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Children receive first aid after they were rescued from the stranded chairlift, in Battagram, Pakistan August 22, 2023. "I can't tell you what we experienced yesterday when one cable of the cable car suddenly snapped and we were stranded in the air," said Faraz, who at 20 years old was the only adult aboard, and the only person with a cell phone. The journey by cable car usually took just a matter of minutes, whereas travelling on the rough mountain roads and tracks takes hours. "Our first priority was to secure the children," caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said, describing the feat as "near impossible". Those prayers were answered for Faraz and the children.

Persons: Gul Faraz, Faraz, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Kakar, Mushtaq Ali n, Asif Shahzad, Simon Cameron, Moore, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Commandos, Geo, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Battagram, Pakistan, PESHAWAR, Jhangri, Battangi, Karachi, Mushtaq Ali n Peshawar, Islamabad

☆ Children stranded in chair lift 900 feet above ground in northern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Eight people, including six school children, were trapped in a malfunctioning chair lift in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, officials said, and a military helicopter has been dispatched to rescue them. The children, who have been stranded since about 6 a.m local time (0100 GMT), were using the chair lift to get to school in a mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Islamabad. "A cable broke in a chair lift service, following which people have been trapped 900 feet (274 metres) above the ground," Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. It said an army helicopter had been moved to the area for a rescue operation after attempts at fixing the fault had been unsuccessful. Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Asif Shahzad, Mushtaq Ali, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Disaster Management Authority, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Battagram, Islamabad, Peshawar

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ Suspected Pakistan suicide bombing kills at least 55, injures 135 more at political rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Mushtaq Yusufzai | Associated Press | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

At least 16 people were killed and dozens more wounded on July 30 by a bomb blast at a political gathering of a radical Islamic party in northern Pakistan, police said. At least 55 people were killed and 135 were wounded in what one official said was a suicide attack. Jalil Jan, a spokesperson for the political party, told NBC News the death toll had risen to 55 and that some of the 135 injuries were critical. Party officials said Rehman was not in the rally. Rehman is considered to be a pro-Taliban cleric and his political party is part of the coalition government in Islamabad.

Persons: Farooq NAEEM, FAROOQ NAEEM, Nazir Khan, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Khan, Jan, Azam Khan, Jalil Jan, Mohibullah Khan Yousufzai, Maulana Ziaullah, Abdur Rasheed, Maulana Jamaluddin, Rehman, Zabihullah Mujahid, Mujahid Organizations: Getty, Sunday, Senior, NBC News, Islam, NBC, Government, Islamic State Locations: Bajaur district, Pakistan, AFP, Bajur, Afghanistan, Khar, Peshawar, Islamabad, Islamic Emirate

☆ At Least 35 Dead in Blast at Political Rally in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | More About Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An explosion at a political rally on Sunday in northwest Pakistan killed at least 35 people and injured 200 more, officials said, the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, where some militant groups have become more active over the past two years since finding a haven in neighboring Afghanistan under the Taliban administration there. The blast occurred about 4 p.m. in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, said Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister. It targeted a political rally organized by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, an Islamist party that is part of the governing coalition in Pakistan. A state of emergency has been imposed in the hospitals in Peshawar, the provincial capital. A local leader of the political party who was onstage when the explosion occurred, Maulana Ziaullah, was among those killed.

Persons: Feroz Jamal, Fazl, Mr, Jamal, Maulana Ziaullah Organizations: Jamiat Ulema, Islamic Locations: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan’s, Peshawar, Islamic State, Jamiat

[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

☆ Pakistan expects heavy monsoon rain raising risk of floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, July 3 (Reuters) - Heavy monsoon rain is expected to hit Pakistan on Monday and last for several days, the weather office said, raising the risk of flooding in areas still recovering from a devastating deluge last year. Heavy thunder and rain was expected from Monday evening in the capital, Islamabad, as well as in the cities of Lahore and Peshawar, spreading to other areas until Saturday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. The weather office warned that flooding was possible in low-lying areas of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Gujranwala, and Lahore, with the risk of flash floods in hilly western areas late this week. Pakistan has received commitments of more than $9 billion from international donors to help recover from last year's floods with rebuilding efforts estimated to cost about $16.3 billion. Reporting by Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam; writing by Shivam Patel; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Shivam Patel, Robert Birsel Organizations: Pakistan, Pakistan Meteorological Department, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Pakistan

