DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Many Pakistanis Make a Perilous Journey to Vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

With tens of thousands displaced from the tribal regions, most candidates vying to represent constituencies there have campaigned in other cities such as Dera Ismail Khan. "Due to the war, people's houses were destroyed," Moulana Jamal Uddin, a candidate from South Waziristan, told Reuters by phone. "I appeal to the people of South Waziristan to vote," he said. Khan Ullah, a 42-year-old shop owner, said he has avoided political gatherings in Dera Ismail Khan because he feared an attack on them was a real possibility. (Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; writing by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Persons: Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL, Ullah Mehsud, Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan's, Amjad Khan, Khan, hometowns, Maulana Raheem Ullah, Moulana Jamal Uddin, Khan Ullah, Saud Mehsud, Ariba Shahid, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Reuters, Pakhtunkhwa, Pak Institute, Peace Studies, Force Locations: Saud Mehsud DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, South Waziristan, Qaeda, U.S, Afghanistan, Waziristan, Khyber, Taliban Pakistan, Balochistan, KP, Karachi

☆ Pakistan PM says expulsion of Afghans a response to Taliban non-cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Last month, Pakistan set a Nov. 1 start date for the expulsion of all undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans. Kakar said 15 suicide bombings in recent months had been carried out by Afghans, and dozens of Afghans had been killed in clashes with Pakistani security forces. A spokesman for the Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There has been a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants in Pakistan since talks between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistani state broke down in 2022. Kakar said that Pakistan had communicated to the Taliban administration that it had to "choose between Pakistan and the TTP".

Persons: Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Kakar, Gibran Peshimam, Alex Richardson Organizations: United Nations, Caretaker, Taliban, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Balochistan Province, Chaman, ISLAMABAD, Western, Islamabad, U.S, Tehreek, Taliban Pakistan, Pakistani

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces on Wednesday rounded up, detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally, after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired, authorities said. According to the U.N. agencies, there are more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration have become strained over the past two years because of stepped-up attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, a separate militant group that is allied with the Afghan Taliban. Since the government deadline was announced on October 3, more than 200,000 Afghans have returned home from Pakistan. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Persons: Sarfraz Bugti, ”, Zabihullah Mujahid, ” Mujahid, “, Ahmad Banwari, Banwari, ___ Khan, Rahim Faiez, Abdul Sattar Organizations: ” Interim, Taliban, Afghanistan’s, Pakistani Taliban, Associated Press Locations: ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghanistan, “, ”, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, The New York, Kabul, Nangarhar, Pakistani, Taliban Pakistan, United States, Peshawar, Quetta

Rescue workers clear the rubble from a damaged mosque, after a suicide blast in Hangu, Pakistan September 29, 2023. It was not immediately clear how Pakistani authorities could ensure the illegal immigrants leave, or how they could find them to expel them. Bugti said some 1.73 million Afghan nationals in Pakistan had no legal documents to stay, adding a total of 4.4 million Afghan refugees lived in Pakistan. "There are no two opinions that we are attacked from within Afghanistan and Afghan nationals are involved in attacks on us," he said. Islamabad has received the largest influx of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Kabul in 1979.

Persons: Stringer, Sarfraz Bugti, Bugti, Asif Shahzad, Jon Boyle, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Afghan, State, Thomson Locations: Hangu, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Taliban Pakistan, Afghan

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, one of which trapped dozens of people under rubble, media said. [1/4]People gather outside the Mastung hospital, following a deadly suicide attack on a religious gathering in Balochistan province, Pakistan, September 29, 2023 in this handout image. The TTP, responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since its formation in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday's blasts. In July, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a religious political party's gathering. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for that attack.

Persons: Prophet Mohammed, Abdul Rasheed, Munir Ahmed, Shaheed Nawab Ghous Bakhsh, Fazal Akbar, Pakistan's, Saleem Ahmed, Mushtaq Ali, Shivam Patel, Gibran Peshimam, Miral Fahmy, Clarence Fernandez, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Reuters, Geo News, REUTERS Acquire, Militant, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: Afghan, QUETTA, PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Balochistan, Madina Mosque, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan province, Handout, Hangu, Afghanistan, Taliban Pakistan, Peshawar, Quetta, Shahid, Karachi

☆ Militant attack kills 11 labourers in Pakistan - caretaker PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan Aug 20 (Reuters) - Eleven labourers were killed in a militant attack in Northwestern Pakistan, caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Sunday in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "They were working at an army post that is under construction ... an IED exploded under a vehicle carrying the labourers," deputy commissioner of North Waziristan, Rehan Khattak said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government broke down. Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina and Jibran Ahmad; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Haq Kakar, Rehan Khattak, Nilutpal Timsina, Jibran Ahmad, Charlotte Greenfield, Kim Coghill Organizations: Taliban, Thomson Locations: PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Northwestern Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Waziristan, North Waziristan, Taliban Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

☆ Pakistan suicide bombing death toll rises to 45
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Saud Mehsud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, July 31 (Reuters) - The death toll in a suicide bombing at a political rally held by a religious party rose to 45 on Monday, officials said, an attack compounding fears of unrest ahead of a general election due later in the year. An official at a state-run rescue agency, Bilal Faizi, said the death toll had risen to 45. A general view of damaged property, following an explosion by a suicide bomber in Bajaur, Pakistan July 31, 2023 in this screen grab taken from a social media video. Bilal Yasir/via REUTERSPakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the government broke down. A mosque bombing in Peshawar city in the northwest killed more than 100 people in January but attacks on political parties are rare.

