“We are there to help Saudi Arabia in any conflict, whether it is coming from the Houthis or a country or any other outfit that threatens Saudi Arabia’s security. We will be there to defend them,” he said in a video clip, which appeared to be excerpted from a longer interview, published by Al Jazeera.

His remarks come amid fresh fighting between the Houthis and the Yemeni government that has dragged in Riyadh, with the Houthis declaring a maritime blockade on the kingdom and targeting its ships in the Red Sea. Both sides have claimed strikes on each other as tensions remain high.

Against this backdrop, Pakistan, which has signed two defence agreements with Riyadh, has expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

On Sept 18, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan would go to “any extent” to defend Saudi Arabia, adding that Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security was “unconditional”.

Earlier, Asif has also reaffirmed that Pakistan would “practically and diplomatically” stand by Saudi Arabia against Yemen’s Houthi rebels if the situation escalated.

In his latest remarks, Asif said “there is no absolutely no doubt in our mind that Houthis are committing aggression against Saudi Arabia”.

He added that Pakistan was bound an arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia.

And “when I say that we are bound by this arrangement to defend Saudi Arabia, that means that whatever means are available at our disposal, they will be available to Saudi Arabia also”.

Here, the use of “arrangement” was apparently a reference to one of the defence pacts Pakistan has signed with Riyadh.

The first one, the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA), was signed in Sept 2025, under which the two countries pledged that any attack on either nation would be treated as an act of aggression against both.

The two countries are also a party to the Makkah Defence Alliance, which also includes Turkiye. The pact was signed on August 7 and provides that an attack on one member state would be treated as an attack on all.

The military leadership of the three countries also held a meeting last week in Riyadh. During the meeting, the military leaders expressed a shared determination to “immediately translate” their commitments under the Makkah Defence Alliance into effective military cooperation.

In his interview to Al Jazeera, Asif also said Houthis were “enemies of Saudi Arabia, and any enemy of Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Pakistan That should we very clear”.

“And Iranians are not accepting them (Houthis) as their proxy.

“Some of these proxies have become rogue. I don’t have to go into history, I can give you multiple examples of that. Some countries — A, B or C — they launch a proxy, and then the proxy has its own way of multiplying and then becoming a rogue sort of entity,” he added.

The notification posted on the FBR’s X account, said: “The Federal Board of Revenue is pleased to communicate that the date of filing of income tax return for Tax Year 2026, for the persons who are required to file their returns by September 30, 2026, is hereby extended up to October 15, 2026 in view of the requests from various trade bodies and tax bar associations.”

The announcement came hours after the FBR refuted a separate notification stating that the board had extended its deadline to file income tax returns for 2026, terming it “fake”.

Trade bodies and professionals had sought an extension of the deadline, citing delays in the issuance of return forms and heavy online traffic as major hurdles in timely filing.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Atif Ikram Sheikh had also formally urged the government to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns to Oct 31 to facilitate trade, industry, and other tax filers.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had submitted a five-page letter to the Member Inland Revenue (operations), highlighting several issues, including delays in the issuance of draft notifications and persistent technical glitches in the IRIS portal, which hinder the smooth filing of tax returns.

In the previous cycle, the FBR reported an overwhelming response, with overall tax return filings rising from 3.553 million in TY25 to 5.181m in TY26 until Sept 29 — an increase of 45.8 per cent.

The statutory deadline for filing tax returns is Sept 30 each year. However, historically, the date has been extended two to three times, often until the end of October.

In recent years, extensions were granted with only minor penalties, but the latest budget has substantially increased these charges, making compliance costlier for late filers.

Under the Finance Act 2026-27, the penalty for returning to the active taxpayers list (ATL) has been raised fivefold for companies to Rs100,000 from Rs20,000. It was also increased from Rs10,000 to Rs50,000 for associations of persons, and from Rs1,000 to Rs25,000 for individuals.

Last year, the FBR extended the deadline twice from Sept 30 to Oct 15 and subsequently to Oct 31 despite earlier saying it would not do so. These extensions were granted in response to requests made by various trade bodies, tax bar associations, and the general public.

The government on Wednesday reduced the price of petrol by Re0.14 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1.89 per litre.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs387.40 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs400.35 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices are applicable for Oct 1 (Thursday).

The price of HSD has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Meanwhile, the government has reintroduced a raft of austerity measures in response to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Under these measures, markets are required to close by 9pm and fuel allocations for official vehicles has been cut by 50 per cent for three months.

On September 13, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also announced a “relief scheme” for users of motorcycles, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc to “alleviate the burden” of rising global oil prices.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sept 29 appreciated the success of the scheme, saying that it reflected a “whole of government” approach.

Chairing a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy to review the implementation of the scheme, the deputy premier noted that the information, IT and petroleum ministries, as well as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all provinces, had made “concerted” efforts for the scheme.

It was noted that to date, around 7.60 million registrations have been successfully made, and the token redemption process has entered the second week. Moreover, 7.71m tokens have been redeemed.

Previously, on July 17, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

The justification came in a press release by the Cabinet Division, which said “certain sceptical and unwarranted comments have appeared in the press and social media on the purchase of 45 bulletproof vehicles […] which seem to have missed the context and perspective of the purchase”.

The government had drawn criticism after the decision for the planned purchase. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a supplementary grant of more than Rs6 billion to purchase the bulletproof vehicles earlier this month.

In its press release, the Cabinet Division explained that the SCO’s Council of Heads of State meeting was “amongst the most high-profile and prestigious of international events”.

“The summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad during August-September 2027 will be the most high profile gathering, second only to 1973 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Summit.”

This would give Pakistan an opportunity to “further raise its stature and honour amongst the comity of nations”, the press release added.

“The significance of the summit cannot be underestimated, trivialised or politicised,” the statement said, noting that the summit would be attended by high-level foreign dignitaries including heads of state, government and international organisations.

This made it “imperative to ensure safe, secure and reliable logistics, well-aligned with the parameters defined as standard security protocols during the visits of heads of state, government and international organisations”, it said.

“Ensuring the maximum possible level of protection becomes all the more critical keeping in view Pakistan’s security paradigm, in particular the threats posed by hostile external elements,” it read.

At present, the press release said, the latest model of bulletproof vehicles available with the Cabinet Division were from 2016, “which are far below the standards required for the summit”.

“The decision to purchase 45 bulletproof vehicles of the requisite specifications was deliberated upon at several forums and the number has been determined on the basis of the bare minimum requirement.

“All other non-bulletproof vehicles, around 300 in number, will be rented,” it said.

The press release further stated that as “Pakistanis, we should be proud of the honour conferred on Pakistan and support the government’s effort to organise it in a befitting manner”.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also shared the full text of the press release on his X account.

The justification comes weeks after the government re-imposed austerity measures on Sept 17, in an effort to conserve fuel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.

As part of the austerity measures, the government also imposed a complete ban on the purchase of vehicles of all types, with the restriction not applicable to development projects.

On January 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Imaan and Hadi to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) in a case pertaining to social media posts. The convictions of the couple were widely condemned by lawyers and United Nations (UN) experts.

On Sept 17, the apex court suspended the couple’s sentences in the controversial social media posts case and ordered their release on bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000 each. However, they were re-arrested on terrorism-related charges related to a separate older case only hours after the SC granted them bail.

A statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders said that the couple must be immediately released and “unfounded criminal and terrorism charges against them” should be dropped.

“Invoking an older case immediately after they were granted bail appears to be an attempt to use the criminal justice system as punishment for freedom of expression and human rights advocacy,” the statement read.

The UN experts said they had followed the proceedings against Mazari and Chattha since January, when they were first arrested. They were of the opinion that the proceedings seemed “intended to punish and intimidate these lawyers” and send a “chilling message” to the profession.

The experts condemned the use of “vague and overbroad” counter-terrorism provisions to hinder the lawyers’ right to promote, protect, and defend human rights, according to the press release.

“International standards provide that governments should protect lawyers from intimidation, harassment and improper interference, and from prosecution for carrying out recognised professional duties. The same standards also protect lawyers’ freedom of expression,” the statement cited them as saying.

The experts said the couple “should already have adequate access to counsel of their choice, to their family, and to adequate and necessary medical care”.

