Pakistani PM discusses bilateral ties, economic plans with Saudi crown prince in Riyadh 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Ministry on Monday announced that it has authorized the deployment of army and paramilitary Punjab Rangers troops for the security of the South Africa and New Zealand cricket teams ahead of a tri-nation series scheduled to be held this week. 

Pakistan is set to host a tri-nation ODI series from Feb. 8-14 in Lahore and Karachi cities featuring New Zealand and South Africa. The cricket series is being held as preparation for the upcoming eight-nation Champions Trophy tournament, also slated to be held later this month in Pakistan. 

However, former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has announced it would mark Feb. 8 as a “Black Day” and hold nationwide protests on the one-year anniversary of February 2024 national polls that the PTI alleges were rigged. 

“The Federal Government, in exercise of the powers conferred under Article 245 of the Constitution is pleased to authorize deployment of Pakistan Army and Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) troops under Sections 4 and 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 for security and protection duties to avoid any untoward incident during the visit of New Zealand and South Africa cricket teams to Pakistan,” the interior ministry’s notification said. 

The ministry said that the exact number of troops, assets, date and area of deployment of the army and Rangers troops “will be worked out by the respective provincial governments in consultation with concerned stakeholders” based on the on-ground requirements and assessments. 

“The date of de-requisitioning of said deployment will be decided subsequently after mutual consultation among all stakeholders,” it said. 

The 2024 polls were marred by a countrywide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by the PTI and other opposition parties. 

The caretaker government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied the allegations. The US House of Representatives, as well as European countries, have called on Islamabad to open a probe into the allegations — a move that Pakistan has thus far rejected.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday urged the PTI to call off its Feb. 8 protests. 

Protests by the PTI, whose founder Khan is in jail since August 2023 on a slew of charges he denies, have resulted in violence in the past. 

The party is accused of leading protests on May 9, 2023, in which government buildings and military installations were attacked nationwide following Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges. Khan and his party have denied involvement in the violence. 

In November last year thousands of Khan protesters assembled in Islamabad to demand his release from prison. The government says four troops were killed in clashes, a charge the PTI denies and says scores of its workers were also killed.
 
Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote in 2022 has plunged Pakistan into a political crisis. His party and the government held talks in December and January to ease political tensions in the country. 

However, the PTI ended negotiations last month, saying the government had failed to honor its demands of establishing judicial commissions to probe the protests of May 9, 2023, and November 2024. 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A Pakistan police officer traveling to guard polio vaccinators was shot dead Monday, police said, on the first day of a nationwide immunization effort after a year of rising cases.

The officer was traveling to guard polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when he was killed, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP.

“Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him,” he said. “The constable died instantly at the scene.”

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.

Pakistan recorded at least 73 polio infections last year compared to six in 2023. The vaccination campaign which started on Monday is the first of the year and is due to last a week.

“Despite the incident, the polio vaccination drive in the area remains ongoing,” Khan said.

Abdul Hameed Afridi, another senior police official in the area, also confirmed details of the attack and said officers have “launched an investigation.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, however Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — which neighbors Afghanistan — is a hive of militant activity.

The Pakistani Taliban are the most active group in the area.

Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but scores of vaccination workers and their escorts have been killed over the years.

In the past, clerics falsely claimed that the vaccine contained pork or alcohol, declaring it forbidden for Muslims.

In more recent years the attacks have focused on vulnerable police escorts accompanying the vaccinators as they go door-to-door.

Last year, dozens of Pakistani policemen who accompany medical teams on campaigns went on strike after a string of militant attacks targeting them.

Pakistan has witnessed rising militant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan.

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in 2024 — the deadliest year in almost a decade — according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

Islamabad accuses Kabul’s new rulers of failing to rout militants organizing on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government routinely denies.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday last year’s polio eradication efforts faced “a major setback.”

“We must eradicate polio from Pakistan at any cost,” he said as he launched the new vaccination drive.