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☆ Costs, Crackdown Put a Damper on Pakistan's Election Campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Ariba ShahidKARACHI (Reuters) - Higher living costs and political uncertainty have muted Pakistan's once boisterous election campaigns, with both candidates and those who supply them with materials bemoaning the need to do more with much less. Syed Arsalan Haider, a Karachi printer, said the cost of a square foot of banner was up by 130% since the last election. Khan, whose party won the last election, says the military wants to keep him from power, which the military denies. Meherbano Qureshi, a PTI candidate and daughter of the party's jailed vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said people were scared to show their support and hang campaign material. (Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by YP Rajesh and Miral Fahmy)

Persons: Shahid, Imran Khan, Jawad Jiwani, Syed Arsalan Haider, Abdul Aziz, Taj Haider, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Faisal Subzwari, Khan, Meherbano Qureshi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khurram Sher Zaman, They're, Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari, YP Rajesh, Miral Organizations: Monetary Fund, Pakistan People's Party, PTI, Mubasher, YP Locations: Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan, Karachi, festooned, Lahore

[1/6] Ola electric scooters are seen outside the Ola Electric Service Centre, in Thane on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, October 25, 2023. Aggarwal's Ola Electric, which he likens to Tesla in the West, is zipping towards a stock-market listing after going from zero to 338,000 e-scooter sales in about two years. But he acknowledged service capacity issues and said Ola was "aggressively" bolstering its service network by adding 100 new centres and hiring more technicians. 'TESLA FOR WEST, OLA FOR REST'Aggarwal often declares, "Tesla is for the West, Ola for the rest", and he's a man in a hurry. "Electric vehicles are new to people so they aren't aware of how to ride the vehicle to maximise optimal output," he said.

Persons: Francis Mascarenhas, it's, Elon Musk, Aggarwal's Ola, Tesla, Ola, Devendra Ghuge, Aggarwal, Ola EVs, Ravi Bhatia, Bhatia, Japan's SoftBank, Ronald Radhakrishnan, Koradia, Riddhima Talwani, Aditi Shah, Rishika Sadam, Sriram, Arpan Chaturvedi, Anushree, Pandya, Francis Mascerehnas, Varun Vyas, Munsif, Jatindra, Saurabh Sharma, Sumit Khanna, Jose Devasia, Aditya Kalra Organizations: Ola Electric Service Centre, REUTERS, Staff, Reuters, JATO Dynamics, WEST, OLA, West, Singapore's Temasek, Industry, Hero Electric, TVS, EV, Ola, Fayaz Bukhari, Thomson Locations: Thane, Mumbai, India, THANE, HYDERABAD, DELHI, MUMBAI, Chennai, Bengaluru, India's, U.S, China, Kochi, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jose, Srinagar

REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOTTAWA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A 22-year-old self-confessed Canadian white nationalist who deliberately ran over and killed four members of a Muslim family in his truck in 2021 was found guilty of first degree murder on Thursday. The jury took around six hours to convict Nathaniel Veltman, who attacked the family in the Ontario town of London. It sets a precedent against white nationalist terrorism," said Abdul Fattah Twakkal, an imam at the London Muslim Mosque. It was the worst attack against Canadian Muslims since a man gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017. In the manifesto, Veltman wrote "I am a white nationalist" and said white people were "facing genocide".

Persons: Flowers, Carlos Osorio, Nathaniel Veltman, Veltman, Islam, Salman Afzaal, Madiha Salman, Yumnah, Talat, Abdul Fattah Twakkal, Christopher Hicks, Tabinda Bukhari, Prosecutors, Ismail Shakil, David Ljunggren, Mark Potter, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, Rights OTTAWA, Prosecutors, Canadian Broadcasting Corp, Canadian, Statistics Canada, Thomson Locations: London , Ontario, Canada, Ontario, London, Pakistan, Veltman, Quebec, New Zealand

☆ Three Bangladeshi tourists die in houseboat fire in India's Kashmir
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Rupam Jain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SRINAGAR, India Nov 11 (Reuters) - Three Bangladeshi tourists died in India's Kashmir region when some of the houseboats stationed in the picturesque Dal lake caught fire on Saturday, a police official said. "Three tourists Bangladeshi nationals were killed in one of the five houseboats destroyed due to fire," the police official said, adding that seven others were injured. Government figures show the Jammu and Kashmir region received over 16.2 million tourists in 2022, a record high since British colonial rule ended in 1947. The area is known for its snow-topped Himalayan mountains, fast-flowing rivers, meadows and wooden houseboats around beautiful lakes. Hindu-majority India has been fighting a decades-long separatist Islamist insurgency in Kashmir, which is also claimed by neighbouring Pakistan.

