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ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Liaqat, a railway employee who thwarted a suicide attack in Attock, was among several Pakistani nationals and foreigners who were conferred civil awards by President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday in recognition of their outstanding services in various fields.

President Zardari posthumously awarded the Sitara-i-Shujaat to Liaquat for his extraordinary bravery and sacrifice, following the recommendations from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider. The civil gallantry award was received by the deceased’s mother.

Liaqat embraced martyrdom after courageously intercepting a suicide attacker near the Mankoor check post in the Jand tehsil of Attock district, preventing what officials described as a major tragedy and saving numerous lives.

The investiture ceremony was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, where various personalities were conferred with civil awards in recognition of their services in health, education, literature, journalism, public service, research, diplomatic affairs, sports and the economy.

President Zardari confers civil awards on prominent Pakistani and foreign nationals

The ceremony was attended by First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, federal ministers, the Senate chairman, parliamentarians, members of civil society, diplomats, media representatives and a large number of guests.

Nishan-i-Imtiaz (posthumous) was conferred upon late Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, and late Irfanul Haq Siddiqui in recognition of their outstanding services to the country.

The recipients of Nishan-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz included Attaul Haq Qasmi, Shahid Khan Afridi, Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Muhammad Ali, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Senator Taj Haider (posthumous), Moazzam Jah Ansari, Engineer Jamaluddin Ahmed, Mirza Rizwan Baig, Muhammad Yousuf Khan, Dr Ameer Muhammad, Professor Dr Ikram ul Haq, Zahra Majid Ali, Shehroz Kashif, Malik Ata Muhammad Khan (posthumous), Ehtesham ul Haq, Azeezuddin, Bahraini diplomat Mohammad Ebrahim and Mohammad Abdul Qadir.

The recipients of Sitara-i-Shujaat (posthumous) are: Javedullah Khan Mehsood, Nawab Ali, Senator Hidayatullah, ASI Muhammad Akram, SI Taj Meer Shah, Constable Abdullah, Constable Samand Khan, Constable Zameel Badshah, Abdul Hameed, Constable Muhammad Siraj, Constable Muhammad Javed, Hafeezullah, Inspector Shariq Rizwan, Jawad Qamar, Naek Gulzar Ali, Sepoy Uzair Khan, Sepoy Khatab ul Rehman, Sepoy Gul Umarzai, Sepoy Abdul Sameed, Sepoy Imran Khan, Naib Subedar Muhammad Jan, Lance Naek Syedur Rehman, Sepoy Hazratullah, Sepoy Khunzada, Sepoy Mushtaq Ahmed, Sepoy Baseerullah, Sepoy Mehtabur Rehman, Sepoy Sher Rehman, Sepoy Fazal Kareem and Sepoy Syed Amin, Sepoy Muhammad Yousaf, Constable Muhammad Shehryar, Faisal Ismail, Abdul Wakeel, Fazal Manan, ASI Noor Hakeem, Constable Zahidullah and Liaqat Ali.

The recipients of Hilal-i-Shujaat (posthumous) included Shah Wali Khan, ASI Muhammad Ejaz Khan, SI Laiq Zada, Constable Alam Zeb, Constable Muhammad Ejaz, Waseem Ahmed Khan and Sepoy Azhar Mehmood.

The personalities who received Sitara-i-Imtiaz included Interior Secretary Muhammad Agha, Dr Muhammad Fakhar-i-Alam, Nabeel Munir, Iftikhar Amjad, Sohail Ashraf, Dr Naseem Faraz, Javed Akbar Riaz, Brigadier Faisal Shaukat Jehangiri, Ahmed Abdul Moeez Khawaja, Irfan Ahsan, Hamza Tabani, Dr Arshad Rehan (US/Pakistani), late Munir Ahmed Chaudhry, Muhammad Yaseen Khan, Arshad Wali Muhammad, Ahmed Raza, Prof Sarwar Muhammad Khawaja, Hamra Abbas, late Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, Nadeem Hussain and Nadeem Mehboob.

Rashid Waheed Khawaja and Zahid Ahmed received Pride of Performance award, while Muhammad Saeed Sheikh received Sitara-i-Khidmat and Shahid Hussain received Tamgha-i-Shujaat.