The flydubai plane landed in Tabuk at 9:45 am (11:45am PKT) and its “captain and copilot were found to have injuries and were transported to hospital”, a statement from the company operating the airport said.

The low-cost carrier had earlier said flight FZ 1073 “experienced an incident while en route”. “The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU) and all passengers are safe and accounted for.”

Several Israeli media outlets reported that a fight had broken out between the plane’s pilots, reportedly causing a distress signal to be activated.

Israeli media also reported that two other pilots were flying on the plane as passengers, and that they had taken over the controls to carry out the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

Neither the airline nor authorities of the countries involved provided details on what happened on board or on the pilots’ nationalities, but some Israeli media said one was Omani and the other Emirati.

According to data from the Flightradar website, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude during the flight, dropping from nearly 34,000 feet at 05:21am GMT to less than 17,000 feet at 05:22am GMT (10:22am PKT).

The flight from Dubai diverted over Jordanian airspace towards Saudi Arabia, transmitting a general emergency signal before transmitting another emergency signal that indicates a possible unlawful interference several minutes later, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

The Boeing 737 plane then again transmitted the general emergency signal before landing at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the website said.

There were 180 Israelis on board the plane, according to Israel’s far-right national security minister Ben Gvir, who claimed the incident involved a “terrorist”.

‘Going down very fast’

An AFP correspondent in Tabuk, where the plane landed, saw heavy security near the airport, with several police vehicles and an ambulance parked at the terminal. Access to the terminal remained open.

At Ben Gurion airport, families gathered to await the return of their loved ones.

Yasmin Abukasis, mother of passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon, told AFP that her daughter called her from Saudi Arabia: “She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. They heard shouting”.

Another passenger went to the cockpit “and saw a lot of blood. She started screaming ‘come help’ and some people went in and caught the guy”, she added.

“All the while, the plane started going down very fast. People thought they were going to die.”

She added that two other pilots in the back later took over the controls.

Israeli media, citing anonymous sources, reported that the passengers on board had stepped in to separate the two pilots during their altercation, publishing photos of a passenger with a bloodied T-shirt.

Channel 12 reported that authorities were investigating whether or not one of the pilots had attempted a possible suicide by trying to crash the plane, with the other pilot apparently intervening to prevent the crash.

In a video from inside the plane that was reposted by Israeli social media users, one passenger, blood dripping from an open wound on his head, pleaded for assistance and said they were descending into Saudi Arabia, with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.

“We are here during an attack on the plane. We just subdued the terrorists and are preparing to land,” the man said in Hebrew.

Israeli jets scrambled

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, Times of Israel and Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had scrambled fighter jets after fears of a possible hijacking — with the hypothesis later dismissed.

Times of Israel, citing Kan, said the Mossad intelligence agency, Shin Bet and the Israeli military were involved in the investigation into the incident.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that one of the pilots had planned to crash the plane and kill its mostly Israeli passengers, who stopped a “major disaster”.

“During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board,” Netanyahu said in a video message, calling the passengers “heroes” who “prevented a major disaster”.

He later praised the pilot who the Israeli PM said was stabbed.

“My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery. Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back … preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster. He saved the lives of 174 people, including Israeli citizens and other nationals,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

Meir Zohar, the father of passenger Ido Zohar, told AFP his son had told him by text message that he was well, but that he had no other news.

“He told us that everything is okay, he didn’t tell me that much.”

Flydubai operates daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals.

It is not the first time a flight between Israel and the UAE has landed in Saudi Arabia. A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 due to a medical emergency, Israeli media reported at the time.

The government has threatened to send the PTI government in KP packing by imposing governor’s rule or an emergency if the provincial leadership does not withdraw its plan to march on Islamabad on Oct 4.

The march — which the PTI has announced as part of its nationwide protest to demand the release of its founder, Imran Khan — remains a major bone of contention between the government and the main opposition party, with both taking entrenched positions.

The federal ministers have also cited the security situation in KP in this connection.

In his latest remarks on the matter, Chaudhry while speaking to the media at Parliament House again referred to the security situation in KP and said the federal government was “seriously considering” the imposition of emergency in the province.

“The provincial government’s lack of interest or success in controlling it (terrorism) is the reason for which the imposition of emergency under Article 232 is being discussed,” he said, expressing confidence that the PPP — an ally of the ruling PML-N in the Centre — would also cooperate in this regard.

Separately, PPP Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said that if the federal government consulted the party about imposing governor’s rule in KP, the party would “give its views strictly in accordance with the Constitution and law”.

According to a press release by the PPP, he called the law and order situation in the province deeply concerning.

Bukhari said peaceful protest was a democratic right, but “attacking the state under the guise of politics” was unacceptable.

“The government must ensure the rule of law and take effective measures to maintain peace and security,” the statement quoted Bukhari as saying.

He added the PPP had always believed in dialogue and that national issues could only be resolved “through meaningful political engagement”.

Regarding the invitation from the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) for a multiparty conference, Bukhari said the matter would be considered by the PPP’s Central Executive Committee, which would take the final decision, according to the press release.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan expressed opposition to the imposition of a state of emergency or governor’s rule in KP, saying that it was “not the solution to the long march”. He warned that “non-democratic powers” would benefit if a state of emergency was imposed.

Speaking to the media at Parliament House, he reiterated that the long march would be peaceful.

Additional reporting by Ikram Junaidi

The maritime police force of semi-autonomous Puntland said on Tuesday that it had recovered the MT Honour 25 in an operation. The Palau-flagged oil tanker had 19 crew members on board, including 10 Pakistanis.

In a statement on Wednesday, FO said: “Pakistan is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of five crew members during the operation to recover the hijacked vessel, MT Honour 25, off the coast of Somalia.

“Among those who lost their lives are three Pakistani nationals: Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmed Ansari.”

The FO added that four crew members were also injured, including three Pakistani nationals. “The injured have been taken to a nearby hospital and are receiving medical care,” it added.

The surviving crew members of MT Honour 25 “have been brought safely ashore at Bandar Beyla”, a town in Puntland, according to FO.

“Pakistan’s team at the Embassy in Djibouti is proceeding to Bandar Beyla to assist the Pakistani nationals.”

The FO said it remains in close contact with the Somali authorities and other concerned stakeholders through its missions and relevant authorities.

“Every possible effort is being made to ensure proper medical care for the injured, facilitate the transportation of the mortal remains of the deceased, and ensure the safe return of the surviving Pakistani crew members,” the statement read.

On Tuesday, “The naval and ground units of the Puntland Maritime Police Force conducted a planned operation in the Dharin-Bar area of Bandar Beyla district,” Puntland maritime police said in its initial statement.

In another late-night statement, it announced that the operation had concluded and the recovered vessel was “now safe and under the Puntland government’s control”, adding that 21 suspected pirates were apprehended, while operations to locate the remaining members continue.

“Before the operation begun, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew. Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India,” it said.

After the MT Honour 25’s hijacking in April, months had passed with no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages.

The hostages were said to be victims of an “ownership crisis”, as it was not clearly established who owned the ship — the man previously thought to be an owner was later revealed to be more likely a middleman who hired them.

Since its hijacking, the crew had made several emotional videos and audio appeals, reporting that they had run out of clean water, food and medicine. Meanwhile, their families launched an international appeal, calling on foreign governments, the United Nations (UN) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to take coordinated action to help secure the release of their loved ones.

For its part, the FO maintained that it remained “actively engaged” to secure the release of the sailors.

Last month, in a meeting with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) head, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar pressed for “urgent and effective institutional intervention” for the return of the Pakistani sailors.

Somali piracy has seen a resurgence, with at least 15 attacks since April, the highest since 2013.

In a telephone conversation, Modi and Trump reviewed bilateral cooperation in trade, defence, energy and critical technologies, the Indian prime minister said in a post on X.

“We agreed to maintain close engagement to take our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership forward,” Modi wrote. “We also exchanged views on regional and international issues, including ongoing efforts to advance global peace and security.”

India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting the United States from September 29 to October 5 for talks on a proposed bilateral trade agreement and an interim arrangement.

Goyal is due to meet US counterparts as part of efforts to advance a “balanced and mutually beneficial” India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, New Delhi said earlier this week.

Goyal arrived in Milwaukee on Tuesday for a G20 trade ministers’ meeting and met chief executives and senior executives from US manufacturing and technology companies at a roundtable hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers, India’s trade ministry said.