Persons: Narendra Modi's, Fayaz Bukhari, Rupam Jain, Christina Fincher Organizations: Police, Thomson Locations: SRINAGAR, India, India's Kashmir, Dal, Jammu, Kashmir, Pakistan

☆ Pollution Forces City-Wide Closures of Businesses, Schools in Eastern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Mubasher BukhariLAHORE (Reuters) - Heavy pollution-fuelled smog forced authorities to close schools and markets this week in Pakistan's most populous province, including the eastern city of Lahore which has risen to one of the world's worst cities for hazardous air quality. Schools, offices, restaurants and businesses, aside from priority services like pharmacies, hospitals and courts, would all close to limit residents' movement outside, according to a directive from the provincial government. Heavy smog blanketed Lahore this week, reducing visibility and leading residents to complain of a threat to their health. In neighbouring India, authorities in Delhi have announced they would restrict use of vehicles next week to curb rising pollution as air quality in the capital remained dangerously unsafe despite mitigation efforts. (Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Michael Perry)

Persons: Mubasher Bukhari, Amir Mir, Mohammad Salahuddin, Charlotte Greenfield, Michael Perry Organizations: Schools Locations: Mubasher, Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE, Pakistan's, Lahore, Punjab, Swiss, Delhi, Karachi, South Asia, India

☆ Militants attack air force base in central Pakistan, says military
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Nine Islamist militants attacked an air force training base in the central Pakistani area of Mianwali on Saturday damaging three "non-operational" aircraft, the military said, adding that all assailants had been killed by security forces. Three militants were killed before they entered the base while the others had been cornered before the clearance operation began, the military said in a statement. The military said nine militants had been killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force Training Airbase Mianwali. "No damage has been done to any of the Pakistan Air Force's functional operational assets, while only some damage was done to three already phased out non-operational aircraft during the attack," the military statement said. Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to journalists by its spokesperson.

Persons: Zeeshan Niazi, TJP, Gibran Peshimam, Saud Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Mubasher Bukhari, William Mallard, Jamie Freed Organizations: Nine, Reuters, Pakistan Air Force Training, Pakistan Air, Jihad, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Mianwali, Jihad Pakistan, Balochistan, Lahore

☆ Pakistan probes distributors of Roche cancer drug after patients go blind
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLAHORE, Pakistan, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Monday it was investigating two local distributors of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche's (ROG.S) Avastin cancer drug after 12 diabetic patients injected with the drug went blind. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) said the health authorities in Punjab, the most populous province, had launched the investigation into local use of the drug Avastin, which is licensed for use in Pakistan. On its website, Roche said Avastin was approved in more than 130 countries, including the United States, to treat several types of cancer. Cancer drug Avastin, when used at much lower doses, is similar to eye drug Lucentis and is used in many countries as a low-cost option to treat certain blindness-causing conditions. In its statement, Roche said: "Avastin is not approved for any use in the eye.

Persons: drugmaker Roche, Arnd, Javed Akram, Akram, Roche, Avastin, Alam, Mubasher Bukhari, Ariba Shahid, Ludwig Burger, Miral Fahmy, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, Reuters, U.S ., Thomson Locations: Basel, Switzerland, Rights LAHORE, Pakistan, Swiss, Punjab, United States, counterfeits, Avastin, Lahore, Karachi, Frankfurt

[1/4] View of partial traffic with the Karachi Port Trust building, in the background, during a shutter down and wheel-jam strike called by the traders and the religious and political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), against the hikes in power billings, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan September 2, 2023. Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreLAHORE, Pakistan, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Public markets across Pakistan stayed closed on Saturday due to a strike by retail associations over rising electricity prices and brisk inflation, as the country embarks on a tricky path to economic recovery. "Today, traders are observing a shutter down strike across Pakistan against the over charging electricity tariff and unjustified taxes," Ashraf Bhatti, president of the All Pakistan Traders Association, told Reuters. Major markets in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan's two largest cities, remained shut on Saturday though grocery shops in populated neighbourhoods and medical stores stayed open. "It is the matter of the entire country as the common man is being badly affected," said Abdul Rehim Kakar, leader of a traders' association of Balochistan.

