Islamabad [Pakistan], August 2. Pakistan has again registered a spike in COVID-19 cases as the country recorded 4,858 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, local media reported on Monday.

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said that the COVID-19 took 40 more lives in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 death toll now stands at 23,462. “Statistics 2 Aug 21: Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 56,414 Positive Cases: 4858 Positivity %: 8.61% Deaths: 40,” NCOC said in a tweet.

According to the NCOC, Pakistan’s COVID-19 tally has risen to 1,039,695. Meanwhile, the positivity rate of infections was recorded at 8.61 per cent.

Pakistan on Sunday imposed a smart lockdown in various sectors of the capital due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.

According to a notification issued by the Islamabad district magistrate, the movement of residents will be restricted in 27 streets in different sectors with a high Covid-19 positivity ratio.

Exemptions to the order include essential services and supplies like pharmacy and medicine shops, grocery store and bakeries, patients for medical aid/medical consultation, rationing, drinking water supplies, utilities and emergencies, Dawn reported.

“The citizens are requested to make prior arrangements for their convenience including ration, medicines and reschedule their engagements/office work before the onset of lockdown/sealing date and time,” the notification read.

This comes after Sindh province imposed a partial lockdown from Saturday till August 8 as the COVID-19 cases are surging.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday slammed the partial COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the provincial government in Sindh as it went against the wishes of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government.

While speaking during a question-and-answer session, Khan addressed the Sindh’s decision to impose a partial lockdown to curb rising Covid-19 cases, saying it hadn’t taken into consideration the hardships of the poor, Dawn newspaper reported.

“We had a small problem between the federal government and Sindh,” Khan said. “Sindh government wanted to impose a lockdown, which is the correct decision and will curb the spread of virus.” ANI/Photo: Agency

ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: Thousands of Shiite Muslims from Afghanistan and Pakistan are being recruited by Iran to fight with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria, lured by promises of housing, a monthly salary of up to $600 and the possibility of employment in Iran when they return, say counterterrorism officials and analysts.

These fighters, who have received public praise from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even have their own brigades, but counterterrorism officials in both countries worry about the mayhem they might cause when they return home to countries already wrestling with a major militant problem.

Amir Toumaj, Iran research analyst at the U.S.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the number of fighters is fluid but as many as 6,000 Afghans are fighting for Assad, while the number of Pakistanis, who fight under the banner of the Zainabayoun Brigade, is in the hundreds.

In Afghanistan, stepped-up attacks on minority Shiites claimed by the upstart Islamic State group affiliate known as Islamic State in the Khorasan Province could be payback against Afghan Shiites in Syria fighting under the banner of the Fatimayoun Brigade, Toumaj said. Khorasan is an ancient name for an area that included parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia.

“People were expecting blowback,” said Toumaj. IS “itself has its own strategy to inflame sectarian strife.”

Shiites in Afghanistan are frightened. Worshippers at a recent Friday prayer service said Shiite mosques in the Afghan capital, including the largest, Ibrahim Khalil mosque, were barely a third full. Previously on Fridays — the Islamic holy day — the faithful were so many that the overflow often spilled out on the street outside the mosque.

Mohammed Naim, a Shiite restaurant owner in Kabul issued a plea to Iran: “Please don’t send the poor Afghan Shia refugees to fight in Syria because then Daesh attacks directly on Shias,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

Pakistan has also been targeted by the Islamic State in Khorasan province. IS has claimed several brutal attacks on the country’s Shiite community, sending suicide bombers to shrines they frequent, killing scores of devotees.

In Pakistan, sectarian rivalries routinely erupt in violence. The usual targets are the country’s minority Shiites, making them willing recruits, said Toumaj. The most fertile recruitment ground for Iran has been Parachinar, the regional capital of the Khurram tribal region, that borders Afghanistan, he said. There, Shiites have been targeted by suicide bombings carried out by Sunni militants, who revile Shiites as heretics.

In June, two suicide bombings in rapid succession killed nearly 70 people prompting nationwide demonstrations, with protesters carrying banners shouting: “Stop the genocide of Shiites.”

A Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said recruits are also coming from northern Gilgit and Baltistan. Recruiters are often Shiite clerics with ties to Iran, some of whom have studied in seminaries in Iran’s Qom and Mashhad cities, said a second Pakistani official, who also spoke on condition he not be identified because he still operates in the area and exposing his identity would endanger him.