Those who received Tamgha-i-Imtiaz included Sindh IGP Javaid Akhtar Odhoo, Nadir Shafee Dar, Dr Muhammad Shahbaz Chaudhry, Muhammad Kashif Ashfaq, Ch Amanat Hussain Mahr, Dr Farhat Akhtar Raja, Dr Khurum Hayat Khan, Dr Muhammad Shabi Ahmed, Dr Zeeshan Ali, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, Raja Suleman Raza, Sajid Abbas, Naveed Anwar Chaudhry, Abdul Waheed Khan, Abdul Wahab Sheikh, Waqasul Hassan, Shazia Sikandar Rana, Mohsin Nawaz, Muhammad Arsalan Zafar, Abdul Muhai Shah, Dr Rao Kamran Ali, Dr Imran Syed, Dr Muhammad Naeem Malik, Nasir Aftab, Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Marri, Aamir Javed Sheikh, Dr Anam Fatema, Qazi Ali Raza, Chaudhry Awais Afzal, Sahibzada Muhammad Yousuf, Waseem Ahmed, Professor Muhammad Tayyeb, Nadia Jehangir Seth and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar.

Amjad Iqbal in Taxila also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026

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A major-ranked officer was among five soldiers martyred during an area sanitisation operation in Balochistan’s Barkham district, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Wednesday.

At least seven terrorists were also killed during the operation.

According to a statement by the military’s media wing, the operation, carried out by the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps Balochistan, took place in Barkham district’s Nosham area and targeted members of Fitna al Hindustan — a term used by the state to designate terrorist organisations in Balo­chistan.

“During the operation, a group of terrorists was located and engaged by troops. During [the] fire exchange, seven terrorists of Indian-backed Fitna al Hindustan were sent to hell,” ISPR said, adding that weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed terrorists.

“However, during intense fire exchange, five brave sons of soil, including a field officer, met the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” ISPR added.

The martyred personnel were identified as Major Tauseef Ahmed Bhatti, 31, from Pakpattan; Naik Fida Hussain, 36, from Sukkur; Sepoy Zakir Hussain, 32, from Skardu; Sepoy Suhail Ahmed, 21, from Khanewal; and Sepoy Muhammad Ayaz, 24, from Rahim Yar Khan.

“Sanitisation operations in the surroundings continue to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorists present in the area,” the statement adds.

“[The] relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out [the] menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” ISPR concludes.

In March, at least 15 terrorists were killed in Harnai and Basima districts of Balochistan during two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs).

Earlier in February, security sources killed 10 terrorists during an operation in Balochistan’s Zhob.

There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.

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The European Union’s health agency (ECDC) said on Wednesday there was nothing to suggest that the Andes strain of hantavirus had mutated following a deadly outbreak of the illness on a cruise ship.

The deaths of three passengers from a rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise from Argentina to Cape Verde sparked international alarm.

Seven other passengers are confirmed to have the virus, including a French woman in a critical condition, while an eighth case is considered “probable”, according to an AFP tally. All of the passengers have been evacuated and are now in quarantine.

“Preliminary investigations based on the whole genome sequencing that is available to us suggest that there are no indications that this virus is acting any differently from the known virus circulating in some regions of the world,” Andreas Hoefer, of the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, told journalists.

“All sequences obtained to date are virtually identical, which means that there is likely only a single transmission event from an infected animal to a human,” Hoefer, a microbiologist and molecular epidemiologist, added.

The disease is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva.

Laboratory testing in South Africa and Switzerland confirmed the virus to be the Andes strain — the only hantavirus strain known to pass between humans.

There are no vaccines or specific treatments for hantavirus. Both ECDC and World Health Organisation guidelines include a 42-day quarantine and constant monitoring of high-risk contacts because the incubation period can take six weeks.

“Due to the long incubation period, it is still possible that more cases among the passengers who are now actually in quarantine will occur,” ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said.

“This cannot be excluded.” Gianfranco Spiteri, ECDC’s head of global epidemic intelligence and health security, said the risk of transmission was greatest for those who showed symptoms of the illness.

But he acknowledged that people might be contagious in the first couple of days before symptoms appear.

“So in terms of taking a preventive and highly precautionary approach, we recommend, for example, that contact tracing should be done for two days before [the] onset of symptoms as well,” he said.