Persons: Ashraf Bhatti, Abdul Rehim Kakar, Mubasher Bukhari, Saleem Ahmed, Mushtaq Ali, Akhtar Soomro, Gibran Peshimam, Helen Popper Our Organizations: Trust, Islami, International Monetary Fund, All Pakistan Traders Association, Reuters, Jamaat, Thomson Locations: Karachi, billings, Pakistan, LAHORE, Lahore, Pakistan's, Quetta, Balochistan province, Balochistan, Peshawar

"We feel that the applicant is entitled to the suspension of sentence and be released on bail," it said. Khan's lawyer Naeem Panjutha also announced the suspension on social media, saying "God be praised." Nor will the suspension of the corruption sentence undo the ban on Khan's contesting elections as long as the conviction remains. STATE SECRETSPakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. The possible overturning of Khan's graft conviction is pending a detailed hearing in the court, according to a lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii.

Persons: Khan, Imran, Khan's, Naeem Panjutha, Imran Khan, Mohsin Raza, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, Jaferii, abetment, Zulfikar Bukhari, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Ariba Shahid, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: ISLAMABAD, Reuters, REUTERS, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Lahore, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Washington, Islamabad, Karachi

☆ 'The fear is not going away': Christians in Pakistan afraid to return home
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Today was the first day of school after summer vacations but I did not send them because of fear," said their mother, Kiran. But community members and advocates say the trauma and fear will be tough to heal and their safety is not assured. Many are afraid to return home but, still in shock, do not know where to rebuild their lives. A few streets away about 240 people live in the makeshift shelter in the school along with Kanwal's family. The fear that has got embedded in my heart and my children's minds is just not going away."

Persons: Samuel, Kanwal, cradling Samuel, Kiran, Haq Kakar, Naseem Anthony, Anthony, Akmal Bhatti, Charlotte Greenfield, Mubasher Bukhari, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Pakistan's, Police, Thomson Locations: Kanwal, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Provincial

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have opened a criminal investigation against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets, after naming him and three aides in a fresh case, a top security source said on Monday. Khan is currently serving a three-year sentence in a graft case and has been barred from politics for five years. "Our investigation is collecting evidence to stand a case in a court to indict Imran Khan on charges of leaking official secrets," a security source, who is directly responsible for the investigation, told Reuters. Khan has formally been arrested in connection with the charges, which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is probing, the source said.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Rauf Hasan, Zulfi Bukhari, Arif Alvi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Intazar Panjutha, Asif Shahzad, Devika Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Both Washington, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Washington, U.S, Moscow, Ukraine, Both

☆ Bus crash in eastern Pakistan kills 18 people
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAHORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed after a bus crashed and caught on fire in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Sunday, authorities said. The bus collided with another vehicle in the early hours of the morning while carrying 33 passengers from the southern port city of Karachi to the capital, Islamabad. "The unfortunate bus ... collided with a mini-truck loaded with three small tanks of petrol at around 4.30 am," said Fahad Ahmad, the police chief of Punjab's Hafizabad district. "The bus and the truck caught fire immediately, the result of which 18 people including the mini-truck driver died on the spot." More than 40 people were killed in January after a bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in the southern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Sunday.

Persons: Fahad Ahmad, Mubasher Bukhari, Charlotte Greenfield, Kim Coghill Organizations: Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan's, Punjab, Karachi, Islamabad, Punjab's Hafizabad, Pakistan, Pakistani, Balochistan

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) office in Islamabad, Pakistan June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Salahuddin/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsKARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi was detained on Saturday, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party said, just hours after he said it would challenge any delay to the country's election in the courts. Party spokesman Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters the specific reason for the detention of Qureshi, twice Pakistan's foreign minister, was not immediately clear. The outgoing government approved a new census in its final days, meaning new electoral boundaries must be drawn up by the Election Commission. IMF BAILOUTThe election commission said on Thursday that new constituencies would be finalised by Dec. 14, state television reported.

