
Five militants with suspected India links killed in Pakistan's northwest — army
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army's media wing, said four militants were killed in a raid in Peshawar district late Sunday, while another was shot dead during a separate operation in North Waziristan.
The army described the militants as being 'Indian proxies.'
The military said troops 'skillfully surrounded and effectively engaged the Indian-sponsored Khwarij location,' and after an 'intense fire exchange, four Indian-sponsored Khwarij, including Kharji Haris and Kharji Baseer, were sent to hell.'
A search operation in North Waziristan led to the killing of another suspected militant, the statement added. Troops recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives at both sites.
Pakistan has long accused its neighbor India of backing separatist and other militants to destabilize its territory, a charge New Delhi strongly denies.
Militant violence has surged in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since 2021, when a fragile ceasefire with the Pakistani Taliban collapsed. Attacks by separatists have also spiked in southwestern Balochistan. Islamabad claims that militants receive sanctuary and funding from foreign states like India, Afghanistan and Iran. All three deny the accusations.
There was no immediate response from India's foreign ministry to the latest allegations.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan seeks ‘forward-looking' UK ties, urges greater Commonwealth trade and connectivity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking a 'forward-looking partnership' with the United Kingdom and remains committed to expanding trade and connectivity within the Commonwealth, according to official statements on Tuesday following high-level meetings in London. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who arrived in the UK on Saturday, is on an official visit aimed at strengthening Pakistan-UK relations, deepening cooperation in digital technology, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and boosting multilateral ties through the Commonwealth. He also inaugurated a pilot project of the Punjab Land Record Authority at the Pakistan High Commission to help members of the diaspora resolve land issues in Pakistan remotely. Dar held separate meetings with British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Commonwealth Secretary‑General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey today after interacting with members of the British-Pakistani community earlier in his visit. 'Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, held a productive meeting today with the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Angela Rayner, in London,' the foreign office said. 'They emphasized the importance of sustained high-level engagement and expressed satisfaction with the positive momentum in relations, driven by close people-to-people ties and growing collaboration across multiple domains.' The statement said Dar 'underscored Pakistan's desire to build an inclusive and forward-looking partnership with the United Kingdom.' He also highlighted the contributions of the British-Pakistani diaspora to the UK and extended an invitation to Rayner to visit Islamabad at a mutually convenient time. COMMONWEALTH CONNECTIVITY The Pakistani deputy premier also met Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey over breakfast, congratulating her on her recent appointment and reaffirming Pakistan's deep commitment to the organization as a founding member. Reflecting on their earlier exchange at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, Dar expressed confidence in the Commonwealth's role as a platform to foster shared values and build consensus among member states. 'The DPM/FM assured the Secretary‑General of Pakistan's strong commitment to the Commonwealth's Sustainable Development and Connectivity agendas,' the foreign office said. 'He underscored Pakistan's intent to play a more active role in promoting intra‑Commonwealth trade and development.' 'Additionally,' it added, 'he underscored Pakistan's acute vulnerability to climate change and sought the Commonwealth's support in addressing this pressing challenge.' Dar praised Botchwey's work on the 2025–2030 Commonwealth Strategic Plan and conveyed Pakistan's full support for advancing shared goals of democracy, development, and resilience. He also extended a formal invitation to the Commonwealth Secretary-General to visit Islamabad at her earliest convenience.


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan Senate approves bill allowing three-month detention of terrorism suspects
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Senate on Tuesday approved amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) empowering security agencies to detain suspects of terrorism and other serious crimes for up to three months, a move the government says will help fight militancy and address the country's longstanding issue of enforced disappearances. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the National Assembly last week, will now go to the president for assent before becoming law. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the measure while speaking in parliament, saying it created a lawful framework for preventive detention that would strengthen counterterrorism operations. 'This will be a lawful process and there will be no enforced disappearances anymore,' Tarar told lawmakers, adding that the legislation was aimed at combating militancy and contained safeguards to prevent misuse. Enforced disappearances have long been a contentious issue in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, the site of a decades-old separatist insurgency and where families and rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings. Authorities deny the allegations but the practice has remained a source of domestic and international criticism. By creating a legal mechanism for short-term preventive detention, the government says the new law will replace illegal practices and address concerns raised by families of missing persons. The amended law comes as Pakistan grapples with twin insurgencies: religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who operate mainly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and ethno-nationalist Baloch separatists fighting against the state in southwestern Balochistan. Pakistan became the world's second-most affected by terrorist violence in 2024, with deaths rising 45 percent to 1,081, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2025. WHAT THE LAW SAYS The amendment allows the government, armed forces and civil armed forces to place terrorism suspects under preventive detention for up to 90 days, based on credible information or reasonable suspicion. Enforcement in provinces will require approval from respective governments, and detainees will have legal recourse through federal and provincial review boards made up of Supreme Court and high court judges. The bill also gives legal cover to joint interrogation teams (JITs) comprising officials from multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with the aim of making operations more effective. Opposition parties, including jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), strongly opposed the amendment in the Senate, warning that it could be misused against government critics. 'The amendment undermines constitutional freedoms,' PTI Senator Ali Zafar told Arab News, citing Articles 9, 10A and 19 of the Constitution, which guarantee security of person, fair trial and freedom of speech. 'While we must protect lives from terrorism, we also have to safeguard constitutional rights, without which Pakistan cannot be called a democracy,' Zafar said. 'Counterterrorism does not mean counter-democracy. The law must be targeted, precise and just.' Legal expert Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed said the effect of the new law would depend on whether it truly did away with the practice of enforced disappearances. 'If the amended law means that security and law enforcement agencies will now only detain people, then it could have a net positive effect,' he told Arab News. 'If, on the other hand, it merely means yet another legal method … while enforced disappearances continue unabated side by side, then obviously it will only be another tool of repression.'


Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
British-Pakistani lawyers to form task force to back Pakistan's Indus waters case — foreign office
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Tuesday a group of British-Pakistani lawyers has committed to form a task force to mobilize legal and diplomatic support for the country's right to the continued flow of river waters after India announced it was suspending participation in the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) earlier this year. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. New Delhi decided to hold the treaty 'in abeyance' after a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April that killed more than 26 tourists, for which it accused Pakistan. Islamabad denied any involvement, calling New Delhi's decision both illegal and 'an act of war.' Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who is currently visiting the United Kingdom where he has met officials to deepen bilateral ties, addressed the British-Pakistani Lawyers Forum where he also highlighted the issue. 'In his address, the DPM/FM emphasized that the 1960 World Bank brokered agreement, which governs 80 percent of Pakistan's freshwater resources and sustains the lives of 240 million people, cannot be unilaterally suspended or held in abeyance,' the foreign office said. 'He underscored the treaty's critical importance to Pakistan's water security and ecological stability.' 'The attending lawyers unanimously condemned India's actions as a form of 'water warfare,' and committed to establishing a UK-based legal task force,' it added. 'The task force will focus on defending Pakistan's rights under the treaty and mobilizing international legal and diplomatic support.' India and Pakistan fought a four-day war in May in the wake of the militant attack in Kashmir, using fighter jets, drones, missiles and artillery under the nuclear shadow, before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on May 10. Pakistan has consistently raised the IWT issue at international forums, calling India's suspension unilateral and illegal and noting that the treaty does not allow either side to withdraw.