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Deccan Herald
4 days ago
- Deccan Herald
June 6, 2025: Best photos from around the world
A Shikarawala near parked Shikaras at Dal Lake as Kashmir continues to sees low footfall of tourists, in Srinagar Credit: PTI Photo A Saraiki woman shapes and arranges bricks in Shujabad, Pakistan Credit: Reuters Photo Pigeons sit in the shade on a wall during a hot summer day, in Mumbai Credit: PTI Photo Igatpuri tunnel on the Samruddhi Mahamarg on the day of the inauguration of its final 76-km-long stretch, at Igatpuri in Nashik district, Maharashtra Credit: PTI Photo Priests perform 'Ganga Aarti' during Ganga Dussehra celebration at Dashashwamedh Ghat, in Varanasi
Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Eyewitnesses give harrowing account of Pakistan train attack
Passengers of a Pakistani train held hostage in the restive Balochistan province shared with VOA disturbing details of their ordeal on Wednesday as the military completed an hourslong rescue operation and killed 33 terrorists. Speaking to a private news channel, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of military's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said that all hostages were rescued. Two of the passengers described to VOA harrowing moments with the Baloch Liberation Army. "They shot and killed people on the train. They said, 'Come out quietly and we will let you go.' We came outside and sat down," said Jamshed Ajmal. The militants then asked passengers of Punjabi and Saraiki ethnicity to come forward, he said. "Then they picked out police officers and tied their hands and shot them several times. At night, they picked out 10 more people and shot them," Ajmal said. "Whoever didn't leave the train, they killed them," he said. "We planned to run away. We escaped and came to our [armed] forces." Another passenger, Allah Ditta, told VOA that he and several others ran for their lives after militants pulled them off the train. "When we saw two people quietly escape, then we all braved up and started running. Still 150 to 200 people were left sitting," Ditta said. "Some soldiers also ran and that's when we felt brave, too, and we ran for about 2 kilometers and reached a frontier corps post." According to earlier reports, close to 200 passengers had been freed before the final push Wednesday evening. The attack The Jaffar Express, a cross-country train with roughly 450 people on board, came under a bomb and gun attack on Tuesday while passing through a tunnel near Sibi, Balochistan, on its way north to Peshawar from Quetta. Separatists belonging to the banned BLA claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan and the United States have designated BLA a terrorist group. The military spokesperson said the army, air force, paramilitary frontier corps, and commandos of the Special Services Group took part in the operation that lasted almost 30 hours. "Since terrorists were holding passengers as human shields, the operation was conducted with skill and caution," Chaudhry said, adding that snipers killed suicide bombers before forces advanced to clear the train's nine cars. The spokesperson said no passengers were killed during the operation. However, he said 21 passengers died in the initial attack by the BLA. Four frontier corps personnel were also killed, including one during the clearance operation, Chaudhry said. A bomb disposal squad searched the area for explosives, while passengers who escaped in several directions were gathered up, he said. "This incident of Jaffar Express changes the rules of the game," Chaudhry said, warning that terrorists will not be spared. The BLA had warned a day earlier that it would execute security personnel among the hostages if the state did not release political prisons, missing persons, and what it called resistance workers held in Balochistan prisons within 48 hours. BLA surges Since last August, BLA has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks, primarily targeting security forces and workers from the eastern Punjab province, the seat of power in Pakistan. The separatist group accuses Pakistan of exploiting the rich natural resources of their impoverished province. The group also opposes Chinese investment in Balochistan, which is home to the China-funded Gwadar port and the country's biggest yet largely unused airport. Both Pakistan and China reject claims that their joint ventures are depriving ethnic Baloch of economic opportunities and their share in the province's mineral wealth. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, BLA is one of two militant groups driving a surge in violence that has pushed Pakistan to the second spot on the list of countries most affected by terrorism. According to the report, the separatist militant group launched 504 attacks in 2024, compared with 116 in 2023. Deaths in these attacks surged from 88 in 2023 to 388 in 2024. Military spokesperson Chaundry claimed Tuesday's attacker were in touch with planners in Afghanistan. Islamabad has blamed several recent attacks on militants present on Afghan soil. Afghan Taliban routinely deny providing sanctuary to anti-Pakistan fighters. Murtaza Zehri of VOA's Urdu Service contributed to this report.
Express Tribune
23-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
PM takes a dig at Imran as he courts South Punjab
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that the federal government was committed to uniform progress and prosperity of all areas with uplift of backward areas like south Punjab by spreading a vast network of development projects. Addressing a huge public gathering in Dera Ghazi Khan, the prime minister took a swipe at his predecessor, Imran Khan, questioning whether the former leader "gave away money" during his foreign visits. Shehbaz responded to past allegations that he sought financial assistance from other countries. "A politician used to say that Shehbaz Sharif goes abroad to ask for money. I ask, did you go abroad to distribute money?" he remarked. The prime minister also announced the establishment of a cancer hospital in Dera Ghazi Khan and a university in Rajanpur, calling them steps towards equitable development in Punjab. He said the government remained committed to improving education, healthcare, and industry across all provinces. The prime minister said when they came to power, the inflation had reached over 40 per cent, but his leader Nawaz Sharif decided to sacrifice politics for the sake of the country. With hard work and pro-development policies of the incumbent government, the inflation was capped below 2.4 per cent while the interest rate had been reduced to 12 per cent benefiting the investors, business people and farmers, he added. The prime minister, expressing his views in local Saraiki dialect, said that Nawaz Sharif and he had a strong relation with this region. During the year 2010, when the flood water and destruction was witnessed everywhere in these areas, he as a servant of the area, worked day and night to alleviate sufferings of the masses. "I have come to convey that Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif are working day and night for the uplift of entire province, particularly for south Punjab," he added. The prime minister said during his previous tenures, he had worked for the establishment of Danish schools, hospitals, provision of free medicines and livestock, award of scholarships, besides allocating extra quota for the youth of the area in different sectors. The prime minister said the Punjab chief minister was spreading a network of hospitals and roads in the province, inaugurated facility of Kissan cards, different health and education centers, besides working for the establishment of Nawaz Sharif cancer hospital in Lahore. Earlier, the prime minister unveiled plaque of upgradation project of Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari International Airport and performed ground breaking of dualization of 331km Indus Highway (N-55), Tranche-III of Rajanpur-DGKhan-DIKhan. The prime minister was briefed by the relevant authorities about the salient features of these projects. The completion of the project would enhance connectivity between the southern parts of Punjab with southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa via DI Khan. The prime minister said that an era of progress and prosperity had dawned upon the area in which the youth would get jobs opportunities. Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Attaullah Tarar and PM's advisor Rana Sanaullah also accompanied the prime minister. The prime minister also reiterated that seeking foreign loans was no solution to their economic issues and the country's future. Without loans, they would change fate of the country by striving day and night and shedding sweat and blood, he said, adding that he did not believe in hollow slogans, and promised to ensure progress and prosperity of the backward areas. He maintained that the country's economy had stabilized. The prime minister also praised all the leaders of the region for working hard for the uplift of their respective areas and mentioned minister for power who was working hard to provide relief over power tariff by bringing reforms. The prime minister further said for progress and development, peace was requisite. The enemies of Pakistan including Khwarij were carrying out terrorist activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces and the security forces were giving sacrifices in the fight against terrorism, he said and urged the people to remember these sacrifices. "Without elimination of terrorism, the country cannot move on the path of progress," he opined and without naming a political party, said mounting attacks on Islamabad in the past had caused immense losses as one-day strike caused billion of losses to the national kitty. The prime minister also expressed the resolve that together, they would defeat enemies of Pakistan.