He was also scheduled to attend a meeting of G20 trade ministers in Wisconsin at the invitation of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

India and the United States have yet to reach agreement after months of negotiations, with New Delhi seeking improved terms in the proposed deal.

Earlier this month, India said it had told Washington that new US tariff measures linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil could affect bilateral relations.

Tarar made the remarks while addressing a ceremony organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad to launch a report on the IWT issue.

Water and the IWT remain a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, following New Delhi’s unilateral abeyance of the accord in April last year — a move that was followed by a brief military conflict between the two sides in May 2025.

Following India’s move, Pakistan termed any attempt to suspend its water share an “act of war”, noting the IWT had no provision for unilateral suspension. It later argued that Delhi’s action was a violation of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

“We are a peaceful nation, but we cannot allow India to weaponise water because it is the basic right of the 240 million people of Pakistan,” Tarar said, drawing attention to the “wider precedent involved”.

“If a state can unilaterally put a binding international water treaty in abeyance despite established dispute resolution mechanisms, the implications extend to transboundary water governance across the world,” Tarar warned, adding that it may have implications for countries sharing water under similar frameworks.

Tarar reiterated that Pakistan will continue to engage the international community and defend the country’s vital national interests.

At the outset of his address, Tarar said, “I take great pride in the fact that wherever we go, we say we are the people of the Indus Valley [..] we identify ourselves with the Indus waters.”

He noted that when the treaty was signed, the signatories “did not envisage that there would come a time a few decades down the line when conditions in India would deteriorate so much that they would be legally ignorant, morally bankrupt and devoid of ethics”.

Tarar held that the IWT was legally binding upon both parties. “It contains stipulations that this legal instrument cannot be unilaterally revoked, rescinded, or altered,” Tarar added.

He further stated that the treaty cannot be “unilaterally altered, revoked, rescinded or held in abeyance, for that matter, but even if there is a dispute, both the parties have to adhere to the terms and conditions of the treaty”.

At this, Tarar recalled an August ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), saying, “The court upheld Pakistan’s stance, giving legitimacy and strength to the argument that there cannot be a unilateral attempt to change the status of this treaty”.

In its August order, the PCA had backed Pakistan’s stance, declaring that the IWT between the two countries remained fully in force, as India had no justification for ending or suspending the agreement.

Tarar further stated that Pakistan had approached the issue diplomatically: “We have engaged the international community and presented our point of view — legal and diplomatic — and as a nation-state, which respected the rights of others, in a manner that has been most effective.”

At this, the information minister recalled Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s speech at the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

“PM Shehbaz said that the IWT is the lifeblood of our people and our region, and any attempt to usurp this right be treated as an act of war,” Tarar said.

Tarar stated that Pakistan’s position on the IWT remained “absolutely clear,” adding that the treaty was an “instrument of peace and stability for the region”.

He noted that India had justified its actions with “alleged cross-border terrorism”; however, he went on to highlight sacrifices made by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

“We have economic losses of over $50bn over the past many decades,” Tarar said.

He continued: “When one Pakistani citizen lays down their life, yes, it is to make Pakistan safe, but it also makes the world a safer place.”

Tarar, drawing a contrast with neighbouring India, said, “India has illegally tried to alter the status of the IWT and has been accused at the international level of transnational aggression”.

Shifting his attention back to the IWT, Tarar said India’s actions were “highly condemnable” and unjustifiable at a “legal, diplomatic, and moral level”.

The IWT allocates the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — to India, while the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — are largely allocated to Pakistan. The 1960 water-sharing agreement has also established mechanisms for data-sharing and dispute resolution.

Lahore celebrated the Basant festival earlier this year from Feb 6 to 8 after an 18-year hiatus.

The festival was banned in 2007 because of an increasing number of deaths and serious injuries caused by sharp strings, particularly to motorcyclists and pillion riders, as well as by celebratory gunfire.

During a meeting, the chief minister directed the authorities to make arrangements for the 10-day celebration, according to a statement released by the government.

She described the festival as a gift for the people of Lahore to mark the arrival of 2027 and as a means of promoting Punjab’s cultural heritage and the historic traditions of the provincial capital.

Under the schedule approved by the chief minister, Basant festivities will begin on Jan 29 and continue until Feb 7. However, celebrations will remain suspended on Feb 5 to observe Kashmir Day.

“Ten-day Basant will promote Punjab’s cultural colours and Lahore’s centuries-old traditions across the world,” CM Maryam was quoted as saying.

According to the statement, the chief minister directed the administration to ensure better arrangements for public safety and convenience than those made during the previous festival.

She also appealed to citizens to celebrate responsibly, saying the authorities and the public should set a new example through a sense of duty, responsibility and commitment to protecting human lives.

CM Maryam directed the relevant departments to begin preparations well in advance and ensure that the extended festivities did not compromise public safety, the statement said.

She stressed that the success of the 10-day event would depend on strict adherence to safety regulations and responsible behaviour by citizens.

“The chief minister said Lahore’s cultural identity and traditions should be promoted while ensuring that celebrations remained safe and convenient for residents and visitors,” the statement concluded.

In August, CM Maryam announced that the festival would be held from Mar 12 to 14, 2027. However, in the latest announcement, the government has revised the schedule.

The Punjab government, in May, had also announced a new set of rules and regulations for kite-flying during next year’s Basant festival.

The 3.5-metre shark was first spotted in a narrow waterway in North Port on September 18.

As the days ​passed without the shark finding its way back to the ocean, ​authorities launched a rescue operation on Tuesday to guide it out, ⁠but the effort failed.

The Coast Guard and other agencies deployed vessels to ​spray jets of water behind the shark to gently propel it toward ​the open ocean, but it swam away from the streams, according to videos published by Yonhap News Television.

Officials now plan to use a net to try to guide the ​shark out of the canal on Friday, the Chosun Daily reported.

The shark, ​reported to be a bronze whaler, has become something of a celebrity in South ‌Korea ⁠and has been dubbed “Bukangi”, a nickname derived from “Buk Hang”, the Korean name for Busan’s North Port, and the Korean suffix “-i”.

During the four-day Chuseok holiday last weekend, about 480,000 people visited the waterfront park where the shark was stranded, ​compared with the park’s ​usual daily average ⁠of around 2,000 visitors on weekends, according to a Busan city statement and media reports.

On Tuesday, Busan declared ​the shark an honorary public relations ambassador for the ​city after ⁠a poll on the city’s official Instagram account received 91 per cent approval from about 8,000 participants.

Other animal escapades have gripped South Korea in the past.

Earlier this year, ⁠a ​wolf that escaped from its enclosure at a ​South Korean zoo spawned a cryptocurrency meme coin and even prompted a message of concern from ​the country’s president.

The meeting, chaired by Aleem, reviewed the NHA’s ongoing and proposed projects, revenue enhancement, road safety and developmental programmes.

The minister directed NHA officials to ensure road safety through improved engineering in the construction of new highways. He stressed that the protection of human lives must remain the top priority.

He expressed reservations about the design of the M-4 and other highways, saying that Pakistan’s roads should be green, safe, comfortable, and designed according to modern international standards.

To this end, he directed the NHA to engage foreign experts for improved road engineering and better highway design, noting that the authority’s engineering staff should adopt international best practices to develop motorways that were safer and more comfortable for motorists.

During the high-level meeting, Aleem said that the NHA had successfully achieved the revenue enhancement target set two years ago. He affirmed that going forward, the NHA would undertake the construction of new roads from the revenue generated from existing revenue streams.

Aleem also informed the meeting that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would inaugurate major road projects in the coming months, including the Lodhran–Multan Expressway, the Peshawar Northern Bypass and the expansion of the Pindi Bhattian–Faisalabad Motorway.

He said that work on the Sialkot–Kharian Motorway was progressing rapidly, while construction work had begun on the Karachi–Quetta–Chaman Pakistan Expressway (N-25).

Expressing concern over the poor condition of the Lahore–Gujranwala GT Road, he directed the NHA authorities to take immediate measures to improve the condition of the road and provide relief to travellers.

The federal minister was also briefed on the availability of funds for the M-6 Motorway, ongoing projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and NHA projects underway across all four provinces.

