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  • As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 

As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 

As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
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Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party carry Palestinian flags as they attend an absentia funeral prayers for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)
As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
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This file photograph, taken and released by the Iranian foreign ministry on February 13, 2024, Hamas’ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha. (AFP/File)
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Updated 31 July 2024
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As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 

As Pakistan condemns Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, thousands attend funeral prayers in absentia 
  • Foreign Office says Israeli “adventurism” constituted a “dangerous escalation” in an already volatile region
  • Thousands offer funeral prayers in absentia for Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi, vow to raise their voices for Palestine
Updated 31 July 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR & NAIMAT KHAN

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, expressing shock over the “reckless act” that coincided with the new Iranian president’s oath-taking ceremony as thousands attended his funeral prayers in absentia in the southern port city of Karachi. 

Iran’s state television announced the killing of the Palestinian leader early Wednesday. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said Haniyeh and a security guard had been ambushed in their place of residence and an investigation was underway.

Haniyeh was in Iran for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian.




Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party carry Palestinian flags as they attend an absentia funeral prayers for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Karachi on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)

“Pakistan condemns the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the Chief of Hamas Political Bureau in Tehran today,” the foreign office said in a statement, sending condolences to his family and the people of Palestine.

“We are deeply shocked by the timing of this reckless act, coinciding with the inauguration of the President of Iran, an event attended by several foreign dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan.”

The foreign office expressed “serious concern” over what it described as “growing Israeli adventurism in the region.”

“Its latest acts constitute a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region and undermine efforts for peace,” the statement said.

Separately, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, who heads a major Pakistani religious political party, announced funeral prayers in absentia for the “martyred” 62-year-old Hamas leader in Karachi on Wednesday. 

FUNERAL PRAYERS IN ABSENTIA




Activists and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party offer absentia funeral prayers for for Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Lahore on July 31, 2024, after his assassination in an air strike. (AFP)

Thousands gathered at the city’s busy New M.A. Jinnah Road for the funeral prayers to pay tribute to the Hamas leader. 

Muhammad Hussain Mehnati, the head of the party’s Sindh chapter, said conscientious people worldwide should reject Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

“Ismael Haniyeh and other Palestinian leaders among tens of thousands sacrificed their lives in the glorious struggle,” he noted.

Mehnati praised the “ongoing Palestinian resistance against tyranny,” criticizing the US, the UK, and other nations for supporting Israel.

“I urge the Pakistani government and other Muslim-majority countries to actively assist the oppressed Palestinians,” he said.

The JI, which is holding a sit-in protest against inflation and rising energy costs, had planned to hold another demonstration in front of the Governor’s House in Karachi on Wednesday. 

However, it called off the protest, urging residents to attend Haniyeh’s funeral prayers in absentia.

The event was also attended by a large number of women. One of the participants, Dr. Hareem Khurshid, praised Haniyeh for resisting Israel’s military campaign and credited him for protecting the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We are happy because he embraced martyrdom and at the same time we are sad,” she told Arab News. “But we will never stop protesting and raising our voices for Palestine.”

INCREASING HOSTILITIES IN MIDDLE EAST

Haniyeh’s assassination comes amid an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which was blamed for an attack on the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children on the weekend.

On Tuesday night, Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, saying that it had killed Fuad Shukr, the head of Hezbollah’s military operations room.

Israel has promised to wipe out Hamas after the group conducted a deadly raid into settlements outside the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking hostages back to the Palestinian enclave.

Israel soon after launched a devastating military assault in Gaza and has since killed over 40,000 people, mainly civilians. Both sides have been trying to negotiate a hostage release agreement, which would include a cessation of fighting, with the help of the US and regional negotiators.

Haniyeh, normally based in Qatar, has been the face of Hamas’s international diplomacy as the war set off last year. Hamas said in a statement Haniyeh’s killing would “take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions,” while Iran also vowed to retaliate.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment for itself” and it was Tehran’s duty to avenge the Hamas leader’s death as it had occurred in the Iranian capital. Iranian forces had already made strikes directly on Israel earlier in the Gaza war.

