Latest Islamabad News

In this photo provided by Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, second from right, greets Karim Khalili, left, an influential Afghan Shiite leader, upon his arrival at ministry for a meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Khalili is visiting Pakistan where members of the minority sect are still reeling from the brutal killing of 11 Shiite coal miners, nine of whom were Afghan immigrants, earlier this month. (Ministry of Foreign Ministry via AP)

Afghan Shiite leader in Pakistan after killings of miners

Jan. 12, 2021 4:17 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An influential Afghan Shiite leader is visiting Pakistan where members of the minority sect are still reeling from the brutal killing of 11 Shiite coal miners, nine of whom were Afghan immigrants, earlier this month. The miners, who were abducted and killed by militants from the Islamic...

Pakistan military: Fence bordering Afghanistan nearly done

Jan. 11, 2021 12:27 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's military said Monday it has nearly completed a fence along the border with Afghanistan, which Islamabad says is necessary to prevent militant attacks from both sides. Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, spokesman for Pakistan’s armed forces, said more than 83% of the fence along...

People are silhouetted on vehicle's headlights on a dark street during widespread power outages in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Pakistan's national power grid experienced a major breakdown late night on Saturday, leaving millions of people in darkness, local media reported. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Minister: Massive power outage leaves Pakistan in the dark

Jan. 10, 2021 1:34 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A major technical fault in Pakistan's power generation and distribution system caused a massive power outage that plunged the country into darkness overnight, the energy minister said. Hours after the late Saturday outage, Energy Minister Omar Ayub said on Twitter that power was being...

People from the Shiite Hazara community gather around coffins of coal mine workers killed by gunmen near the Machh coal field, during a sit-in to protest, in Quetta, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Pakistan's prime minister Friday appealed the protesting minority Shiites not to link the burial of 11 coal miners from Hazara community who were killed by the Islamic State group to his visit to the mourners, saying such a demand amounted to blackmailing the country's premier. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Pakistani PM asks Shiites to bury coal miners killed by IS

Jan. 8, 2021 2:03 PM EST

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's prime minister on Friday appealed on protesting minority Shiites not to link the burial of 11 coal miners from their Hazara community, killed by the Islamic State group last week, to demands that he visit the mourners. Saying that the miners would not be buried until he...

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2020 file photo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center left, and his aides meet with Afghanistan's State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, center right, and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's peace negotiation team amid talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, in Doha, Qatar. Afghan negotiators are to resume talks Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, even as hopes are waning, and frustration and fear is growing over a spike in violence that has combatants on both sides blaming the other. The change in the U.S. administration is likely to drag out the opening days of the talks as both sides wait to see whether Biden will stick to the deal brokered by Trump. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool, File)

New round of Afghan-Taliban peace talks off to a slow start

Jan. 8, 2021 1:01 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The latest round of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators that began this week in Qatar has been off to a slow start as concerns grow over a recent spike in violence across Afghanistan. The talks, which are taking place in Qatar where the Taliban maintain a...

FILE - In this May 29, 2010 file photo, people from a minority Muslim Ahmadi Community stand guard as others preparing to bury the victims of attack by Islamic militants, in Rubwah, some 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest from Lahore Pakistan. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, adopted 55-year-old Ramazan Bibi, jailed on blasphemy charges in Pakistan, as a prisoner of conscience. According to a December report by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedoms, Pakistan recorded the most cases of blasphemy in the world even though 84 countries have criminal blasphemy laws on their books. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)

US group appeals for Pakistani woman jailed on blasphemy

Jan. 8, 2021 10:07 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. religious watchdog appealed Friday for the rights of a Pakistani woman from the country’s minority Ahmadis who has been jailed on blasphemy charges, declaring her a prisoner of conscience and urging Prime Minister Imran Khan's government to immediately set her free. The...

Supporters of the civil society group, Jammu Kashmir Forum, take part in a demonstration to mark, The Right to Self-determination Day,

Kashmiri activists rally in Pakistan, demand referendum

Jan. 5, 2021 8:24 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Dozens of Kashmiri activists rallied in Pakistan's capital Tuesday to urge the United Nations to ensure Kashmir's right to self-determination under a decades-old resolution on the disputed region. Chanting slogans including “we want freedom" they urged the world community to take...

Ahmad bin Qasim, left, the son of Aasiyah Andrabi, a prominent separatist leader from disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, give a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. The family of Andrabi, who is being held in an Indian jail for alleged anti-state activities, appealed Monday to the United Nations for help in securing her release. (AP Photo/Waseem Khan)

Family asks for help in release of Kashmir separatist leader

Jan. 4, 2021 10:31 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The family of a prominent separatist leader from disputed Kashmir who is being held in an Indian jail for alleged anti-state activities appealed Monday to the United Nations for help in securing her release. Ahmad bin Qasim, the son of Aasiyeh Andrabi, who heads an Islamic women’s...

Pakistan anti-corruption body arrests key opposition leader

Dec. 29, 2020 1:04 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s anti-graft body Tuesday ordered the arrest of a key opposition leader on charges of having assets higher than his known sources of income, a spokesman said. The arrest of Khawaja Asif, who served as foreign minister in the government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,...

Pakistan warns India against 'false flag' attacks in Kashmir

Dec. 21, 2020 2:30 AM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's military was on high alert in Kashmir on Monday as its prime minister warned India against carrying out any “false flag” operations in the disputed region after a U.N. vehicle in the Pakistan-held part came under attack. Pakistan blamed Friday's attack on India,...

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