Pakistan

• One casualty each reported from Attock, Rawalpindi, Ghotki districts; four troops wounded in Lahore • Military spokesperson says Israeli-made Harop drones used; calls intrusion ‘a serious, serious provocation’ • India acknowledges carrying out strikes; ISPR chief says New Delhi should ‘transition from cinema into real world’ ISLAMABAD: At least three people lost their lives and seven, including four soldiers, sustained injuries as Pakistan intercepted and destroyed as many as 25 Indian drones that had intruded into its airspace across the country, possibly to target military installations. According to the military, the locations where these drones were neutralised included Lahore, Attock, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, and Bahawalpur in Punjab, as well as Sukkur, Umerkot and Karachi in Sindh. Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s chief spokesperson, confirmed that one civilian lost their life while another sustained injuries in Miano. Moreover, as per police, one person each was slain in Attock an...

RAWALPINDI / LAHORE: Flight disruptions left hundreds of passengers stranded at the country’s major airports, with many failing to reach their destinations due to last-minute cancellations. Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Sialkot airports were the most affected, as air traffic was halted for several hours amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India. How­ever, flight operations at the four airports later resumed on Thursday after temporary suspensions. The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) initially said that flight operations at Karachi’s Jinnah Inter­nat­ional Airport would remain suspen­ded until midnight, but they resu­med earlier than scheduled. Flight operations at Islamabad, Lah­ore and Sialkot airports resumed by evening. Earlier in the day, the PAA had temporarily suspended operations at Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot airports until Thursday noon, citing operational reasons. Islamabad International Airport also briefly suspended flights during the day. Later, the PAA extended the closure at Lahore, Is...

KARACHI: India deliberately fired “projectiles” in its Punjab province and blamed Islamabad to prepare grounds for retaliatory attacks, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. In a press conference, Ishaq Dar said India “deliberately fired” projectiles, three of which were dropped in Amritsar, the capital of Indian Punjab, located around 54km from Lahore. He added that a fourth projectile entered Pakistani airspace, which was shot down by the air defense system in Dinga, Gujrat, around 87km from the nearest point on the India-Pakistan border. Mr Dar’s remarks were in response to claims by New Delhi that it neutralised attempts by Pakistan to hit multiple “military targets” using “drones and missiles” on the night of Wednesday and Thursday. Mr Dar added that India’s “deliberate” attack was a “malicious strategy” to “falsely implicate Pakistan” for targeting civilians and incite Indian Sikhs. Sitting beside Mr Dar, the armed forces spokesperson also accused India of launching a false flag operation. ISPR ...

• NEC to meet on May 26 or 27 to approve development programme • 200 ongoing uplift projects likely to be closed • Ahsan says proper allocations cannot be made for key schemes ISLAMABAD: The federal government will present the next fiscal year’s budget on June 2, with a 16 per cent lower development allocation of Rs921 billion, resulting in the likely closure of about 200 ongoing development projects. This was announced at a press conference by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who disclosed that an indicative budget ceiling (IBC) of Rs921bn for the next year provided by the Ministry of Finance was over three times lower than Rs2.9 trillion demanded by the Planning Commission based on requirements of various ministries for development projects. The figure is also around 16pc lower than the current year’s revised allocation of Rs1.1tr, slashed on the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from Rs1.4tr approved by the parliament as part of the federal budget 2024-25. The minister said he would conte...

Dera Ghazi Khan - District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Ali has emphasized that operations against criminal elements must continue with full force to ensure the protection of citizens’ lives and property.

MUZAFFARGARH - Rescue 1122 Muzaffargarh, under the directives of the district administration, successfully conducted a large-scale mock war exercise at the Muzaffargarh Thermal Power Station to evaluate emergency preparedness and institutional response capabilities in wartime scenarios.

Vehari - Deputy Commissioner Vehari Imrana Touqeer chaired important meetings which focused on upcoming anti-polio campaign, emergency preparedness, and axle load management enforcement.

MULTAN - Emergency response drills are ongoing by different services across south Punjab to ensure a swift response in any emergency situation as India continued to escalate situation following its unprovoked missile attack that was responded by Pakistan swiftly and smartly.

Vehari - Training drills were conducted in various schools and colleges across the district on the directions of the Government of Punjab and Deputy Commissioner Vehari, Imrana Tauqeer.

The UN appointed Spanish diplomat Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube on Wednesday as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ special envoy to combat Islamophobia. Moratinos will continue in his current role as High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), which he has held since 2019, according to a statement by the UN spokesperson’s office. “Moratinos brings decades of diplomatic experience and leadership on multilateral issues, including dialogue among civilisations and combating discrimination,” it said. “Moratinos has reinforced UNAOC’s role as a global platform for dialogue and bridge-building.” A seasoned diplomat, Moratinos served as Spain’s foreign minister from 2004 to 2010, during which his country held the presidency of the Security Council and led several international organisations, including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe. On X, Moratinos uploaded a statement expressing his gratitude and stating he was truly honour...

The Pakistani military on Thursday said it took down nearly two dozen Indian drones sent on this side of the border since last night, as tensions between the neighbouring countries continue to rise. According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the armed forces shot down 25 Harop drones sent by India using their “soft-kill (technical) and hard-kill (weaponised) skills fully”. In a press conference earlier today, DG ISPR Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said the drones were neutralised at various locations, including Karachi and Lahore. He also showed a series of pictures showing the debris of the drones. He said that the process of India sending across these Harop drones was a “serious serious provocation”. “This naked aggression continues, and the armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralising them as we speak,” Gen Chaudhry asserted. Harop drone is a loitering munition system, or suicide drone that flies to a target and detonates to carry out one-way missions with a high degree of autono...

Posts on multiple social media platforms from Indian users on Wednesday shared a video claiming to show India attacking Pakistan amid the recent escalation between the two countries. However, the footage dates back to October 2024 and shows Iranian airstrikes on Israel’s Nevatim airbase. On Wednesday, Pakistan mourned the loss of 31 lives in overnight attacks by Indian forces on civilians, describing New Delhi’s actions as “terrorism” and accusing it of continuous ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC). The Pakistan military termed the downing of five Indian fighter jets as a major victory — and it was seemingly acknowledged when Indian officials admitted that at least three of their aircraft had “crashed” within their territory. As both countries continued to trade heavy artillery fire, authorities revealed the extent of the damage caused by Indian strikes at six locations — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot and Shakkargarh in Punjab and Muzaffarabad and Kotli in Azad Kashmir. Since the breakdown in...

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