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GLOBAL suffering continues as uncertainty over the fate of the war in the Middle East refuses to dissipate. Market analysts and decision-makers have repeatedly warned that the economic damage already wrought — and worsening daily as vital shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz remain closed — could take months, in some cases years, to reverse.

Every day that passes without clarity on how and when the war will end introduces fresh intensity to the uncertainty roiling global markets and adds to the economic turmoil the world must bear because of it. Iran may have been pummelled militarily but refuses to accept defeat.

The consensus in foreign intelligence circles is that it may be able to endure for a lot longer before economic pressure forces it to reconsider its position. The US, for its part, seems to be losing the endgame, with its leadership’s obduracy drawing it deeper into a quagmire which is not easy to exit.

Thankfully, the diplomatic process continues even as both sides, at least publicly, continue to signal that they are still far from arriving at any amicable settlement. Pakistan continues using its good offices in both capitals to coax them towards a mutually acceptable agreement. Other countries, notably Qatar, have also lent their weight to the efforts to mediate the crisis. Recent signals from regional powers, most notably Saudi Arabia, indicate that key stakeholders remain wary of this conflict’s actual goals and possible outcomes, and are likely to keep their distance from it.

Taken together, these may be healthy signs for those still hoping for peace despite Washington’s rumblings about the ceasefire being on “life support”. Still, the threat from spoilers remains, and recent efforts to bring Pakistan’s role into question, such as news reports casting aspersions on its neutrality, should prompt Islamabad to tread with care and defend itself forcefully wherever it can.

It is hoped that both Iran and the US can soon reach some sort of agreement. In Iran, things seem to have been complicated by hard-line factions’ efforts to assert themselves more forcefully in the talks with the US. Meanwhile, in Washington, US President Donald Trump seems to want to claim complete victory without any acknowledgement of how limited America’s gains have been. A workable settlement will require concessions from both — Tehran accepting limitations on its nuclear capabilities and Washington accepting that total capitulation is not on offer.

Neither will get everything it wants, and the sooner each accepts that, the less damage the world will have to absorb. They would also do well to remember that the longer the stalemate drags on, the more goodwill they will lose in world capitals, including in those countries otherwise sympathetic to their positions. It is best they end this quickly, before more is lost.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2026

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ISLAMABAD: The sisters of PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister were once again denied a meeting with the ex-premier at Adiala jail on Tuesday.

Imran’s sister, Aleema Khan, told reporters that being denied a meeting was “nothing but contempt of court”, as they were not being allowed to meet Imran despite clear orders from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that family meetings be arranged every Tuesday and Thursday.

When asked about the sit-in, she said that last time, a police officer had requested them to leave and gave an assurance that he would not repeat the request the next time she came to the prison.

“I want to hold a sit-in throughout the night,” Aleema said.

KP CM Sohail Afridi urged parliamentarians from across Pakistan to stand in solidarity with Imran’s sisters, adding that he was in Rawalpindi on Aleema’s invitation.

“These people are shameless. They have paralysed the whole system after the constitutional amendment,” he said. “It is unfortunate that the judiciary is also paralysed. Now we have been left with only one option: to go on the streets.”

PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja said that the last meeting with Imran was held with one of the sisters in December, which was unacceptable, adding that discussions within the party were ongoing.

“Two days ago, there was also a meeting with the sisters in Lahore. These are difficult and emotionally charged times. We will move forward with wisdom,” he added.

PTI assails ban on Gilgit Baltistan political party

Meanwhile, Sheikh Waqas Akram condemned the federal government and the Election Commission of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) for banning the Gilgit Baltistan Democratic Party, which entered an electoral alliance with PTI for the 2026 elections.

Denouncing the ban in the strongest terms, the PTI spokesperson alleged that democracy in GB was being “strangulated” ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

“This is not governance; this is naked political vendetta and the systematic murder of democracy,” he declared.

“The government and the election commission have once again exposed their authoritarian agenda by crushing the only alternative platform that sought to give the people of Gilgit Baltistan a genuine voice through their alliance with PTI.”

Akram warned that the move constitutes a flagrant violation of the Constitution and every democratic norm.

He made it clear that the Constitution unequivocally guarantees every political party the right to organise, contest elections, and reach out to the electorate.

“Any attempt to suppress a party solely on the basis of its ideological or political affiliation is a criminal negation of democratic principles and a betrayal of the state’s constitutional responsibilities,” he asserted.

