United States President Barack Obama's ongoing visit of India as a plan by the US and India to ruin Pakistan, Tehrike Taliban Pakistan has asked the people of Pakistan to support it the for sake of the country's survival.
Meera's mother Shafqat Zohra told media persons on Saturday that her daughter may contest against Khan, the head of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, from a parliamentary seat in Lahore that includes the posh areas of Gulberg, ModelTown, GardenTown and FaisalTown.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf is set to form government in the militancy-hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province with the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and several smaller parties are expected to form a coalition in the restive Balochistan rovince.
Mulk, 67, is likely to be sworn in on Friday, June 1.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday responded to corruption allegations leveled against him by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, by accusing former premier Nawaz Sharif of failing to pay taxes and investing billions of dollars abroad.
Observers said the victory was significant as it came in the wake of the former premier's conviction and disqualification by the apex court for refusing to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari as well as growing disenchantment with the PPP-led government at the centre following widespread allegations of corruption.
Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Wednesday pulled out of the upcoming India Today Conclave in New Delhi, citing the presence of controversial author Salman Rushdie at the same event.
Pakistan cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Wednesday refused to attend the upcoming India Today Conclave in New Delhi after learning that controversial author Salman Rushdie was participating in the event. In a statement issued by his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, Khan said he, "could not even think of participating in any programme that included Salman Rushdie, who has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims across the globe."
A march against US drone strikes in Pakistan led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was stopped by the army on the edge of the nation's lawless tribal belt due to fears of possible militant attacks on the rallyists, which also included American anti-war activists.
Results and trends from the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls showed that the PML-N was set to bag in excess of 110 seats, while the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf were lagging far behind with about 35 seats each
Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was taken off a New York-bound plane in Toronto and claimed that he was questioned by American officials about his stance on United States drone strikes in Pakistan.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Tuesday said slain former premier Benazir Bhutto had faced a threat from the Taliban and al-Qaeda because she had pledged to take action against the two groups but there is no similar danger to him.
A founder member of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside her residence in Karachi, hours before partial re-polling for the national assembly seat in the area.
The chief minister-designate of the militancy-hit Pakistani province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Friday said his party had "no enmity" with the Taliban and was ready to hold talks with the militants.
'All Pakistan army chiefs follow a consistent line as far as India is concerned.'
A new biography of Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan pooh-poohs suggestions that he was romantically involved with slain former premier Benazir Bhutto. "One of my cousins was interested in her (Bhutto) and she also took an interest when I introduced them to each other. At one point, marriage was virtually on the cards," Khan told Frank Huzur, his Indian biographer. Khan, who now heads Pakistan's Tehrik-e-Insaaf party, described Bhutto as a "personal friend".
The former Pakistan cricket captain said the polls should be conducted under the supervision of an independent Election Commission.
The main opposition Pakistan People's Party today decided to boycott next week's presidential election, saying it was left with no other option after the Supreme Court ordered the advancing of the poll.
With the maulana fully committed and PML (N) cadres prepared to court arrest, this would be the first time where both Punjabis and Pakhtuns would be standing up against the Pakistan army, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The court also ordered arrest of cleric Tahirul Qadri by November 17 in connection with an attack on the PTV headquarters in 2014.
The press briefing seemed a deliberate decision to let the army convey its angst to Imran directly, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
'Against the backdrop of difficult administrative, political and economic problems, Imran's temperament and staying power will be the subject of intense expectation and public scrutiny,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The military establishment is in no mood to forgive or forget Imran's anti-military utterances, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
A ceremony to launch Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai's book was scrapped after the government of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province said it could not provide security for the event.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the army, the terrorists attacked the security post in Dera Ismail Khan's Daraban area bordering the South Waziristan tribal district in the early morning hours.
His disqualification to participate in future elections may follow, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W, India's external intelligence agency.