Blast in Peshawar injures Lashkar-i-Islam founder Mufti Munir Shakir, three others
Listen to article
Four people, including prominent cleric Mufti Munir Shakir, were injured in a blast involving explosive materials within the jurisdiction of the Armar police station in Peshawer.
According to the police, Mufti Munir Shakir, the founder of the militant group Lashkar-i-Islam, sustained injuries to his left foot in the explosion. Other wounded individuals were identified as Khushhal, Abid, and Syed Nabi.
All the injured were immediately transferred to Lady Reading Hospital for initial medical treatment.
Following the explosion, police, along with officials from the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), quickly arrived at the scene and began collecting evidence.
Law enforcement agencies are conducting investigations in the area, with further inquiries underway to determine the nature and cause of the blast.
Mufti Munir Shakir, a cleric from Kurram Agency, came to settle in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency in 2004 after being thrown out of his hometown for inciting sectarian hatred. His arrival in Khyber Agency went unnoticed at first.
He then launched a local radio station and again started gathering supporters under his hard-line interpretation of Islam. This time his target was a Barelvi religious scholar, Pir Saifur Rehman, who had migrated from Afghanistan in the 1980s and now lived in Khyber Agency, running a seminary.
After a series of violent clashes between the two groups, in 2006 a Jirga was convened which decided to expel both clerics. While Pir Saifur Rehman abided by the decision, Mufti Munir Shakir at first resisted the expulsion but was forced to leave by locals. He made Mangal Bagh, then a local transporter, his successor in the armed militia which came to be known as Lashkar-e-Islam.
In 2008, the Bara-based militant group Lashkar-i-Islam was banned.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
The rot that killed Sana Yousaf was never hiding
They say history is a great teacher. Unless, of course, we are talking about the treatment of women in Pakistan. In that case, the lessons rarely seem to stick. It is not that we forget what happened. In fact, on May 20 when the Supreme Court upheld Zahir Jaffer's death sentence, we proudly reposted '#JusticeForNoor'. We like the same photo of Zainab Ansari that makes the rounds on social media on her death anniversary, as many still comment that her killer should have been publicly hanged. We even speak of Qandeel Baloch's name with bated breath, recounting how unfortunate it was every time we see her picture make it back to our timeline. And now, we chant for 17-year-old Sana Yousaf. We demand the harshest punishment for her killer, calling for his swift execution, insisting that he be made an example of. We post her pictures with teary captions, share videos of her smiling, and ask: how a girl so young could be taken so violently. Outrage, by now, is a choreography we have learned by heart. And we really do mean it. And still, there is always another girl. And then another. And then another. And make no mistake, there always will be. Because ours is not a history of lessons learned - it is rot that keeps returning, like a cancer that festers in any corner it can find. 'Jaisi karni, waisi bharni' Allow us to demonstrate. On June 3, just hours after it was confirmed that Sana's murder was an act of hatred by Umar Hayat for rejecting his 'friendship' proposal, social media was flooded with supportive comments. However, as the story goes, the sceptics eventually began to creep. One comment appeared. Then another. Then a third. But why was she on TikTok to begin with? Where are her parents? She must have had some involvement in this. So, what started as a clear case of rage on femicide by any definition of the word, swiftly flattened into a PR-friendly lecture on how girls should behave. Inevitably, rolling the red carpet for everyone's favorite pseudo-moralists, who, true to form, reach for their most iron-clad, tight-fisted defence: the Islam card. This ranged from throwaway one-liners about the necessity of modesty, casually dropped into comment sections, to full-blown fanatics spewing the most vile vitriol, calling for the swift 'erasure' (being generous here) of all such women, because they are the ones spreading 'fahaashi', leading society astray and betraying the word of God. Ironically, they consistently fail to acknowledge what Islam actually teaches: that there is no compulsion in religion, that justice is sacred, and that the burden of wrongdoing lies not on the victim, but the oppressor. But nuance, of course, rarely trends. Neither does picking a side, because celebrities with mammothian platforms, sweeped in at just the right time to provide half-baked statements of condemnation while simultaneously preaching the dangers of social media, the importance of privacy, and how young girls should be careful. Only a few and far between had the courage to call a spade a spade: a man felt entitled to a girl's life and he took it. It is not just the social media echo chamber that is pushing this narrative, too. Just last week, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi stood in the Supreme Court, following Jaffer's sentencing and described Noor's case as a warning against live-in relationships. Unfortunate and disgusting sure, but a cautionary tale, nevertheless. And so, the case of a woman who was tortured, killed, and beheaded became, somehow, a parable about lifestyle choices inviting danger. And the cancer does not stop at the courtroom. We saw this unfold in real time with the Dua Zehra case, where large media outlets and mainstream journalists after expressing their concerns, speculated on her character, questioned her sanity, painted her as rebellious, and amplified every salacious detail they could find. Our silent complicity Perhaps the most devastating betrayal comes when these words are repeated by our own. At the dinner table, the cancer lives in our mothers, who mourn the news as it plays on the television and then reinforce this is why girls should stay home. It grows in our grandmothers, who agree with them, sighing 'in my day girls stayed quiet.' It breathes in our cousin commenting, 'this happens when girls don't stay within their limits'. It thrives in phrases like, 'apni izzat apne haath' (you are the guardian of your own honour). Undeniably, while there is some truth to the notion that we have a degree of control over the respect we receive from those around us, more often than not, this phrase is used in a deceptive way to teach young girls something far more insidious. It becomes a subtle, almost palatable way of implying: 'What happened to you is sad but if you hadn't done this or that, you wouldn't have invited this trouble; maybe you could have saved yourself.' So the point we arrive at is this: despite what we like to tell ourselves, these are not bad apples, or an 'uneducated' few. This is the symptom of a society suspended in a coma, where shock is expected, but action is absent. Each time a woman's name becomes a headline, we jolt awake, shaken by our anger; we post tributes, we write captions, until slowly slipping back into a familiar sleep. The truth is, we live in a state of denial, of the unique willful kind, where we have learned to perform our grief. Public mourning has become our substitute for justice and expressions of solidarity have become our excuse to avoid confronting the systems and this has allowed this violence to happen again and again. Perhaps, at this point, this has paralysingly become our only choice. But at the very least, let us not pretend to be surprised. Let us not mourn Sana as if her death was unprecedented or unthinkable. The cancer that led us here is not new and it is not hiding. It has baked into our institutions, families, conversations and media. And it is now convincing us that our grief is enough. Which, for the record, it never was, and it never will be. Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