The party’s central information secretary also demanded that the ban be lifted immediately and unconditionally, adding that complete transparency must be ensured in the electoral process, with equal opportunities and a level playing field provided to all political parties.

He further stressed that the Election Commission must fulfil its constitutional duty with absolute impartiality and without any pressure from the federal government.

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THE attack was audacious and well-coordinated. On the night of May 9, terrorists struck a police outpost in KP’s Bannu district, martyring 15 officers and injuring three, according to official reports. An explosive-laden truck rammed into the post, followed by what seems to have been a coordinated assault from multiple directions involving heavy weaponry and drones.

This suggests sophistication in terrorist tactics, and it seems the sole purpose of the attack was to cause maximum casualties. It is yet another grim reminder of how fraught the security situation remains in the province, where terrorists have repeatedly attempted to challenge the state’s writ.

The human cost, borne once again by police families, cannot be measured. Unfortunately, without a successful counterterrorism plan, chances of similar attacks by terrorists remain very high. The state must ensure that the perpetrators are brought swiftly to justice.

The civilian leadership was quick to condemn the attack, express sorrow and vow to eliminate terrorism. The president attributed the attack to Indian sponsorship and Afghan Taliban sanctuary — accusations that have now become routine in official statements following such incidents. He made it clear that Pakistan would “target not only the terrorists, but also their facilitators and sponsors”. Such pronouncements, too, have become familiar.

While the assertions themselves are certainly not unfounded, what is missing is decisive action on the ground against the terrorists who frequently operate in groups. And such action is not possible without deploying a robust intelligence-gathering strategy and coordinated planning involving all branches of security.

Furthermore, a sociopolitical diagnosis of what is going wrong in the western provinces needs to be shared with the Pakistani public to foster a wider understanding of the roots of this malaise. The state needs to devise a comprehensive response strategy to the emergent threats from terrorists, and this can only be achieved when there is broad buy-in from different stakeholders in Pakistan’s internal security calculus. The messaging from all branches of the state needs to be targeted and consistent.

Unfortunately, it seems that we are confusing the different fault lines that threaten internal cohesion. The security narrative and strategy of the KP government diverges considerably from the state’s position, with the resulting dissonance providing emboldened malign actors greater space to operate; the rising toll from terrorist attacks represents the costs it is imposing on the country.

Repeated vows to eliminate terrorism will remain insufficient as long as there is no united front to back them up with. There is also a dire need for a cohesive anti-terror policy that provides zero room for confusion or double games. Clearance operations continue in problem areas to rid them of terrorists, but without a whole-of-nation approach, eradicating this menace remains an uphill challenge.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark this week on a multi-nation tour to the United Arab Emirates and four European countries, officials said on Monday.

Modi will start his whirlwind tour from the UAE — where a 4.5 million-strong Indian community lives — on Friday, India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Modi will meet with the UAE’s leader, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with energy cooperation high on the agenda amid global supply disruptions caused by the Middle East war.

“The visit will serve to promote the significant trade and investment linkages between the two countries,” the statement said.

The premier will then travel to the Netherlands between May 15 and 17 on his second visit there since 2017, with defence, semiconductors and “a strategic partnership on water” between the two countries on the agenda.

Modi’s visit “early in the tenure of the new government will provide an opportunity to further deepen and expand” India’s partnership with the Dutch, the ministry said.

Bilateral trade with the Netherlands — India’s 4th largest investor from Europe — stood at $27.8 billion last year.

Modi then heads to Sweden on May 17 for a two-day visit to hold talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The pair will address the European Round Table for Industry, a major business leaders’ forum, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the statement said.

On May 18, Modi will arrive in Norway for the third India-Nordic Summit.

It will be his first visit to the country and first by an Indian prime minister in 43 years. The final leg of the week-long tour will be Italy, on May 19-20.

“The visit takes place in the backdrop of a strong momentum in bilateral ties with both sides proactively implementing the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029,” India’s foreign ministry said.

The plan seeks to boost bilateral trade and cooperation in defence and security, besides clean energy and technology.

The conflict in the Middle East has piled pressure on India’s economy, and Modi on Sunday urged the Indian population of 1.4 billion to reduce petrol and diesel consumption amid supply disruptions.

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