Latest news with #Peshawar
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Fact check: Video shared on social media appears to have been filmed in Pakistan
A widely shared post on social media site X included a video of a group of men and children waving Pakistani flags and with a cake with the same flag on the table. The video was shared with the caption: 'If they love Pakistan so much, what are they doing in the UK?' Evaluation The video appears to have been filmed in Pakistan, not in the UK. The facts It is unclear what might have made the social media user claim that the people in the video were in the UK. There are immediate signs which suggest the video might not be filmed in the UK, chiefly the style of indoor architecture and the style of doors as well as the room having an air conditioner – something which is less common in the UK. The video contains a TikTok watermark indicating the name of a TikTok user that it was uploaded by. Looking at this user's profile reveals several videos which appear to have been taken at the same event. The videos also feature a man who appears to be the owner of the TikTok account and who appears in many of the account's videos. The video which was posted with the caption on X is among those on the TikTok channel. On TikTok it is tagged as having been filmed in Peshawar, Pakistan. The video was uploaded to TikTok on August 14 2024. Days earlier on August 8 the same TikTok profile uploaded a video taken outside in the street. government number plates used in Pakistan. The PA news agency was able to clearly geolocate other videos posted by the same TikTok account to various places in Pakistan. A reverse image search for a building seen in one of the videos shows that it is Gurdwara Rori Sahib, which is in Pakistan. Links Post on X (archived) TikTok profile (archived) (archived) (archived)
Arab News
4 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Afghans married to Pakistanis fear split from families amid deportation drive
PESHAWAR: Muhammad Alam, 40, wakes up daily to the laughter and noise of his seven children as they begin their day at the family's rented home in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar while their mother prepares breakfast in a small kitchen. These days, Alam's heart is full of dread, and he is having frequent arguments with his wife over whether she and the children, six daughters and one son, will accompany him to Afghanistan if he has to leave. Alam is an Afghan refugee who is married to a Pakistani woman. Under an ongoing repatriation drive targeting "illegal" foreigners that was launched by the Pakistan government in November 2023, Alam may have to leave the country soon. If that happens, he will be separated from his family, all of whom are Pakistani nationals and are refusing to accompany him. Around 1.3 million Afghans have left Pakistan since the expulsion drive was started. 'We are in trouble because of the deportation drive,' Alam told Arab News at his home in Peshawar, the capital of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 'I can't refuse to leave but who will convince my family? Just for me, these seven children will not go to Afghanistan and I can't leave these seven behind.' Alam holds a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, a document issued by the National Database and Registration Authority that provides temporary legal status and freedom of movement for registered Afghan refugees. It serves as an identification document, allowing Afghan refugees to legally reside in Pakistan. The PoR card was initially issued in 2007 and has been extended multiple times, currently valid until June 30, 2025. Alam is unsure what will happen after that deadline passes next month: 'If the government arrests and deports me, who will take care of my family?' When he spoke to his children about going to Afghanistan with him, one of them replied: 'You are an Afghan, you should go.' Alam's wife holds a Pakistani Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and his children all have the Form-B, an important document for children under 18 years old in Pakistan, serving as a child's identification document and necessary for various purposes like school admissions, passports, and international travel. One of Alam's daughters Laiba, 14, said the government should make a special case for her father as he had a Pakistani family. 'We and our mother have Pakistani identification documents, only he doesn't have it. He should be given the [CNIC] card, the whole fight will end,' she said. 'What will we do in Afghanistan? We have neither seen nor gone there.' Troubles have already begun for the family. Laiba said she was refused enrollment in the 8th standard after she failed to present a Pakistani CNIC for her father. 'They asked for my mother's [CNIC] card, I produced it. Then they asked for my father's card. My father didn't have a [CNIC] card, from where should I have produced it? So, they expelled me from the school,' the teenager said. 'Our school is gone already. What should we do?' Qudratullah, 38, another Afghan refugee from Jalalabad who is married to a Pakistani women, is facing the same issue, saying his children and wife were refusing to accompany him to Afghanistan. While he has an Afghan passport, his Pakistan visa had expired, after which he was deported to Afghanistan in October 2024. It took him nearly four months to get a new visa from Afghanistan and return to Pakistan in February this year, with a multiple-entry family visit visa that expires in February 2026. 'I have married a Pakistani woman but my wife doesn't want to go with me to [Afghanistan],' Qudratullah told Arab News. 'When I tell her to go, she starts fighting with me. She doesn't want to go with me at any cost.' Qudratullah's wife Nasreen Bibi described the situation as 'too difficult.' 'Sometimes he [my husband] gets a visa and sometimes the visa is rejected, and he sometimes gets stuck there [in Afghanistan] and we are left alone,' she said at the couple's home in Peshawar. 'We have children who are studying here, we have a house. We can't go with him there, our children can't live in that country.' 'HOSPITALITY' Nauman Mohib Kakakhel, a Peshawar High Court advocate, has fought cases for families, where a Pakistani is married to an Afghan with Proof of Registration (POR) or Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC). The ACC is a document issued by the Pakistan government to undocumented Afghan nationals, allowing them to legally reside in Pakistan for a limited time and provides temporary protection from deportation. 'We filed a case for hundreds of families, and it was decided by the Peshawar High Court that since NADRA already has records of these families in the shape of Afghan Citizen Cards or Proof of Registration cards, as they enjoy refugees' status in Pakistan and that's a legal status,' Kakakhel said. 'And now they have got married to a Pakistani citizen, so this should be sufficient for them to get permanent residency in Pakistan.' As per the law, children born to a couple where one partner is Pakistani and the other is Afghan, will automatically be entitled to the citizenship of Pakistan by descent when they turn 21, the lawyer explained. After they turn 21, they must opt for the nationality of one country while Pakistani women married to an Afghan can hold the citizenship of both countries under Pakistani law. Speaking to Arab News, Qaisar Afridi, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Pakistan, said Afghans, including human rights activists, journalists and others married to Pakistani nationals, were facing challenges in Pakistan: 'As the Pakistani government and the people of Pakistan have hosted Afghans for the past 40-45 years, we request the government of Pakistan that this hospitality should be continued until the situation in Afghanistan improves.'