The meeting was informed that the NHA manages only 3.13 per cent of the country’s road network, yet more than 80pc of the country’s traffic moves on this network. It was also told that the authority would soon give PM Shehbaz a detailed presentation on its performance over the past two and a half years.

The federal secretary for communications, Ali Sher Mahsud, and NHA Chairman Sheheryar Sultan both briefed the meeting on the progress of ongoing and proposed projects.

It was decided during the meeting to contact the federal government to provide Rs108 billion in funding for NHA projects in Balochistan.

In February this year, the NHA was reported as the “largest loss-maker” for the government, operating on a “structural deficit model and reliant on budgetary support”, according to the Annual Aggregate Report on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the Central Monitoring Unit (CMU) of the Ministry of Finance for the year ended June 30, 2025, with accumulated losses of Rs2.074 trillion.

The 20-year-old Azerbaijan national had travelled to Pakistan for business purposes and was allegedly gang-raped by three men in a rented flat of a private housing society located near Raiwind on the night between Sept 25 and Sept 26.

In her statement, the complainant had named two women with whom she had met before the men accused of raping her joined them. Two of those men had been arrested and were sent on a six-day physical remand on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the woman suspect was produced before Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood at the Cantonment Courts under strict security.

A prosecutor informed the court that it would be her first physical remand and argued that, being a woman, she could be kept in jail during her physical remand.

A counsel for the suspect, however, contended that her relationship with the complainant was limited to friendship.

He argued that physical remand of a woman could not be sought except in offences of murder or robbery.

The counsel further submitted that nothing was required to be recovered from the suspect.

The magistrate asked the suspect whether she wanted to undergo a medical examination.

“No, I do not want to undergo a medical examination,” she replied.

The magistrate then allowed a three-day physical remand of the suspect to the police.

The magistrate directed that the woman suspect would remain in police custody from sunrise to sunset and, for rest, would remain in jail in judicial custody.

On Tuesday, a session’s court granted interim pre-arrest bail to the second female suspect in the case, restraining police from arresting her till Oct 5.

The woman’s lawyer said her client wanted to join the police investigation to prove her innocence.

Survivor’s statement

The Defence C police had registered a case against three unidentified suspects on September 26 on the survivor’s complaint.

In her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the Azeri woman said she had arrived in Islamabad from Istanbul on Sept 13 and stayed in Faisalabad for five days before travelling to Lahore.

“I had a plan to visit Skardu, but I could not go there because I was alone,” she said.

According to her, on the day of the alleged incident, she messaged two women, asking them to meet her in Lahore.

At around 11pm, she went to a cafe where she met one of them — the woman sent on remand today — and later accompanied her to a house in Bahria Town to meet the other, who has secured pre-arrest bail.

The complainant told the magistrate that at around 2am, a white car arrived carrying two men, one of whom was sent on remand on Tuesday (first suspect).

Later, they moved to an apartment where two more men arrived, one of whom was the second person sent on remand (second suspect), while she did not know the name of the other man.

According to the complainant, in a separate room, the woman on bail took between Rs20,000 and Rs30,000 from the first suspect, saying the money was for a party, while the woman now on remand also joined them.

The Azeri woman said she made it clear that she “did not need money or alcohol”. She alleged that the first suspect tried to touch her and locked her in a separate room.

When she asked about her friends, she was told that they had left. When she tried to leave, the complainant said she was told that she could not go because her friends had taken money.

The victim said she offered to pay the men, but they told her that she would have to drink alcohol with them before they would let her go.

She alleged that the three men raped her.

She further stated that the suspects then put her in a car and threw her out at an unknown location, while threatening her with dire consequences if she approached the police.

According to her statement, the suspects also took her handbag containing Rs200,000, an iPhone 13 Pro Max and another mobile phone.

She then requested some people present there to help her call the police emergency number 15, following which the police arrived.

It is the second such case in which a foreign woman was reportedly gang-raped in the Defence C police station area during the last four months.

In June, two foreign women, nationals of the Netherlands and Venezuela, were allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted in the Defence C police station area.

According to the FIR, the women were abducted by five suspects, including a close relative of a senior political personality, who demanded ransom and subjected them to sexual assault during their captivity.

Coalition troops were deployed to Iraq and Syria in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group, which had seized large swathes of territory, committing massacres and forcing thousands of women and children into slavery.

The group was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but coalition forces stayed on to battle the group’s remnants.

The United States and Iraq agreed in 2024 to wind down the coalition’s mission, and its troops withdrew gradually from bases across the country, restricting their presence to the autonomous northern Kurdistan region.

On Wednesday, the US announced the mission’s formal conclusion.

“Today, the United States and our Coalition partners formally concluded Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, consistent with the September 2024 US-Iraq joint statement and US national interests,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

The US Department of Defence, however, added that it would “continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to our Iraqi partners”.

‘Sovereignty’

The US-led coalition did not defeat IS alone. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters played an important role in crushing IS, as did powerful Iraqi factions.

The Iraqi government, which celebrated the withdrawal, believes it will deprive armed factions of the excuse they have used to retain their arsenal.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi hailed the end of the mission as the start of a new chapter.

“A new phase has begun, defined by Iraq’s sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, unity of decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends,” Zaidi said at a ceremony on Wednesday.

He had also declared that October 1 would be celebrated as Sovereignty Day.

It is “a national occasion that affirms the completion of Iraq’s path toward sovereignty and consolidates the presence of the state and its institutions”, the heads of Iraq’s executive, legislative and judicial branches said on Monday.

They added that “the presence of weapons outside state authority must be addressed… in line with timelines set by the government, in a manner that strengthens state sovereignty”.

Intensified attacks

Zaidi, who came to power this year with the US’s blessing, has vowed to reinforce the state’s monopoly on arms and ensure that armed factions hand over their weapons to the state.

His government initially set September 30 as the deadline for factions to disarm, but later withdrew the time limit as talks continued to “regulate” weapons — an issue that has fuelled division and is expected to take much longer to resolve.

With several powerful groups refusing to disarm, senior politicians have intervened and are now hoping to work out a compromise deal.

Factions have put forward conditions that include not only the withdrawal of foreign troops, but also an end to American political and economic interference.

The powerful Kataeb Hezbollah group said the withdrawal of “the occupation forces… is a start towards achieving full sovereignty”.

But the group also threatened Zaidi’s government.

“A government that doesn’t work for the good of its people will be brought down by all possible means,” it said.

Many armed groups have long demanded the withdrawal of US troops and have begun targeting them with drones and missiles, triggering US retaliatory strikes that killed several faction commanders over the years.

Nadia Sarwar, who was employed at NBP since 2008, alleged that the petitioners, Aqeel Abbas and Usman Shahid, had harassed her by misusing their authority.

She alleged that they had forced her to stay in the office after hours and required her to disclose details for applying for medical and other leaves, which would make her “uncomfortable”.

“Besides causing interference in her work and creating the hostile and offensive work environment, the petitioners had also been giving adverse remarks against her performance and also uttered shameful, unethical, scandalous, immoral and un-Islamic words/comments against her,” the FCC verdict noted.

The FCC’s Monday verdict overturned a December 2024 IHC ruling that had set aside the president’s order from 2014 and restored the ombudsman’s 2013 order of the two men’s compulsory retirement.

Authored by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of the three-member bench, the FCC order reproduced the definition of harassment stated in the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, which lawyers say was amended in 2022.

The 2010 Act describes harassment as “any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the complainant for refusal to comply to such a request or is made a condition for employment”.

Interpreting that definition, the FCC ruling said that an “act, conduct or attitude has to be sexual in nature, if it is to be covered under the definition of harassment for the purpose” of the 2010 Act.

The FCC order also referred to two rulings issued by the Supreme Court in 2021 and 2025, adding: “With due respect to the view of Supreme Court, we do not agree with this observation well within our powers under Article 189 of the Constitution on the basis of the very definition of sexual harassment under Section 2(h). Any other interpretation would be amounting to reading into the said provision of the Act, 2010.”

‘Sad days as we take steps back’

Lawyer Aaminah Qadir said the FCC verdict went against an SC judgement by a female judge “who actually understands (first-hand) that implications of harassment at work may not always be overtly sexual”.

“Sad days as we take steps back and undermine solid judgements from the SC. Gender gap is sure to widen,” she remarked in a post on X.

