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Pak-India Tension
Following Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir at UNGA and Urri attack in Jammu Kashmir, in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed, situation between Pakistan and India got more tensed. India had threatened Pakistan of conducting “surgical strike” to target terrorists. Pakistan however, rubbished Indian claims of conducting a surgical strike, with the military saying that re-branding cross-border fire as a surgical strike is fabrication of the truth.
An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that Pakistan has made it clear that if there is a surgical strike on Pakistani soil, the same will be strongly responded. The military also said that India violated the ceasefire agreement once again on the LoC and two Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom, while nine were injured.
Shortly after the exchange of fire, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence held a joint press conference in New Delhi in which DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh alleged that surgical strikes were conducted by the Indian army on “terror launch pads along the LoC”. On the other hand, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the unprovoked firing by Indian forces.
Followed by exchange of fire at the border, India also threatened to stop Pakistan’s water by ending Indus Water Treary. However, advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz informed the National Assembly that provocative statements of Indian leadership on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) were violation of international laws and breach of the treaty. He also said that there was no provision of suspension in the treaty, adding that India could not revoke the treaty unilaterally.
Meanwhile India has also refused to participate in in the proposed South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Islamabad in the prevailing circumstances. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs conveyed to current SAARC chair Nepal about boycotting the conference. Following the suit, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan have also pulled out due to which the summit has been postponed.
Raiwind March
In a protest against ruling party and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) is going to hold a march outside personal residence of Nawaz Sharif on 30th September in Lahore. PTI Chairman Imran Khan had held rallies in several cities in this regard, asking the nation to stand with him and hold prime minister accountable for corruption charges. The Punjab government, over the announcement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Raiwind march, have decided not to react and plan to softly handle the rally. However, according to reports, the government has decided to place shipping containers on key roads leading to Jati Umra in Raiwind.
Pakistan Muslim League’s officials also said that PTI leadership would be requested to refrain from taking large number of people on the road in view of the threat of terrorism. There would be a security plan for the route of the rally which would ensure the protection of public life and property from the participants. PTI had earlier announced that it would hold the rally in front of the Raiwind residence of the Sharif family. But later it changed the venue to Adda Plot, some 5km from the residence in view of the objections from political circles.
Earlier this year, Panama Papers published documents leaked from database of a law firm called Mosack Fonseca that were studied by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents named 140 world leaders, including Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz and two sons Hussain Nawaz and Hasan Nawaz as owners of various offshore companies. The paper, however, did not allege any person mentioned in the documents of using the offshore companies for evading taxes. But, several opposition parties, mainly the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf raised the issue and demanded to probe the matter.
Terrorism
Security forces in Pakistan have managed to control terror activities in the country and numbers of such activities have significantly reduced however there were terror attacks on a small level in different areas of the country. Over in Karachi a traffic police official was shot dead on Sunday. According to reports, armed men, riding a motorcycle, opened fire on traffic police Sub-Inspector, killing him on the spot. Earlier, two suspects were also killed during an encounter with police in the city on Saturday night. Police officials claimed to have recovered weapons, mobile phones and a snatched motorcycle from them. In another incident in Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtnukhwa, nine people, including four policemen, sustained injuries after a police van came under attack.
Meanwhile in an operation conducted by Afghan security forces in Paktika province of Afghanistan, ex-spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Azam Tariq along with six other militants was killed. Raeas Khan, also known as Azam Khan Tariq, had a 20 million rupee ($190,740) bounty on his head and was the fourth-highest ranking commander in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Azam Tariq was also a member of the central shura of the TTP and also a member of the TTP negotiation team that was involved in peace talks with a peace committee designated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014. Before joining the Taliban, Azam Tariq taught as a primary school teacher in South Waziristan.
Meanwhile Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said Pakistan wanted restoration of peace in Afghanistan but the baseless allegations hurled by Kabul hurdle the process. Bajwa also said that all operations under Operation Zarb-e-Azb have been successfully completed and access routes of terrorists attempting to enter into Pakistan from Afghanistan have been sealed.
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