Pakistan

Security forces killed nine terrorists, including a suicide bomber, during intelligence-based operations (IBO) in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to statements issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday. According to the military’s media affairs wing, an IBO in KP’s Dera Ismail Khan was conducted on Monday, on the “reported presence of khawarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna-al-Khawarij”. Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state has designated for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban. The ISPR said that security personnel “effectively engaged the khawarij location” during the operation, and after an intense exchange of fire, four terrorists were killed. It added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from “Indian-sponsored killed khawarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”. Earlier in the day, ISPR shared the details of the IBO in Balochistan’s Pishin in a separate statement. It said security forces had killed five terrorists, including ...

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LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly will take up on Tuesday (February 24) the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property (Amendment) Ordinance 2026, which is aimed at curbing land grabbing and fast-tracking property disputes. The ordinance was on the agenda for Monday’s session but could not be tabled due to a lack of quorum. The amended ordinance, promulgated on Feb 17, introduces jail terms of up to 10 years and fines up to Rs10 million for the illegal possession of immovable property, while mandating that cases be decided within 30 days. It amends the Punjab Protection of Ownership of Immovable Property Act, 2025 — operation of which was suspended by the Lahore High Court last year — to strengthen protection for lawful owners and streamline adjudication through newly empowered district-level tribunals. Under the ordinance, a key structural reform is the establishment of the Punjab Property Tribunal in each district, to be presided over by a serving additional sessions judge, with exclusive jurisdiction t...

Bypassed Finance Committee approval; matter sent for constitutional review

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Industrial relocation, smoke checks, EV charging stations planned

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ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to hear a unique case on Tuesday (February 24), involving an increase of 10,000 in the number of polled votes and over 13,000 in the number of rejected votes for a Balochistan Assembly seat following a controversial recount. The recount at 39 polling stations of PB-21 (Hub) took place two months after the Feb 8, 2024 general elections. The recount had declared PPP’s Ali Hassan Zehri the winner, even though the original count had not even declared him the runner-up. The original winner, Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) Muhammad Saleh Bhootani, who had secured more than double the votes obtained by Zehri, was pushed down to the third spot. After the recount, the percentage of polled votes had also changed from 55.15 per cent to 58.48pc. It is worth mentioning that the significant change in the electoral figures was linked to a saga involving the arrest of five individuals from the strong room where the electoral record had been stored. They were alleged...