Barrister Maleeha Bokhari, in a post on X, said, “With the greatest respect, this judgement is wrong in law and dangerous in effect.”

She argued that in 2022, the Parliament amended section 2(h) of the 2010 Act to include “discrimination on basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature”.

It may be mentioned that the original complaint dates back to 2012, while the 2022 amendments were to be in effect from the date of passage. The president’s order — which set aside the ombudsperson’s decision on the two men’s compulsory retirement — was passed in 2014.

She argued that the FCC judgement contradicted the Constitution’s Articles 14 (dignity of person), 25 (equality before the law) and 34 (ensuring women’s full participation in all spheres of national life).

“As more women enter the workforce and drive Pakistan’s economy, the forms of harassment evolve. Our protections must evolve with them, not shrink,” Bokhari wrote on X.

“Dignity at work is not conditional on the harasser’s intent being sexual.”

Lawyer Reema Omer criticised the reasoning in the verdict and said it “fails victims of harassment”.

She claimed that the order lacked attention paid to “important sections of the law it is supposed to interpret”.

Journalist Benazir Shah contended that the “narrow” interpretation of workplace harassment law would “leave some forms of gender-based harassment outside the law”.

A post by the Women in Law collective said the FCC, in its verdict, had “spent a page defining ‘sexual’” but claimed the ruling lacked assessment based on it in the case at hand.

The collective also criticised the FCC for alleged discrepancies within the verdict.

Advocate Nida Usman, who founded Women in Law, raised concerns about due process and “the cases they have chosen to rely on”.

She noted that the FCC ruling had raised “the evidentiary burden for victims which goes way beyond what the Act requires”.

Elaborating on this, Usman particularly noted the FCC’s observation that to “prove a sexual harassment, a bare minimum requirement is the impartial, credible material, capable of surviving the test of reasonableness and it must be reinforced with convincing/independent evidence”.

She added, “Harassment usually happens without witnesses, although here there were two!”

The advocate also took exception to the FCC’s observation that the 2010 Act “intended to provide smooth working environment for the women by protecting their honour, modesty and respect by virtue of their gender” but did “not provide a special or a preferred treatment so as to undermine the dignity of their counterpart”.

Lawyer Hassan Abdullah Niazi said the FCC judgment “makes Pakistan’s workplace harassment law out of step with international best practices”.

Noting that harassment “operates across a spectrum”, Niazi said the ruling “fixates on one point, leaving countless women without an avenue for redressal”.

FCC’s interpretation

In its ruling, the FCC observed that the meaning of harassment under section 2(h) of the 2010 Act was “only restricted to conduct which is sexual in nature and all other acts of harassment fell beyond such restricted definition of actionable harassment”.

“It can, therefore, be safely said that any misdemeanour, behaviour or conduct unbecoming of an employee at the workplace towards other employee or an employer, or from an employer to an employee… may be generically classified as harassment but is not an actionable act per-se under the Act, 2010 unless such behaviour or conduct is inherently demonstrated or demonstrable of its sexual nature.

“Any grave or devastating conduct or behaviour is not actionable as contemplated in the definition of harassment unless it is sexual in origin,” the FCC stated.

It explained: “The word ‘sex’ an adjective and the word ‘sexual’ is related to the instinct, physiological processes and with physical attraction or intimate physical contact between two individuals.

“A gesture, therefore, made to another person for gaining sexual gratification would fall within the definition of harassment under the Act, 2010 but may have different forms; i.e. verbal, non-verbal or physical but the expression harassment is understood in its ordinary sense explained in the dictionaries.”

In the case, Sarwar had initially filed a complaint with NBP’s president in September 2012, then approached its divisional head, and filed another complaint to the bank president.

Receiving no relief, she finally filed a complaint before the federal ombudsman under the 2010 Act. The complaint was allowed and the petitioners were awarded the major penalty of compulsory retirement under Section 4(4)(ii)(b) of the Act.

The petitioners then filed representations before the president on Feb 14, 2014. The representations were allowed to the extent of setting aside the compulsory retirement order. However, the bank was directed to award censure under Section 4(4)(i)(a) of the Act.

When Sarwar challenged the order before the IHC, the president’s order was set aside and the ombudsperson’s order was restored in toto.

In Monday’s ruling, setting aside the IHC ruling, the FCC said “an act, conduct or attitude has to be sexual in nature” to constitute actionable harassment under the Act and that the ombudsperson had no jurisdiction to inquire into disciplinary proceedings beyond this scope.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) produced the 17-year-old suspect before Judicial Magistrate Naeem Wattoo on the completion of his three-day physical remand.

The magistrate asked the investigating officer (IO) whether the suspect’s father had any objection to the case.

The officer replied that the father of the suspect had no objection. He also informed the magistrate that the teenager was his parents’ only son.

He said the father told the investigators that his son, a second-year student in Bahawalpur, used to conduct various kinds of research.

The IO said the physical custody of the suspect was no longer required.

At this, the magistrate sent the suspect to jail on a 14-day judicial remand and directed the IO to submit a charge-sheet within the stipulated time.

‘Breaking Bad’

The NCCIA arrested the teenager on Sep 23. The agency said at the time that the suspect had reportedly developed strained relations with his father and allegedly planned to kill him following a disagreement.

During the investigation, authorities learned that the teenager had developed an interest in chemistry after watching the American crime drama ‘Breaking Bad’. He had reportedly set up a small laboratory at home to conduct chemical experiments, the NCCIA spokesperson said.

The suspect allegedly obtained chemical material from Australia and Islamabad and concocted a substance at home with the intention of poisoning his father. He reportedly administered the substance to his father on one occasion, but the attempt was not successful, the spokesperson said.

Subsequently, the teenager allegedly sought further guidance from AI, asking how to administer a poison capable of causing his father’s death without detection, he added.

The spokesperson said the Punjab NCCIA received the information about the suspect through an automated system. Following this, NCCIA Punjab Director Hissam Bin Iqbal directed the formation of a team to investigate the matter.

The team later conducted an operation in Bahawalpur and arrested the suspect. Further investigation had been initiated to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, the nature of the chemicals involved and the suspect’s online activities, the spokesperson said.

AI chatbots and agents have been linked to cases of harm and death, leading to concerns about their usage and the imposition of tighter regulations and controls.

The Euro­pean Union last month introduced sweeping laws that give it the power to enfo­rce landmark AI rules and to fine any companies that break the law. Pakistan has also previously called for the use of AI to be regulated by the United Nations charter.

Last year, American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT after an American couple said the system had encouraged their teenage son to kill himself.

The sources added that hideouts of the Fitna al Khawarij were targeted in Mir Ali and surrounding areas. Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

A large quantity of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the terrorists killed during the operation, security sources said.

According to PTV, security forces also thwarted an attempt by the terrorists to intercept a ration truck near the Mir Ali Bazaar.

It added that security forces were committed to the complete elimination of terrorism under the counter-terrorism campaign ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have lauded security forces for their successful operation in Mir Ali, Radio Pakistan reported.

President Asif Ali Zardari said that the operation against terrorism would continue to ensure peace in the country, adding that the designs of the terrorists would be foiled at all costs.

PM Shehbaz, meanwhile, held that eliminating terrorism remained the government’s top priority, according to state media.

KP has been witnessing terrorist attacks and security challenges for a long time. The province, excluding the merged districts, recorded 54 terrorist attacks in August compared with 36 in July, representing an increase of 50 per cent, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

A day earlier, in an IBO in KP’s Bara area, security forces killed five terrorists. On Monday, four terrorists were killed during an IBO in Dera Ismail Khan.

Last week, a dozen people lost their lives while 35 others were injured in a suicide blast that targeted the Aman Mela police checkpost in DI Khan’s Darazinda tehsil.

On Sept 18, a major attack in the old Police Lines in KP’s Kohat claimed 23 lives and injured about 100 others. Eight terrorists were killed during an overnight clearance operation.

On Sept 17, security forces killed 10 terrorists in separate operations in KP between Sept 15 and 17. Earlier in the month, over 20 terrorists were killed during multiple engagements in KP between Sept 3 and 5.

The Sweden-based Right Livelihood Foundation honoured Haider “for breaking barriers, as the first female lawyer from her Hazara community, to challenge ethnic, state and patriarchal persecution, guided by the conviction that no human being is illegal.”