There was no comment nor claim of responsibility from Israel. In 2021, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist.

Topics: Ismail Haniyeh Hamas leader War on Gaza Pakistan Palestine Israeli war on Gaza

Pakistan suspends mobile Internet in Balochistan, citing ‘public safety’ amid rising violence

Pakistan suspends mobile Internet in Balochistan, citing ‘public safety’ amid rising violence
Updated 47 sec ago

Pakistan suspends mobile Internet in Balochistan, citing ‘public safety’ amid rising violence

Pakistan suspends mobile Internet in Balochistan, citing ‘public safety’ amid rising violence
  • People in Balochistan say mobile Internet has been down for about three days in different areas
  • PTA announcement comes days after a suicide bombing at a crowded railway station in Quetta
Updated 47 sec ago
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) announced the suspension of mobile Internet services in various parts of the restive southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, saying the decision was taken to “ensure public safety” amid a surge in militant violence over the past several months.
The announcement follows a deadly suicide bombing at a crowded railway station in Quetta, the provincial capital, which killed at least 28 people, including Pakistani soldiers, and injured dozens of others.
The attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), an outlawed separatist group that has targeted Chinese nationals in an effort to undermine the multibillion-dollar Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
The BLA, the largest of several ethnic insurgent groups battling the Pakistani state, alleges that the province’s rich gas and mineral resources are unfairly exploited, a claim the government denies.
“The general public is hereby informed that, under the directives of authorized departments, mobile Internet services have been temporarily suspended in certain areas of Balochistan,” the PTA said in an official statement.
“This measure has been taken to ensure public safety, given the security situation in these areas,” it added.
The PTA statement did not specify the areas where mobile Internet services have been suspended, nor was there any clarification from other departments on whether the government was planning an operation against militants in these regions.
However, mobile Internet has already been down in the province’s Kech, Panjgur, Gwadar, Khuzdar, Loralai, Dukki, Ziarat, Harnai and Zhob districts for the last three days, causing significant hardships for students and the business community in these areas.
“Hundreds of students and businesses have been affected by the mobile Internet suspension,” Abdul Majid Dashti, a lawyer based in Turbat, told Arab News, adding that cellphone Internet had been down for nearly three days in the area.
Sadaqat Baloch, a journalist in Pakistan’s coastal town of Gwadar, which is central to CPEC, said authorities suspended mobile Internet in the area a day after the Quetta railway station bombing.
“People of the Makran region, including Khuzdar, are now deprived of mobile Internet, which has been creating problems for them,” he added.
The provincial government’s spokesperson was unavailable for comment on the recent mobile Internet suspension.
 

Topics: Internet disruptions Pakistan internet Pakistan Telecom Authority Balochistan Liberation Army Internet

Pakistan felicitates Palestinians on 36th independence anniversary, reaffirms support

Pakistan felicitates Palestinians on 36th independence anniversary, reaffirms support
Updated 59 min 1 sec ago

Pakistan felicitates Palestinians on 36th independence anniversary, reaffirms support

Pakistan felicitates Palestinians on 36th independence anniversary, reaffirms support
  • Palestinians proclaimed the Declaration of Independence on Nov. 15, 1988, in Algiers
  • Pakistan calls support to the Palestinian cause a ‘consistent facet’ of its foreign policy
Updated 59 min 1 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday felicitated the people of Palestine on the 36th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, saying its support for the Palestinian cause has been the most consistent feature of the country’s foreign policy.
Proclaimed on November 15, 1988, during a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers, the Declaration of Independence envisioned a sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital.
It marked an important movement in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and has since been a symbol of their aspirations for statehood.
“On the occasion of Declaration of Independence Day of the State of #Palestine, we extend our heartiest felicitations to its people and the Government,” the foreign office said in a social media post.
“Pakistan’s unflinching support to the Palestinian cause has been a consistent facet of our foreign policy,” it added. “We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Palestinian right to self-determination and our unwavering support for the establishment of an independent, viable, and contiguous state of Palestine, with Al-Quds-Al-Sharif as its Capital.”

