17-03-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government has accused Pakistan of targeting civilian homes in overnight air attacks, killing four people in the capital and two in the east, as fighting between the two neighbors entered its third week, overshadowed by the United States-Israel war …

13-03-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has ordered sweeping emergency austerity and fuel conservation measures after a disruption in oil and gas supply caused by the United States-Israel war on Iran and an escalating Middle East conflict. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the measures in a televised …

04-03-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: Residents of Kabul’s District 6 were awakened abruptly on Thursday night by the sound of an explosion that shook their homes. They rushed out in the street and heard jets flying overhead. It was a night that saw a serious escalation in …

02-03-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: International calls for mediation are growing as Pakistan and Afghanistan engage in cross-border fighting for a third day, in the most serious flare-up in violence between the neighbors in months that Pakistan says has brought them into “open war”. The European ⁠Union’s …

26-02-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: Tensions have heated up again between Islamabad and Kabul this week after Pakistan launched airstrikes on militant targets in Afghanistan. Pakistani security sources said the strike killed at least 70 terrorists, while the United Nations said at least 13 civilians were killed. …

24-02-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR: Pakistan launched multiple airstrikes on Saturday night targeting militants in neighboring Afghanistan, where the government reported children were among dozens of people killed and wounded. Islamabad did not say in precisely which areas the strikes were carried out or provide other …

21-02-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report LAHORE/ KARACHI: When armed officers from Pakistan’s Crime Control Department raided Zubaida Bibi’s home in Bahawalpur City in southern Punjab province last November, they took everything: mobile phones, cash, gold jewelry and her daughter’s wedding dowry. They also took her sons. Within 24 …

20-02-2026 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD: A group of legendary former international cricketers has appealed to Pakistan’s government to provide “immediate and adequate medical attention” for Imran Khan, the country’s former cricket captain and prime minister, who has reportedly been denied appropriate medical treatment during his incarceration. The 14 former captains, …

17-02-2026 By SJA Jafri KARACHI: The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is set to begin on February 18 or 19, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon. During the month, which lasts 29 or 30 days, Muslims observing the fast will refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to …

09-02-2026 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: As funerals were held on Saturday for more than 30 people martyred in a suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad, analysts warned the attack could be part of a broader attempt to inflame sectarian tensions in the country. A suicide …