According to the foundation’s website, Haider in 2018 “led a seven-day hunger strike against the targeted killing of Hazaras” that led to direct negotiations between the army chief and Hazara women, “resulting in a sustained decrease in attacks against the community”.

It added that Haider had combined legal work with street activism and community empowerment, securing “justice for thousands targeted or ignored by those in power, specifically ethnic, gender and religious minorities, as well as refugees”.

“Her law firm has also helped restore freedom of movement for more than 600 political activists and human rights defenders,” the Right Livelihood Foundation said.

Haider is a founding member of the Women’s Democratic Front as well, the foundation said, adding that she “helped pioneer Balochistan’s first Women’s March, a street mobilisation that sparked discussions on feminism across the deeply patriarchal region”.

Through her organisation ‘We the Humans’, Haider has “helped over 400 widows of terrorism victims gain financial independence”, the foundation said.

“Despite detention, cyber-harassment and death threats, she continues to work towards a world where, in her words, ‘no human being is illegal’,” the foundation said.

The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980, when Swedish-German stamp collector Jakob von Uexkull sold part of his collection to fund it, after the foundation behind the Nobel Prizes refused to create new awards in the fields of environmental protection and international development.

A prominent US artificial intelligence researcher and two women-led rights groups were also recognised.

The jury said in a statement it had chosen US artificial intelligence researcher Timnit Gebru “for challenging concentrated power in artificial intelligence and pioneering digital technology rooted in justice, lived experience and human agency.”

Gebru is known for her work examining how biases influence AI and in 2017, Gebru co-founded Black in AI.

The foundation also gave the nod to the Rural Women’s Assembly — a grassroots movement of more than 178,000 small-scale farmers across 11 Southern African nations.

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), which the jury described as “Georgia’s oldest and most prominent human rights organisation,” was also honoured.

Police were called to the Royal Air Force Fairford base in southwest England on Sunday after a resident saw several vans “acting suspiciously”, triggering an evacuation of the nearby village and the declaration of a “major incident”.

“Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination… and we can confirm that no improvised explosive devices were found. However, a quantity of petrol was recovered,” National Counter Terrorism Policing head Laurence Taylor said.

The development came as British media reported that a member of the group called police around an hour before a local farmer alerted officers after spotting the men and vans.

There have been huge questions around the incident after five London-based Britons were released on bail Monday after being arrested early Sunday on explosives and terror offences, with Washington criticising their release.

“I understand why this development will have come as a surprise to many, but I’d like to reiterate that it was an investigative decision,” Taylor added, after US President Donald Trump said he was “surprised” by the decision.

“I wouldn’t have done that,” Trump told reporters, as his Secretary of State Marco Rubio alleged a “foreign actor” was involved.

Speculation was rife about the incident near the Fairford airbase, which is used by the US military to launch strikes on Iran.

Iran’s embassy in London has said it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns” speculation that Tehran was involved.

The latest update lends credibility to some theories that the men could be fuel thieves, as energy prices rise in the UK.

But the scare forced 85 homes in a nearby village to be evacuated, with many residents having to stay elsewhere for at least one night.

Police said they had searched homes in London and were hoping to stand down investigative operations on Wednesday.

‘Embarrassing’

A resident in the neighbouring village of Kempsford, Patricia, 60, told AFP it was “very embarrassing that people around the world thought it was a terrorist attack. But in the end, no — it’s a lot of noise for nothing”.

The security scare became public after a farmer living in the village of Whelford near the airbase rang police after seeing the three vans blocking a road and a group of masked men fleeing the scene.

British media later reported that officers had already been alerted by one of the suspects before the farmer’s call, although police have not publicly commented on the reports.

Armed officers arrested the five men — all London residents in their mid-20s — on suspicion of explosives offences and, later, “suspicion of preparing a terrorist act” under anti-terror laws.

Police said the men “remain under investigation and must adhere to strict conditions while we continue our work”.

Security at the base had reportedly been heightened recently.

Britain gave Washington permission in March to use Fairford for “specific defensive operations into Iran” to destroy Iranian missiles at source.

US bombers and other planes have since been seen taking off and landing from the base — the only one on Britain’s mainland used for this purpose.

Aerial footage of the vans showed they appeared to contain barrels, and at least one was marked with a fake logo and phone number, giving the false impression that it was owned by a legitimate diesel delivery firm.

The legitimate firm said in a statement on its website that “neither the vehicle nor any of the individuals involved has any connection whatsoever with Fuel2U”, adding it was cooperating with the police.

“It’s a bit odd they were here in the middle of the night,” one local told AFP as she did some gardening in the nearby village of Kempsford.

“If they were true terrorists, they wouldn’t have released them,” she added, asking not to give her name.

A British military camp was the victim of a “security breach” last year after intruders cut through a fence to steal fuel from a tanker.

Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan also took part in the exercise, while Kazakhstan attended as an observer country, according to PTV.

The joint exercise aimed to “enhance cooperation, communication and professional capabilities among special forces”, PTV reported.

The participating forces also exchanged experiences on modern operations, combat strategies and ways to address security challenges.

“Eternal Brotherhood-5 reflects the growing defence and security cooperation, mutual trust and strengthening of military relations among the participating countries,” PTV said.

Pakistan routinely conducts joint training exercises with the friendly countries.

Earlier in April, Pakistan and Egypt concluded a two-week-long military exercise also focused on counter-terrorism.

In January, the 13th Pakistan-US bilateral joint military exercise — ‘Inspired Gambit 2026’ — was held with a focus on counter-terrorism.

In October 2025, Pakistan and Kazakhstan participated in a joint counter-terrorism training exercise lasting two weeks to improve military-to-military relations.

In February, Pakistan and Uzbekistan “agreed to continue mutual participation in joint military exercises and training, and to cooperate in the field of professional development, exchange of best practices and collaboration between military institutions of the two countries”.

Last month, Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia agreed to form a mechanism for joint military training under the trilateral defence pact.

Pakistan’s men swept South Korea 2-0 in their quarter-final without needing a deciding rubber.

Mohammad Ashab Irfan set the tone in the opening match against Na Jooyoung, needing all three games but rarely looking troubled.

The 22-year-old traded early points with his 19-year-old opponent before surging to a 7-2 lead in the first game, eventually closing it out 11-5 in nine minutes.

The second followed a similar script — Jooyoung twice clawed his way back to within a couple of points, only for Ashab to restore his cushion each time and seal it 11-8.

The Korean threatened a fightback in the third, pulling back three points as Ashab served for the match, but the Pakistani finally converted on his fourth attempt to complete an 11-5, 11-8, 11-8 win in just under half an hour and put Pakistan 1-0 up.

Pakistan’s top-ranked player, Noor Zaman, then had the chance to seal the tie against Seojin Oh, and made light work of it despite a scare in the third game.

The world No. 33 raced through the first game 11-4 in six minutes and followed it with an equally comfortable 11-5 in the second, building leads of four points or more in both.

Oh, 20, produced his best squash of the tie in the third, fighting back from 8-7 down to level and then snatching the game 11-8 to keep Korean hopes alive.

But Noor responded immediately in the fourth, racing into a four-point lead and reeling off seven straight points to close it out 11-2 — sealing both the match and a 2-0 win for Pakistan without the tie needing to go the distance.

Noor and Ashab have already secured bronze medal in the singles event.

The result sends Pakistan through to face Hong Kong, who defeated Qatar in the other quarter-final, in Thursday’s semi-final.

There was no such reward for Pakistan’s women, who went down 2-1 to China in their second round-robin qualifier — a defeat that followed an opening 3-0 loss to Macau in the same play-off group and ends their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Pakistan had finished third in their four-team pool behind Hong Kong and South Korea, dropping them into a round-robin decider against China and Macau for the tournament’s remaining two quarter-final berths.

Wednesday’s tie followed the same pattern as their first: an early loss in the opening singles, a spirited fightback in the middle match, and a decider that ultimately slipped away.

Thirteen-year-old Mahnoor Ali opened proceedings against Ziyi Liu and never found her rhythm.

The 19-year-old Chinese player raced through the first game in five minutes, winning it 11-4, before edging a tighter second 11-8.

Liu pulled away in the decider, building an early six-point cushion that Mahnoor could only intermittently interrupt, and closed out the match 11-2 to hand China a 1-0 lead in the tie.