Persons: Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Salahuddin, Zulfi Bukhari, Qureshi, Bukhari, Imran Khan, Khan, Haq Kakar, Ariba Shahid, Toby Chopra, Alison Williams Organizations: Pakistan's, Reuters, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, REUTERS, Rights, PTI, IMF, Supreme, Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Karachi

☆ Pakistani police arrest two Christians accused of blasphemy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Members of the Christian community chant slogans as they hold banner to condemn the attacks on churches and houses in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad, during a protest in Peshawar, Pakistan August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz Acquire Licensing RightsLahore, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Police have arrested two Christians accused of blasphemy in eastern Pakistan, a spokesperson said on Friday, two days after a Muslim mob burnt churches and houses in a Christian settlement, accusing the two men of desecrating the Koran. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged mobs. The police said it has so far rounded up 128 people involved in the attack on the Christian community in Jaranwala in the industrial district of the city of Faisalabad on Wednesday. Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Fayaz Aziz, Mubasher Bukhari, Kim Coghill Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Police, Thomson Locations: Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Pakistan

The rioters were demanding that the two accused men, who had fled their homes, be handed over to them. The troops have cordoned off the Christian colony, blocking all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman. Hundreds of Christians took refuge in a nearby district, a community leader Akmal Bhatti told Reuters, adding that four pastors had returned to the churches, which were still smouldering. "It is the government's responsibility to compensate for the loss of property of the Christian community," he told reporters, adding the government was estimating the losses. The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Persons: Christian, Akmal Bhatti, Bhatti, Mohsi Naqvi, Vedant Patel, Asif Shahzad, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Simon Cameron, Moore, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Police, Reuters, Amnesty, State Department, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, United States, Islamabad

☆ Troops deployed to guard Pakistani Christians after mob torches churches
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The rioters were demanding that the two accused, who had fled their homes, be handed over to them. The residents said thousands of Muslims led by local clerics were carrying iron rods, sticks, knives and daggers during the rioting. A provincial government statement said paramilitary troops were deployed to aid the police to control the situation. The troops have cordoned off the Christian colony, blocking all entry and exit points with barbed wire, according to a Reuters TV cameraman. The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Wednesday.

Persons: Vedant Patel, Asif Shahzad, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Police, Reuters, State Department, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, desecrating, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, United States

The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes. Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds. A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had "torched" at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners. Several social media posts showed some churches, houses and belongings on fire as police stood by. The mob was made up of thousands of people led by local clerics, mainly from an Islamist political party called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a government source said.

Persons: Naveed Ahmad, Shakil Masih, Usman Anwar, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Akmal Bhatti, Asif Shahzad, Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, REUTERS Acquire, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: LAHORE, Pakistan, Jaranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad

Yet the final days of Imran Khan’s political career tell a contrasting tale. Khan’s supporters – some armed with sticks and stones – marched through cities, chanting slogans against the ruling dispensation. To his supporters, Khan was seen as a political martyr, someone they had vowed to defend till the very end. Analysts say Khan’s arrest following a yearlong showdown with the military sends a pointed message to the former prime minister and his supporters. “Imran Khan’s political will wasn’t strong enough to begin with from what we saw.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan, Khan’s, –, ”, Arifa Noor, “, Imran Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, Patrick Durand, Sygma, Pervez Musharraf, Arif Ali, Noor, “ Imran Khan’s, Shehbaz Sharif, Aamir Qureshi, Mr, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Salaar Khan, Khawaja Asif, Khan won’t, “ Imran, ” Noor Organizations: CNN, Cricket, Getty, Oxford University, Movement for Justice, PML, AP, Pakistan’s, PTI, CNN Monday Locations: Pakistan, Lahore, Islamabad, British India, It’s, Melbourne, Australia, Khan, British, AFP, India, Afghanistan, United States, Gujranwala