The stage is now set for the possibility of a tumultuous showdown between the country’s powerful military and Khan’s supporters following deadly and unprecedented clashes Tuesday that saw angry crowds break into and vandalize the homes of army personnel. Hundreds of Khan supporters responded to his call to take to the streets and violent protests broke out in several cities. Imran Khan's supporters burn tires to block roads in Peshawar, Pakistan on May 9, 2023. Protesters burn tires to block roads in Peshawar, Pakistan on May 9, 2023 following Imran Khan's dramatic arrest. A demonstrator is seen as Pakistani police use tear gas against supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest in Peshawar, Pakistan on May 9, 2023.

Khan's colleagues in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his indictment. Mobile data services were shut for a second day on Wednesday as street protests continued, with federal ministers accusing Khan's supporters of torching several buildings and vehicles. MORE THAN 1,000 ARRESTS[1/8] Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan throw stones towards police during a protest against Khan's arrest, in Peshawar, Pakistan, May 10, 2023. Khan, a cricket hero-turned-politician, was ousted as prime minister in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted.

☆ Landslide in Pakistan's Khyber Pass buries trucks, kills at least two people
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/8] People search for survivors next to a damaged supply vehicle after a landslide close to the Torkham border, Pakistan, April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz AzizPESHAWAR, Pakistan, April 18 (Reuters) - A landslide during a thunder and lightning storm on the main road through northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pass buried more than 20 trucks on Tuesday, killing at least two people, with dozens more feared trapped, officials said. "Twenty to twenty five containers are buried in the wreckage," Abdul Nasir Khan, deputy commissioner of the Khyber district, told Reuters. Photos shared by officials showed truck containers mostly buried in huge piles of rocks. Reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"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.

[1/3] People gather to receive sacks of free flour, at a distribution point in Peshawar, Pakistan March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz AzizLAHORE/PESHAWAR, Pakistan, March 30 (Reuters) - At least five people have been killed in recent weeks and more injured in Pakistan in stampedes at sites distributing free flour under a government-backed scheme to help families struggling with soaring costs of basic staples. The Pakistani government has launched the flour distribution programme to reach millions of families in need during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan that began last week. Another person was killed in a stampede at a distribution centre last week in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province according to records shared by the provincial food authority. "There were some unfortunate incidents of stampedes and looting," Khan Ghalib, an official at the provincial food department said.

☆ Pakistan's new fuel pricing scheme needs to be agreed before IMF deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Fayaz AzizISLAMABAD, March 24 (Reuters) - A long-awaited loan agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be signed once a few remaining points, including a proposed fuel pricing scheme, are settled, an IMF official confirmed on Friday. Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters on Thursday that his ministry had been given six weeks to work out the pricing plan. But the IMF's resident representative in Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, said the government had not consulted the fund about the fuel pricing scheme. Ruiz, in a message to Reuters, confirmed a media report that a staff level agreement would be signed once a few remaining points, including the fuel scheme were settled. With enough foreign reserves to only cover about four weeks of necessary imports, Pakistan is desperate for the IMF agreement to disperse a $1.1 billion tranche from a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019.

☆ At least nine dead, 44 injured in Pakistan after earthquake
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

People stand in the street after a strong earthquake in Peshawar, Pakistan on March 21, 2023. The earthquake was felt throughout Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. At least nine people were dead and 44 injured in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a government official said, after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake with its epicenter in Afghanistan struck late on Tuesday. At least 19 houses were partially damaged by the earthquake, Abdul Basit, a senior official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government told Reuters on Wednesday.

☆ Earthquake in Afghanistan kills at least 11, nine of them in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, March 22 (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed and 44 injured in northwest Pakistan by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck in neighbouring Afghanistan late on Tuesday, a Pakistani government official said. At least two people were killed in Afghanistan, a disaster agency official there said. The quake was felt over an area more than 1,000 km wide by some 285 million people in Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people last year. In 2005, at least 73,000 people were killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck northern Pakistan.