Sana Bahadar dragged Pakistan level with the standout performance of the day, overcoming Yuning Zhang in three hard-fought games.

The 20-year-old built an early 7-2 cushion in the first before Zhang, also 20, rallied to within three points; Sana held her nerve to close it out 11-7 on her second match point.

The second game swung repeatedly — the pair traded the lead seven times before Sana, trailing 9-6, reeled off three straight points to level at 9-9 and then closed it out 11-9.

Any hope of a Chinese recovery in the third evaporated as Sana, after trading the opening two points, won eight in a row to seal the game 11-2 and level the tie at 1-1.

The contest came down to a decider between 14-year-old Sehrish Ali and Ziyuan Yin, and China’s teenager proved too strong.

Yin, 14, surged to an early lead in the first game and closed it out 11-3, then weathered a mid-game wobble in the second — Sehrish had narrowed the gap to 9-5 — before finishing it 11-7.

The Pakistani teenager briefly led in the decider, but Yin responded with a burst of consecutive points to pull clear and served out the match 11-2, sealing a 2-1 win for China.

At the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Gallery, Pakistan’s Ghulam Mustafa Bashir sits eighth in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol qualification after a strong opening stage on Wednesday.

Bashir scored 289 with eight inner tens across his 30 shots, posting series scores of 95 (8 seconds), 96 (6 seconds) and 98 (4 seconds).

The three-time Olympian, who won bronze at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Cairo, now faces Stage 2 on Thursday — another 30 shots that will determine his final qualification score out of 600 and whether he advances to the final.

The shot — now etched in Pakistan football history as the one that brought the side its first-ever point in a FIFA competition, the FIFA ASEAN Cup, and against a side ranked more than 60 places above it — equalled the scores to 2-2 after Philippines had scored two early, and sparked celebrations in equal measure.

The delight was special because it came with a surprise element.

How could a team that had prepared for the tournament in a short training camp, without its head coach, stun a higher-ranked side in this manner? How could a team from a country without even a semblance of a proper football competition and grassroots structure challenge one from a country that has all of that and more? And how could a federation beset by a prolonged crisis field a side so competitive?

Those questions are almost as important as the result itself.

Samad provided one answer.

The Pakistan player based abroad had arrived in Indonesia on Sept 25, a day before the team’s opening FIFA ASEAN Cup match against Thailand, which Pakistan lost 4-0. Several of his fellow diaspora players also joined the squad directly in Indonesia rather than being part of the national-team camp in Islamabad.

The camp itself was brief. And head coach Nolberto Solano was not there.

The Peruvian coach missed the camp after applying for the wrong type of Pakistan visa. His documents had to be resubmitted, delaying his arrival until the team was already in Indonesia. In his absence, assistant coaches Titus Bramble and Walid Javaid oversaw the sessions.

For a national team whose players largely do not play together, those lost days matter.

Yet two days after Samad arrived, Pakistan were back on the pitch against the Philippines and, after falling 2-0 behind, produced the sort of comeback that had rarely been seen from the national side.

Mohammad Ali Akbar pulled one back two minutes after half-time before Samad equalised around the hour.

Pakistan had never previously scored in, or taken a point from, a FIFA competition. They had now done both in the same match.

“This is a fantastic result for Pakistan football, arguably its most impressive result of the 21st century,” Ismail Farooq, a football analyst at FC Nuremberg in Germany and a keen observer of Pakistan football, tells Dawn.

Ismail puts the achievement into perspective by pointing to the gulf between the two teams. Pakistan are ranked 198th in the world while the Philippines are around 60 places higher and have the kind of regular domestic football and established structures that Pakistan have lacked.

Pakistan, he said, were “massive underdogs”.

That makes the fightback significant. But it also makes what happened before it harder to ignore.

The players arrived from different parts of the world, trained together for a limited period and entered the tournament without having had the benefit of a full camp under their head coach.

The result therefore says as much about the resilience of the players as it does about the possibilities that exist within Pakistan’s player pool.

It is also where the country’s diaspora footballers become part of a much larger conversation.

The overseas-based players have increasingly provided Pakistan with a pool of talent that would be difficult for the domestic system to produce on its own. But their late arrival also highlights the absence of a sufficiently strong structure at home to prepare and develop players consistently.

Shaikh Hamdan, head coach of Karachi United Football Club and a UEFA B-licensed coach, believes the result could nevertheless have an important effect well beyond the national team.

“Any positive result for Pakistan football can only be a good thing for the game at grassroots level,” he tells Dawn. “Results inspire participation.”

Children watching Pakistan score and compete, he added, could begin to dream of representing the country, while positive performances could also help convince parents that football can be more than simply a recreational pursuit for their children.

That is the opportunity presented by Bandung.

But it is not the same as having a functioning football system.

Pakistan have not had a proper domestic league since 2015. Youth competitions remain limited and competitive opportunities for young players are scarce.

There is no consistently functioning pathway taking a talented child from grassroots football through age-group competitions and into the professional and international game.

“There are passionate coaches, academies and football communities doing excellent work across the country,” Hamdan says.

“But there is still no structured pathway that consistently takes talented young players from grassroots football through youth competitions and into the professional and international game.”

That gap has consequences.

Talented youngsters can spend crucial developmental years without enough meaningful competitive matches.

Academies can do good work but have limited opportunities to test their players against strong opposition. Coaches can identify potential without knowing where that player will go next.

And when the national team comes calling, it can be easier to look abroad.

The diaspora players are not the problem. Their presence has been an important source of quality and experience for Pakistan. The problem is that their importance has grown partly because the domestic pathway has failed to provide enough alternatives.

That Pakistan can still produce or find players capable of competing with a team such as the Philippines should therefore be viewed as encouragement rather than vindication of the existing system.

Ismail’s assessment is blunt. According to him, the Bandung result was “despite our domestic football situation, not because of it”.

That distinction could determine what happens next.

The Pakistan Football Federation has announced plans for district and youth football and has sought expressions of interest for a new league. But announcements are only the beginning. What Pakistan needs is a sustained calendar of meaningful competition that allows players to develop and coaches to work within a stable system.

More than a year after the PFF elections in May 2025, that structure remains a work in progress.

At grassroots level, football continues to rely heavily on uneven local structures. Provincial and district associations are effectively dysfunctional, while facilities and access to quality coaching remain limited in many areas.

Political chaos

The administrative uncertainty surrounding the PFF has compounded the problem.

The May 2025 elections brought former FIFA development officer Syed Mohsen Gilani to the presidency. Since then, disagreements over the federation’s direction and decision-making have continued.

Reports, as well as a document that circulated publicly — and was labelled “fake” by the PFF — referred to an alleged understanding involving Mohsen and Hafiz Zakaullah under which Mohsen would serve for a year before facilitating Zakaullah’s succession. Zakaullah has publicly referred to such an understanding, while its status and interpretation have been disputed.

The episode has formed part of a wider pattern of competing claims and factional tensions, including disagreements over the federation’s functioning and postponed Congress meetings.

All of this matters to what happens on the pitch.

A national team needs more than a group of talented players assembled for an international window. It needs a domestic competition feeding players into the national side, youth teams developing the next generation, coach education producing better trainers, regular camps and enough international football to test progress.

Hamdan believes the Philippines result has demonstrated that the potential is there.

“Rankings are influenced by many factors, including the number of international matches a nation plays, and Pakistan has historically had far fewer opportunities than most countries,” he says. “The performance against the Philippines reflects the potential that exists within our player pool and demonstrates that the gap is not as large as many people assume.”

But potential is not a development strategy.

Pakistan have experienced moments of encouragement before. The Diamond Jubilee title in the Maldives ended a 74-year wait for a standalone tournament victory and offered hope under Solano.

The FIFA ASEAN Cup was supposed to be another step.

The 4-0 defeat against Thailand exposed the gulf Pakistan still have to bridge. The performance against the Philippines showed, however, that the gulf is not necessarily reflected in the players’ appetite to compete.

They conceded twice but did not disappear. They found a goal, then another, and held on against a team with a significantly higher ranking and a deeper footballing infrastructure.

That is what made the night in Bandung special.

The danger is in asking the result to mean more than it can.

Ismail says the “biggest mistake” would be to regard the draw as proof that Pakistan football is doing things right.

“We are barely doing anything domestically,” he observes.