Persons: DERA ISMAIL, Fazl, Bilal Faizi, Riaz Anwar, Bilal Yasir, Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Robert Birsel Organizations: Ulema, Islamic, REUTERS, Taliban, Thomson Locations: DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Bajaur, Afghanistan, REUTERS Pakistan, Taliban Pakistan, Peshawar city

[1/2] Rescue workers and other people transport an injured person to the hospital, after a blast in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan July 30, 2023. Rescue 1122/Handout via REUTERSDERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, July 30 (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed and over 130 injured when a suicide bomber set off explosives at a political rally in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, police said. The provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat told Reuters the explosion was caused by a suicide bomb. "The JUI-F organised a workers convention in Khar town of Bajaur in which 40 people lost their lives and more than 130 were injured," Khan said. Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad broke down.

Persons: DERA ISMAIL, Fazl, Akhtar Hayat, Nazir Khan, Khan, Zabihullah Mujahid, Shehbaz Sharif, Saud Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Jibran Ahmad, Nilutpal, Gibran Peshimam, Andrew Cawthorne, Christina Fincher Organizations: Sunday, Ulema, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Bajaur, Afghanistan, Peshawar, Khar, Taliban Pakistan, Islamabad, Islamic State

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

"The meeting agreed to launch an all-out comprehensive operation with the entire nation and the government, which will rid the country of the menace of terrorism with renewed vigor and determination," the security committee said in a statement. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country of 220 million people, has seen a rise in attacks by Islamist militants in the last few months, particularly since negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group broke down last year. The court has already rejected the government's argument, but Friday's security committee statement brings with it the key endorsement of Pakistan's powerful military. It (the government) gets the military's backing without the military giving any sort of political statement," Hussain added. Pakistan's military has ruled the country for over 30 years out of its 75-year history and continues to wield enormous power.

The area, part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, is a hotbed for fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of Sunni Islamist groups. A TTP spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, told Reuters its main target was Pakistan's military, but the police were standing in the way. "Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa pays a greater price for that" because of its exposure to the Islamist militants, he said. The TTP ended the ceasefire in November 2022, and regrouped militants restarted attacks in Pakistan soon after. Reporting by Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Jibran Ahmad in Bara, Pakistan; additional reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; editing by David Crawshaw.

☆ Factbox: Who are the Pakistan Taliban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility. * Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was formed in 2007 as an umbrella organisation of various hardline Sunni Islamist groups operating individually in Pakistan. * There was an attempt by Pakistan to hold peace talks with the TTP, resulting in a months-long ceasefire and negotiations brokered by the Afghan Taliban. * Pakistan says the TTP leadership has safe havens in Afghanistan, but the Afghan Taliban administration denies this. * TTP attacks are mostly directed at Pakistan, unlike the other big militant threat in the region, Islamic State.

[1/5] Police officers stand in the aftermath of an attack on a police station in Karachi, Pakistan February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar SoomroKARACHI, Pakistan, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Islamists stormed a police station in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday, killing two people in a hail of gunfire and a series of loud explosions before they themselves were killed, officials said. Security forces retook the building after several hours and killed three militants, a government spokesman said. A huge explosion was heard inside the station after a series of blasts when it was first attacked. The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), took responsibility for the attack in a message sent by their spokesman to journalists.

☆ Pakistan's Musharraf, military ruler who allied with the U.S. and promoted moderate Islam
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Pakistan's former President, Pervez Musharraf, addresses his supporters after his arrival from Dubai at Jinnah International airport in Karachi March 24, 2013. Musharraf, 79, died in hospital after a long illness after spending years in self-imposed exile, Pakistan media reported on Sunday. His father served in the foreign ministry, while his mother was a teacher and the family subscribed to a moderate, tolerant brand of Islam. Musharraf also successfully lobbied then-President George W. Bush to pour money into the Pakistani military. In 2006, Musharraf ordered military action that killed a tribal head from the province Balochistan, laying the foundations of an armed insurgency that rages to this day.

[1/5] Daughter of Irfan Khan, a police officer, who along with other police officers was killed, weeps during a protest by police officers to condemn the suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz AzizPESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The suicide bomber who killed more than 100 people at a mosque in a police compound in the Pakistan city of Peshawar this week wore a police uniform and entered the high security area on a motorbike, a provincial police chief said on Thursday. Ansari said the CCTV footage showed the bomber, wearing a helmet and a mask, riding his motorbike through the main checkpoint of Police Lines. He then parked his bike, asked directions to the mosque and walked there, Ansari added. All but three of those killed were police officers, making it the worst attack on Pakistani security forces in recent history.