☆ Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan's lawyers cannot reach him in jail, spokesperson says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lawyers gather to protest following the arrest of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, outside his residence in Lahore, Pakistan August 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza/File PhotoISLAMABAD, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyers could not reach him on Sunday after he spent the night in a jail near the capital following his arrest the previous day on a corruption conviction, a spokesperson said. Pakistan's information minister referred a request for comment on Khan's access to his lawyers to provincial authorities in Punjab, where the jail is located. Thousands of Khan's aides and supporters have been arrested since May, according to the interior minister. Pakistan's government denies Khan's arrest was related to the election.

Persons: Imran Khan, Mohsin Raza, Imran Khan's, Khan, Naeem Haider Panjotha, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Charlotte Greenfield, Mubasher Bukhari, William Mallard Organizations: REUTERS, PTI, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Attock, Punjab

☆ Imran Khan arrested after Pakistan court sentences ex-prime minister to three years in jail
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam Charlotte Greenfield | Mubasher Bukhari | Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said in a statement it had already filed another appeal to the Supreme Court earlier on Saturday. Khan, 70, is a former cricket star who went on to forge a political career and who was prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a broadcast statement that Khan's arrest followed a full investigation and proper legal proceedings in a trial court. Khan was convicted by the court in a case that was first investigated by the election commission, which found him guilty of unlawfully selling state gifts while prime minister.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Shehbaz Sharif's, Intezar Panjotha, Bilal Siddique Kamiana, Khan, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sharif, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khan's, Qamar Javed Bajwa, Asim Munir, Mubasher Bukhari, Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, Charlotte, William Mallard, Simon Cameron, Moore, Frances Kerry, Giles Elgood Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Police, " Police, Central Adiala, wilfully, PTI, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, LAHORE, Islamabad, Central, Rawalpindi, Toshakhana, Khan's, Karachi, Charlotte Greenfield

☆ Analysis: Pakistan in uncharted territory as army seeks to vanquish Imran Khan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. There has never been that kind of challenge to Pakistan's military, which has held sway over the country since independence in 1947 with a mixture of fear and respect. The 1971 fall of Dhaka in what was then East Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh after defeat by arch-enemy India has been the lowest point for Pakistan's military since 1947. Khan was released by court order two days after his arrest, but his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party now faces the ire of the military. "The military's power comes from its ability to deploy force, not popularity - Pakistan's generals like being liked but they like being in control even more," he said.

☆ Pakistan police to search Imran Khan's home - official
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Mubasher Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAHORE, Pakistan, May 19 (Reuters) - Pakistani police plan to search the Lahore home of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, a provincial government official said, an operation that could trigger more violence as the country grapples with political and economic instability. Amir Mir, the information minister of Punjab province, said hundreds of policemen, led by the city police commissioner, would conduct the search operation later on Friday. Khan's home is located in the Zaman Park neighbourhood of Lahore, the capital of Punjab. His arrest triggered a wave of violence that saw supporters attacking military installations and other government buildings. On Thursday, Khan's aide Iftikhr Durrani allowed journalists into some areas of Khan's Lahore home to "look for terrorists".

ISLAMABAD, May 18 (Reuters) - Pakistan's powerful anti-corruption agency has summoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan for questioning on Thursday into the graft charges that led to his arrest on May 9. It was not clear if Khan, who denies the charges, would heed the summons. A spokesman for Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was not immediately available for a comment. The Supreme Court ordered Khan's release on bail last Friday, and another court on Wednesday extended his protective bail until May 31. Punjab's information minister Amir Mir said the government did not have any plans to arrest Khan as he had been given bail by court.

[1/2] Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are covered with a white sheet as they arrive to appear at the High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin RazaISLAMABAD, May 16 (Reuters) - Bushra Khan, the wife of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is facing corruption charges in the same case that led to his arrest on May 9. It was not clear when or how Khan met Bushra, but former aide Aun Chaudhry said Khan was very impressed with her spirituality. Khan and Bushra married in 2018, seven months before he was elected prime minister, in a secret ceremony. While prime minister, Khan promoted the trust at official events, and the couple are the sole trustees, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

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