The anniversary comes as the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 43,700 since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign more than a year ago, displacing nearly the entire population of the Palestinian territory.
Most of those killed in Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives are reported to be women and children, while the international community fears that the conflict could spread to the rest of the Middle East.
The situation has also exacerbated humanitarian concerns, with the United Nations warning of an impending famine in the besieged territory, where residents face acute shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
 

Topics: pakistan palestine ties Palestine

Muslims in Pakistan’s smog-shrouded Punjab province pray for rain

Muslims in Pakistan’s smog-shrouded Punjab province pray for rain
Updated 15 November 2024
Reuters

Muslims in Pakistan’s smog-shrouded Punjab province pray for rain

Muslims in Pakistan’s smog-shrouded Punjab province pray for rain
  • The special prayer was held at over 600 government-run mosques in the province
  • Punjab grapples every winter with smog, but the situation has worsened recently
Updated 15 November 2024
Reuters

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Punjab province declared a health emergency due to toxic smog on Friday, banning construction, shutting schools for another week and moving universities online, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims prayed for rain and forgiveness.
The faithful gathered at over 600 government-run mosques in the province for “Namaz-e-Istisqa,” a voluntary prayer for rain often offered in times of calamities, said Talha Mahmood, spokesman for the provincial Religious Affairs department.
“Today, we prayed for rain to decrease smog, though it is caused by humans’ own mistakes,” said Muhammad Ejaz, 48, who led prayers at a mosque in the sprawling provincial capital Lahore, adding the prayer aimed at seeking God’s forgiveness for people’s sins.
The province, Pakistan’s most populous, grapples every winter with smog, but air pollution has worsened in recent years, as a result of cold air trapping dust, low-grade diesel fumes and smoke from illegal stubble burning on fields.
Sajid Bashir, spokesman for the provincial Environment Department, attributed this year’s severe pollution to a lack of rain in September and October.
“Last year, rain spells reduced particulate matter; this year, we’re still waiting,” he said on Friday.
Lahore has topped Swiss group IQAir readings as the world’s most polluted city, for most of the week.
Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, announcing smog-reduction measures at a press conference, said the government had ordered the closure of construction, brick kilns, and furnace-based plants in Lahore and the city of Multan.
She said there would be a complete three-day lockdown from next Friday if the situation does not improve.
Last week the province ordered schools to close until Nov. 17, and on Friday the shift to online learning was extended for another week. Colleges and universities will also shut down, moving to virtual classes.
Authorities have already banned entry to parks, zoos, playgrounds and other public spaces.
Other parts of South Asia are also dealing with high levels of pollution and Punjab blames neighboring India for contributing to its hazardous air quality. New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital, has banned non-essential construction, moved children to virtual classrooms and asked residents to avoid using coal and wood from Friday.
 

Topics: Lahore Smog smog Pakistan Smog istisqa prayers Muslim Prayers

Pakistan orders telecom regulator to block VPNs, citing militant use

Pakistan orders telecom regulator to block VPNs, citing militant use
Updated 15 November 2024

Pakistan orders telecom regulator to block VPNs, citing militant use

Pakistan orders telecom regulator to block VPNs, citing militant use
  • Interior ministry says ‘terrorists’ have been exploiting VPN services for violence, financial transactions
  • Government has set up a portal for VPN registration, which can be done by the end of the ongoing month
Updated 15 November 2024
Aamir Saeed