☆ Pakistan mosque bombing death toll rises to 87
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan Asim Munir and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visit an injured, after a suicide blast in a mosque, at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan January 30, 2023. Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERSPESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The death toll in the suicide bombing that tore through a mosque in Pakistan rose to 87 on Tuesday, a hospital official said, a day after the one of the biggest attacks in the unstable South Asian nation. The attack occurred in one of the most fortified areas of the northwestern Peshawar city, which houses offices of the police and counter-terrorism departments. Hospital official Mohammad Asim said that 87 people had been killed, and that 57 people were being treated, seven of whom were in critical condition. Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella of Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups, has denied responsibility.

☆ Suicide bomber kills 59 at Pakistan mosque used by police officers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan on Monday, causing the roof to collapse and killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 150 others, officials said. He expressed his condolences to families of the victims, saying their pain “cannot be described in words.”Police said between 300 to 350 worshippers were inside the mosque when the bomber detonated his explosives. Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with government forces. Monday’s assault on a Sunni mosque was one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years.

☆ Suicide bomber kills 28, wounds 150 at mosque in NW Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Security personnel cordon off the site of a mosque blast inside the police headquarters in Peshawar on January 30, 2023. Police between 300 to 350 worshipers were inside the mosque when the bomber detonated his explosives. A survivor, 38-year-old police officer Meena Gul, said he was inside the mosque when the bomb went off. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the bombing, calling it a "terrorist suicide attack" in a Twitter posting. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with government forces.

☆ Pakistan suicide car bombing kills one police official, injures others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Police officers and rescue workers gather at the site of a suicide car bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan December 23, 2022. "Our initial information says that there was a man and a woman in the car," Islamabad operations police chief, Sohail Zafar, told reporters. "Had the car reached its target, it would have caused heavy losses," Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Geo News TV. Pakistani Taliban claimed the car bombing, saying it was revenge for the killing of one of their leaders. The bombing came two days after a Pakistani military operation killed 25 TTP militants after a standoff at a counter-terrorism facility.

One hostage, a security official, died during the raid , he said. The army spokesman's comments provided the first detailed official account of the standoff, in which two security personnel were killed when the militants first took over the compound, and two commandoes killed in the ensuing raid. Later other militants at the centre broke into a storeroom where confiscated weapons had been stored. STANDOFFAfter talks failed to resolve a two-day standoff, army commandos stormed the centre on Tuesday. Earlier, residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead.

Pakistani Taliban militants detained at the centre had snatched interrogators' weapons and taken them captive on Sunday. Asif did not say how many militants were killed or how many hostages they had held. Residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead. The army operations forced the militants and their leaders to flee to neighbouring Afghan districts. There, Islamabad says, they set up training centres to plan and launch attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Afghan authorities deny.

According to a provincial government spokesman, the militants were demanding safe passage to Afghanistan. "We are in negotiations with the central leaders of the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan," Mohammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, said. He said the authorities were yet to receive a response from the Pakistani Taliban, adding that relatives of the militants and area tribal elders had also been involved in initiating talks with the Islamists inside the facility. The militants in control of the interrogation facility had demanded a safe passage to Afghanistan, a TTP statement sent to a Reuters reporter said. It added the TTP had also conveyed the demand to Pakistani authorities, but hadn't heard back any "positive" response.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Islamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern Pakistani area of Bannu on Sunday and took hostages to negotiate with government authorities, officials said. One said about 15 militants took control of the centre after overpowering interrogators inside, grabbing their weapons and taking five or six of them hostage. Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. A spokesman for the TTP did not immediately confirm or deny a link with the militants in the compound. Reporting Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Gibran PeshimamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ambush claimed by Pakistani Taliban kills three police officers in northern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun ambush that killed three police officers in northern Pakistan, the second attack claimed by the group just days after it announced an end to a ceasefire with the government. He said three police officers were killed on the spot and the identity of the attackers was unknown. The militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year. The Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along Afghan border in recent months.

☆ Pakistan suicide blast targeting police kills 3, wounds 28
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Gul Yousafzai | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A suicide bomb blast in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta targeted a police patrol on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 28, police said. "A bomb blast that targeted a police patrol wounded more than 30 people, including 15 police," a police official, Abdul Haq, told Reuters. The patrol had been guarding a polio vaccination team at the time of the suicide blast, he added. Islamist militants in Pakistan often target polio vaccination teams, in the belief that the immunisation effort is a Western tool to spy on them. Quetta is the capital of Pakistan's province of Balochistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran, where both Islamist and separatist insurgents operate.

Search resuls for: "Taliban Pakistan"

25 mentions found