That does not diminish what the players achieved. If anything, it makes their achievement more striking.

The challenge is to ensure that a night such as Bandung does not remain another isolated flash of possibility.

The 2023 World Cup qualifying victory over Cambodia remains, in Ismail’s view, the biggest result of the century for Pakistan football. Yet the excitement surrounding that win did not produce the transformation of the domestic game that many hoped for.

Bandung should not meet the same fate.

The result has given Pakistan football something that cannot be manufactured by a federation, a league or a development plan: belief.

Children saw their national team score. Fans saw players refuse to accept defeat. Players who had travelled from abroad found themselves part of a team that had produced something historic.

Now the institutions have to catch up.

A functioning domestic league, meaningful youth competitions, clearer player pathways, better academy environments, improved coach education and regular international football across age groups would turn isolated moments of promise into a process.

The draw against the Philippines was an encouraging step — and Pakistan may well pull another surprise in their final ASEAN Cup group match against Vietnam on Friday.

It was also a reminder of how much more could be possible. The players have shown that they can fight back.

The bigger challenge is whether Pakistan football can finally build a system worth fighting for.

WASHINGTON / TEHRAN: Ahead of a possible agreement over the Strait of Hormuz, both the US and Iran turned up the rhetoric against each other, with President Donald Trump once again expressing confidence that the war in the Middle East will end “very, very soon”.

Iranian state media quoted Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying that he expected a formal answer on Tuesday to Tehran’s proposal to open the troubled waterway.

The remarks came as the British maritime agency reported that an “unknown projectile” struck a ship in the strait, sparking a fire on board that was subsequently extinguished.

Qatari intermediaries “presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final US response will be conveyed to us”, Araghchi had said late on Monday night.

Mr Araghchi, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, said the current focus was solely on the Strait of Hormuz, and the reopening of the strait was contingent upon the fulfilment of certain conditions that they have communicated to “the other side”.

Earlier, US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end the seven-month war, according to officials of both countries.

On Tuesday, Qatari foreign mi­n­­­i­stry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said there had been “several meetings and messages have been exchanged, including some in New York and earlier. Current efforts are focused on building com­mon ground between the parties.”

As a precondition for ending its blockade, Iran is demanding a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah is regularly bombed by Israel.

It is also demanding the unfreezing of its assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade on its ports.

However, President Trump claimed that he had offered Iran no concessions, rejecting media reports that cited US officials saying he was willing to ease sanctions and release frozen funds for “concrete” steps regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.

Axios and CNN both reported, citing unidentified US officials, that Trump was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and free Iranian funds as part of a final deal on the condition that Iran showed “concrete progress” on the nuclear issue.

“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Revolutionary Guards said “the US claim that it remains open is false”.

“Sneaking a few hundred barrels of oil through under the cover of darkness — with transponders turned off and at great cost — does not constitute the strait being open,” said spokesperson Hossein Mohebi.

“A truly open strait is one where, as in the past, at least 125 vessels would pass through daily, transporting a minimum of 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products.

“Any vessel attempting to pass through sustains damage — either we strike it, or it hits a mine,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tehran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened fresh attacks, saying no infrastructure in the region would be safe if his country’s security was not guaranteed.

“In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe,” Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker, said according to a video released by state TV.

Separately, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) appealed to US midterm voters to reject President Trump’s policies and accept an offer of peaceful coexistence.

The assertions were made on Tuesday in a 25-page open letter addressed to the American people, urging them to oppose US support for Israel and foreign wars and arguing that Iran and the US could coexist if US policy changed.

The letter accused Trump of concealing the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, which Israel in particular sees as an existential threat, and the effectiveness of Tehran’s blockade of Gulf oil.

IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi told reporters he did not expect the letter to affect the US administration’s behaviour some five weeks before the elections, but that voters might hear the message.

Oil prices

Oil prices declined on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, improving the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were down $1.38, or 1.3pc, to $103.88 a barrel at 1703 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down $2.04 or 2.16pc at $90.58. Brent and WTI are headed for monthly gains of around 15pc and 5.7pc, respectively.

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline, which weighed on global oil prices, was notified by state oil giant Saudi Aramco as it unveiled its October loading schedule.

“ESA satellite imagery captured over the Red Sea on September 27 shows Saudi Arabia loading nearly 10 million barrels of crude oil at Yanbu and Al Muajjiz,” vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. Al Muajjiz is a terminal south of Yanbu.

The White House has urged the European Union to draw down diesel emergency inventories in a bid to lower global prices, sources said. Several European Union member countries have not released as much oil and refined products from reserves as they promised, President Donald Trump’s administration said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration said on Tuesday it is offering to loan energy companies 40 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to control soaring fuel prices that have jumped on the widening war with Iran and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Airline issues

The US has granted Iraqi Airways, the national carrier, a sanctions waiver allowing it to fly to Iran so it can ferry pilgrims travelling between Iran and Iraq’s holy city of Najaf.

The transport ministry said flights were set to start from Najaf in October, “once the necessary organisational requirements have been fulfilled”.

Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have seized a plane belonging to Iran’s Caspian Airlines at Istanbul Airport , with Turkish and Iranian media linking it to an unpaid three-million-euros($3.4 million) debt.

The seizure took place on Monday after passengers had boarded the Boeing 737, which was waiting to take off when officials detained it on the basis of a court-issued seizure order, Anadolu Agency reported.

Separately, Washington sanctioned 10 individuals and entities that allegedly procured weapons and weapons components for Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, the US Treasury Department’s website showed on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

The announcement of a strategic action plan for development of the Local Currency Bond Market (LCBM) followed a customary kick-off meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and an IMF staff mission led by Iva Petrova.

The mission held discussions with the authorities on power-sector developments, privatisation, petr­o­leum-sector issues, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the automobile sector, particularly the medium-term automobile development plan.

The finance minister is reported to have briefed the mission on the latest macroeconomic indicators, improvements in credit ratings and the overall investment climate amid a challenging outlook stemming from the prolonged Iran conflict, including its impact on revenues.

On successful conclusion of the talks, Pakistan would be entitled to disbursement of about $1.2bn under the two programmes — $1bn under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and $200m under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) — by the end of October or early November. However, the country may require waivers from the IMF executive board for slippages on structural benchmarks.

The finance ministry said announcement of the strategic plan for the LCBM by Sept 30 was req­uired under the IMF programme.

The plan sets out reforms the government, regulators and market institutions will undertake to build a deeper, more liquid and resilient market for government and, over time, corporate securities denominated in Pakistani rupees. It is based on a joint IMF-World Bank diagnostic study of Pakistan’s LCBM.

Commercial banks currently hold 78 per cent of government securities, while sovereign paper accounts for about 62pc of banking-system assets. This concentration supports government securities auctions but favours holding securities over trading them, while limiting banks’ capacity and incentives to finance the private sector.

The joint study noted that Pakistan had built much of the institutional framework of an emerging LCBM, but market outcomes remained closer to those of a developing market.

Development was uneven across six pillars, with money market and financial infrastructure foundations comparatively advanced, while primary-market predictability, secondary-market liquidity and the legal and regulatory framework remained below the practices of larger emerging markets. The narrow investor base was identified as the biggest gap.

Therefore, the plan seeks to develop a liquid, transparent and diversified LCBM to reduce the cost and risk of government financing over the medium term, support effective monetary-policy transmission and provide a reliable benchmark yield curve for private-sector financing.

It pursues five strategic objectives, including strengthening institutional capacity and coordination, ensuring clear ownership and accountability, and making primary issuance more predictable and market-based through a published benchmark policy and a well-informed medium-term debt strategy. It also seeks to build executable secondary-market liquidity and a functioning private securities-finan­cing (or repo) market, broaden the investor base across institutional, retail and foreign investors, modernise market infrastructure and remove legal and tax impediments to trading and secured funding.

Under the plan, eligible bank customers would be allowed to trade exchange-listed government securities through their banks under the supervision of State Bank, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Stock Exchange and Central Depository Company.

The Ministry of Finance and SBP would also review the primary dealer framework for the fiscal year 2027-28 so that secondary-market performance, including quote performance drawn from E-Bond, is taken into account.

The plan envisages a securities-lending facility for primary dealers, covering its operating model, eligible securities, risk controls and fiscal implications.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026