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior sent a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday, asking it to block illegal Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) across the country while citing their use by militant groups for financial transactions and violent activities.
This directive follows international criticism of Pakistan’s Internet restrictions, notably after the February general elections, where allegations of electoral manipulation led to the blocking of social media platform X.
Media reports also suggested the government was setting up a national firewall, which had led to the slowdown of Internet speed across Pakistan, saying the decision was taken to curb “anti-state narratives” by political activists.
More recently, the PTA launched a new portal for VPN registration, saying it wanted to ensure secure and uninterrupted operations for online users and businesses.
“I am directed to refer to the subject cited above [about blockage of illegal VPNs] and to state that VPNs are increasingly being exploited by terrorists to facilitate violent activities and financial transactions in Pakistan,” the ministry’s letter to the PTA chairman noted.
“Of late, an alarming fact has been identified, wherein VPNs are used by terrorists to obscure and conceal their communications,” it added. “VPNs are also being used for discreetly access pornographic and blasphemous contents.”
Earlier this week, the PTA already disclosed that nearly 20 million Pakistanis try to access pornographic websites on a daily basis that were banned by the authorities in 2011.
The letter requested the top PTA official to block illegal VPNs nationwide while pointing out that registration of VPNs with PTA could be made the end of the ongoing month.
VPN users in Pakistan have already reported significant disruptions to services since last weekend, with issues relating to connectivity and restricted access.
Pakistan’s decision to impose online restrictions have been questioned by free speech activists and businesses alike.
PREDA, Pakistan’s first membership-based organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of professionals, also wrote a letter to the government earlier in the day, appealing for the adoption of stable digital policies to support growth and build an eco system for global competitiveness.
 

Topics: PTA Pakistan Telecom Authority Pakistan Telecommunication Authority VPN VPNs Pakistan internet

WHO says fake finger markings hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts

WHO says fake finger markings hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts
Updated 15 November 2024
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WHO says fake finger markings hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts

WHO says fake finger markings hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts
  • Health officials terminated polio team members found involved in 60 such cases in Balochistan province in August
  • Pakistan has reported 49 new polio cases this year mainly from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces
Updated 15 November 2024
Aamir Saeed REHMAT MEHSUD & SAADULLAH AKHTER

ISLAMABAD, PESHAWAR & QUETTA: The World Health Organization said on Friday “fake finger markings” were one of the major factors hampering Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts, as the South Asian country reported the 49th case of the virus this week. 
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that has raised doubts over the quality of vaccination reporting and prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
Polio, a disease transmitted through sewage which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
“Some of the gaps and issues that were identified during campaigns included fake finger marking and altered campaign modalities mainly in South Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” WHO spokesperson Maryam Younas told Arab News on Friday in answers to written questions. 
Local officials say parents suspicious of mass immunization campaigns have been getting hold of special markers, used by health workers to put a colored spot on the little fingers of children to identify that they have been vaccinated.
The fake finger marking, sometimes done in collusion with health workers, hide the true scale of refusal rates and thus gaps in vaccination.
Provincial authorities in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 10 cases have been confirmed this year, and Balochistan, where 24 were reported, also said fake finger markings were an obstacle for eradication efforts. 
In August this year, the Balochistan Provincial Emergency Operation Center said it had exposed a nexus between parents refusing polio drops for their children and polio teams involved in fake finger marking. Around 60 cases of fake finger markings were identified in various districts of Balochistan and the teams involved were terminated. 
 “Fake finger markings, low immunization drives, and malnourished children are three prime causes for this rapid surge in polio cases,” Dr. Aftab Kakar, the provincial team lead for the National Stop Transmission of Polio (N-Stop) in Balochistan, said. 
The KP Governor’s Focal Person for polio, Tariq Habib, also said fake finger-marking had led to “decreased trust and effectiveness in vaccination efforts.”
The WHO spokesperson suggested that the targeted vaccination of children was pivotal for achieving success against polio, adding that it was essential to focus on children who were “consistently missed due to operational gaps, vaccine hesitancy, security issues, and boycotts.”
This year, 24 cases of polio have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each in Punjab and the federal capital of Islamabad. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021. 
Pakistan’s polio eradication program began in 1994, and the number of cases has declined dramatically since then. But efforts to eradicate the virus have for years been undermined by opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams. 
In July 2019, a vaccination drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was thwarted after mass panic was created by rumors that children were fainting or vomiting after being immunized.
Public health studies in Pakistan have shown that maternal illiteracy and low parental knowledge about vaccines, together with poverty and rural residency, are also factors that commonly influence whether parents vaccinate their children against polio.

Topics: Pakistan Polio Service

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