'Own resources used in conflict with India'
'Own resources used in conflict with India' Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza told BBC that Pakistan fought the recent 96-hour conflict with India using only its own resources. His remarks counter reports from Indian media claiming China's military assistance to Pakistan during the clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbours last month. General Mirza emphasised that Pakistan used equipment comparable to India's and procured some military hardware from other countries. He highlighted that previous skirmishes were limited to disputed areas and did not reach the international border. However, he continued, "This time the borders were relatively peaceful and this time the cities were hot." He argued that this lowering of threshold where cities are considered focal targets is dangerous for both India and Pakistan in any future conflict. Tensions between Pakistan and India soared after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, killing 26 in IIOJK. India blamed Pakistan-based elements without presenting any evidence, which Islamabad denied calling for an independent probe. India closed the Wagah border, revoked visas, and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, prompting Pakistan to call it an "act of war." Explosions hit Pakistani cities on May 67, as India launched air attacks on Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated with Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, targeting Indian military sites. A US-brokered ceasefire was later announced after escalating military exchanges. "This affects the trade, investment and development needs for 1.5 billion people," Gen Mirza said. "There is no formalised conflict resolution or management mechanism at the moment. The Director-General of military operations of both countries have a hotline that is regularly used on Tuesday to exchange issues and information, and is available on currents if any untoward situation like this, and it can be used at any time. However, this is the only option available." He warned that future conflicts may not remain confined to specific regions and criticised the absence of an effective and organied mechanism to resolve Indo-Pak disputes. He continued that if there is only one defence mechanism available at all times and it faces an Indian polity with a reckless and extremist mindset, then the time window for intervention substantially decreases. He concluded by saying, "With the absence of any conflict management system, the chances of this conflict spiraling remain high". Regarding emergency communications, the chairman noted reliance solely on DGMO hotlines and expressed concern that extremist mindsets limit international intervention time. He added that global powers, including the US, have limited time left for mediation. Previously, Pakistan on June 2 strongly criticised recent comments by Indian leaders, describing them as reflective of a hostile and dangerous mindset that undermines regional peace. The statement from Pakistan's Foreign Office followed remarks made by India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson on May 29, when he claimed that talks on Kashmir would only proceed if Pakistan "hands over Azad Jammu and Kashmir" to India.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business Recorder
Coinbase breach linked to customer data leak in India, sources say
WASHINGTON: Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase knew as far back as January about a customer data leak at an outsourcing company connected to a larger breach estimated to cost up to $400 million, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters. At least one part of the breach, publicly disclosed in a May 14 SEC filing, occurred when an India-based employee of the U.S. outsourcing firm TaskUs was caught taking photographs of her work computer with her personal phone, according to five former TaskUs employees. Three of the employees and a person familiar with the matter said Coinbase was notified immediately. The ex-employees said they were briefed on the matter by company investigators or colleagues who witnessed the incident in the Indian city of Indore, noting that the woman and a suspected accomplice were alleged to have been feeding Coinbase customer information to hackers in return for bribes. The ex-employees and person familiar with the matter said more than 200 TaskUs employees were soon fired in a mass layoff that drew Indian media attention. Coinbase had previously blamed 'support agents overseas' for the breach, which it estimated could cost up to $400 million. Although the link between TaskUs and the breach was previously alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Manhattan, details of the incident, reported here for the first time, raise further questions over when Coinbase first learned of the incident. Bitcoin Vegas in US: Pakistan unveils first govt-led Bitcoin reserve Coinbase said in the May SEC filing that it knew contractors accessed employee data 'without business need' in 'previous months.' Only when it received an extortion demand on May 11 did it realize that the access was part of a wider campaign, the company said. In a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, Coinbase said the incident was recently discovered and that it had 'cut ties with the TaskUs personnel involved and other overseas agents, and tightened controls.' Coinbase did not disclose who the other foreign agents were. TaskUs said in a statement that two employees had been fired early this year after they illegally accessed information from a client, which it did not identify. 'We immediately reported this activity to the client,' the statement said. 'We believe these two individuals were recruited by a much broader, coordinated criminal campaign against this client that also impacted a number of other providers servicing this client.' The person familiar with the matter confirmed that Coinbase was the client and that the incident took place in January. Reuters could not determine whether any arrests have been made. Police in Indore did not return a message seeking comment.