☆ Earthquake of magnitude 6.5 hits northern Afghanistan, killing at least 3
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, March 21 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, killing two in the east of the country and one child in neighbouring Pakistan. The tremor was very deep, 194 km (120.5 miles), and its epicentre was in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the remote northern Afghan province of Badakhshan. A spokesperson for Red Cross said they had no immediate reports of damages from Badakhshan's capital but were making checks on other areas. "We felt a strong earthquake, according to primary information the main place (affected) was Yamgan District," he said. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed over 1,000 people last year.

Arif Ali | AFP | Getty ImagesAbout 90% of the global population in 2022 experienced unhealthy air quality, and only six countries met the World Health Organization's recommendations of safe air pollutant levels, according to a new report from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. The report found that the top five most polluted countries in 2022 were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh. Lahore's air quality worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2022 from 86.5 in the year prior, making it the most polluted city in the world. The 2022 report used air quality data from more than 30,000 regulatory air quality monitoring stations and air quality sensors from 7,323 cities across 131 countries, regions and territories. "Too many people around the world don't know that they are breathing polluted air," Aidan Farrow, senior air quality scientist at Greenpeace International, said in a statement.

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.

☆ Thousands of trucks stuck at Afghan-Pakistan border crossing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Men sit near a queue of trucks loaded with supplies to leave for Afghanistan, after Taliban authorities have closed the main border crossing in Torkham, Pakistan February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Shahid ShinwariPESHAWAR, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a third day, with thousands of goods vehicles stuck and businesses facing losses as officials from both sides try to broker a solution. "The closure of the border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been causing losses to traders of the two countries. He added some trucks had been diverted to another, smaller border crossing, but traders were worried about the security of truck drivers travelling to that region. Residents had reported heavy gunfire on Monday morning near the Torkham border crossing, but the Taliban official had denied any clashes and said the situation was under control.

☆ Main Afghan-Pakistani border crossing closed, residents report gunfire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The main border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan was closed on Monday, officials from the two sides said, and residents in the area reported the sound of gunfire near the normally bustling border transit point. It was not immediately clear if Afghan or Pakistani authorities closed the Torkham border crossing, near the Khyber Pass, but it comes after relations between Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply. Media reported that the border was closed on Sunday evening but did not give a reason. Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani security forces have also at times closed the second most important crossing between the two countries, at Chaman to the south. A Taliban foreign ministry spokesperson said later Pakistan should raise issues in private and not at public forums.

He added that a government committee was looking into adding secular subjects to madrasas alongside religious study, a development that hasn't been previously reported. Other students and teachers said Islamic education played an important role in their lives, though they hoped to be able to study secular subjects too. He didn't elaborate on the government's plans for religious schools. Reuters was unable to determine the current number of madrasas, and Taliban authorities have not provided figures. "There's deep-seated mistrust of the formal education sector, despite the fact that it too incorporates Islamic education."

☆ Blackouts, currency dives and corruption: Pakistan's economy is on the brink of collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Sajjad Qayyum | Afp | Getty ImagesPakistan's economy is on a cliff-edge. These are just the latest shocks amid months of crisis as endemic government corruption, depleted foreign reserves and crippling debt have sent Pakistan's economy spiraling. More than 30% of Pakistan's total foreign debt is owed to China, according to the IMF. An aerial view of the commercial district of Pakistan's port city of Karachi on January 27, 2023. Asif Hassan | Afp | Getty Images

☆ IMF giving Pakistan tough time over unlocking funds, PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"As you know, the IMF mission is in Pakistan, and that's giving us a tough time," he said. "You all know we are running short of resources," Sharif said, adding Pakistan at present was facing an economic crisis. The IMF mission is visiting Pakistan to discuss fiscal consolidation measures the institution needs from Pakistan to clear a 9th review of its Extended Fund Facility, aimed at helping countries facing balance-of-payments crises. Pakistan is in a $6.5 billion IMF programme. An IMF delegation is in Pakistan to restart talks stalled since November for $2.5 billion funds yet to be disbursed.

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