Arab News
5 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Heavy rains, thunderstorms claim more than 25 lives in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Heavy rains and thunderstorms have killed eight people in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, authorities said on Friday, taking the nationwide death from rain-related incidents to at least 26. Moist currents have penetrated Pakistan over the past one week and under the influence of this weather system, isolated heavy rains and hail and thunderstorms have lashed several areas in upper and central parts of the country. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said fresh downpours, which began on May 27, have damaged 25 homes in Mardan, Swabi, Peshawar, Shangla, Swat, Torghar, Mohmand, Mansehra and Haripur, killing eight and injuring 21 people. 'Among the deceased are five men, two women, and a child,' the PDMA said in a statement. 'The injured include ten men, five women and six children.' Earlier this week, Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority chief Irfan Ali Kathia confirmed heavy rains had killed 18 people and injured 110 people in the eastern province. Pakistan has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns which have led to frequent heat waves, untimely rains, storms, cyclones and droughts in recent years. Scientists have blamed the events on human-driven climate change. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast that the current spell of rains will continue till May 31. 'PDMA has instructed local administrations to provide immediate support to affected families and ensure that the injured receive proper medical care,' the KP authority said. 'Citizens are urged to report any emergencies by calling 1700.' In 2022, devastating floods, blamed on human-driven climate change, killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MindHYVE.ai™ and Smart Learnify Partner to Launch Pakistan's First AI-Powered Personalized Learning Platform
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 22, 2025 /CNW/ -- a Newport Beach, California-based artificial intelligence company, has announced a strategic partnership with Smart Learnify (Private) Limited, a pioneering edtech company based in Peshawar, to co-develop and deploy Pakistan's first AI-native personalized education platform powered by Arthur, the Ava-Education™ agent. This collaboration marks a major milestone in reimagining how students learn—bridging technology, personalization, and accessibility to build a smarter, more inclusive educational future. "Smart Learnify's mission aligns seamlessly with our vision of agentic AI for social transformation," said Bill Faruki, Founder & CEO of "Together, we're creating a new model of education—one that understands, adapts, and scales with each learner." The platform's first release will include: AI-Powered Student Profiling that uncovers each learner's cognitive strengths and growth areas. Dynamic Learning Dashboards to provide real-time insights on academic progress. Automated Progress Tracking and personalized learning journeys for every student. All AI functionalities will be driven by Arthur, domain-specific agent designed for education systems worldwide. Dr. Saima Hassan, CEO of Smart Learnify, added "With Smart Learnify AI powered by Arthur and the proprietary Ava-Education™ large reasoning model for the education sector by we've found more than an AI solution and a partner, we've found a shared vision. Their platform empowers us to deliver personalized learning at scale while addressing the unique challenges faced by under-resourced students. Together, we're building an ecosystem where innovation meets inclusion." The initiative is expected to benefit thousands of students in its pilot phase, with expansion plans aligned to broader education reform efforts such as Bano Qabil and public-sector collaborations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Rooted in AI ethics, local relevance, and multilingual inclusion, the platform aims to uplift learners across socioeconomic divides while positioning Pakistan as a regional leader in intelligent education systems. About in Newport Beach, California, builds domain-specific AGI agents, autonomous and semi-autonomous agentic systems and domain specific large reasoning models to transform national infrastructure and industry through intelligent automation and decision systems. Website: | Email: hello@ | Contact: +1 (949) 200-8668 Media ContactMarc OrtizEmail: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Inc. View original content to download multimedia:
Malay Mail
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Blast targeting school bus kills at least four children in Pakistan's Balochistan
QUETTA, May 21 — At least four children were killed by a suicide bomber who targeted an army school bus in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, a government official said today. 'The bus was on its way to a school in an army cantonment,' said Yasir Iqbal, the administrator of Khuzdar district, where the incident took place. Around 40 students were in the bus that was headed to the army-run school, Iqbal said, adding that several were injured in the incident. Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province by area, but smallest by population. The province of some 15 million people in the southwest of the country is home to key mining projects but has been roiled by a decades-old insurgency. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which was reminiscent of one of the deadliest militant attacks in Pakistan's history when an attack on a military school in the northern city of Peshawar in 2014 killed more than 130 children. It was claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an ultra-radial Islamist group. Attacks by separatist groups in Balochistan have risen in recent years. The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militant group, blew up a railway track and took passengers from a train hostage in March, killing 31. — Reuters