Yet fighters sign up for many reasons.

Some are inspired to go to Syria to protect sites considered holy to Shiite Muslims, like the shrine honoring Sayyida Zainab, the granddaughter of Islam’s Prophet Muhammed. Located in the Syrian capital of Damascus, the shrine was attacked by Syrian rebels in 2013. Others sign up for the monthly stipend and the promise of a house. For those recruited from among the more than 1 million Afghan refugees still living in Iran it’s often the promise of permanent residence in Iran. For Shiites in Pakistan’s Parachinar it is outrage at the relentless attacks by Sunni militants that drives them to sign up for battle in Syria, said Toumaj.

Mir Hussain Naseri, a member of Afghanistan’s Shiite clerics’ council, said Shiites are obligated to protect religious shrines in both Iraq and Syria.

“Afghans are going to Syria to protect the holy places against attacks by Daesh,” he said. “Daesh is the enemy of Shias.”

Ehsan Ghani, chief of Pakistan’s Counterterrorism Authority, told The Associated Press that his organization is sifting through hundreds of documents, including immigration files, to put a figure on the numbers of Pakistanis fighting on both sides of the many Middle East conflicts, including Syria. But it’s a cumbersome process.

“We know people are going from here to fight but we have to know who is going as a pilgrim (to shrines in Syria and Iraq) and who is going to join the fight,” he said.

Pakistan’s many intelligence agencies as well as the provincial governments are involved in the search, said Ghani, explaining that Pakistan wants numbers in order to devise a policy to deal with them when they return home. Until now, Pakistan has denied the presence of the Islamic State group in Pakistan.

Nadir Ali, a senior policy analyst at the U.S.-based RAND Corp., said Afghan and Pakistani recruits also provide Iran with future armies that Tehran can employ to enhance its influence in the region and as protection against perceived enemies.

Despite allegations that Iran is aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, Ali says battle-hardened Shiite fighters are Tehran’s weapon should relations with an Afghan government that includes the radical majority Sunni religious movement deteriorate.

“Once the Syrian civil war dies down Iran is going to have thousands, if not tens of thousands of militia, under its control to use in other conflicts,” he said. “There is a potential of Iran getting more involved in Afghanistan using militia because Iran is going to be really concerned about security on its border and it would make sense to use a proxy force.”

Pakistan too has an uneasy relationship with Iran. On occasion the anti-Iranian Jandullah militant group has launched attacks against Iranian border guards from Baluchistan province. In June, Pakistan shot down an Iranian drone deep inside its territory.

In Pakistan the worry is that returning fighters, including those who had fought on the side of IS, could start another round of sectarian bloodletting, said the intelligence official. AP

MULTAN, June 25: An overturned oil tanker burst into flames in Pakistan on Sunday, killing more than 120 people who had rushed to the scene of the highway accident to gather leaking fuel, an official said.

Rizwan Naseer, the head of the Punjab province’s rescue services, said 122 people were killed and another 76 were wounded, with many suffering serious burns.

The tanker flipped over on the national highway about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Multan. The tanker was driving from the southern port city of Karachi to Lahore, the Punjab provincial capital, when the driver lost control and crashed.

Nearby villagers ran toward the overturned tanker with jerry cans to take the leaking fuel, said Naseer. Police tried to cordon off the area but were overwhelmed by the scores of villagers who pushed through to reach the truck.

Eyewitnesses said about 30 motorcycles that had carried villagers to the accident site lay in charred ruins nearby. Eight other vehicles were destroyed, they said.

Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, said Naseer.

The disaster came on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. While Saudi Arabia and most other Muslim countries celebrated the holiday Sunday, Pakistanis will celebrate on Monday.

Residents were told of the leaking fuel over a loudspeaker atop the local mosque, said Rana Mohammad Salim, deputy commissioner of Bahawalpur, near where the tanker overturned.

Salim said some of the seriously injured have been moved to Multan. The dead included men, women and children, he said.

Imran Shah, a spokesman for the highway police, told a local TV channel that police moved quickly to redirect traffic but couldn’t stop the scores of villagers who raced to collect the fuel.-AP

ISLAMABAD, June 20: Even after the special convoy escorting Sarfraz Ahmed from the airport got within sight of his Karachi home in the early hours of the morning, it took the Pakistan captain nearly a half-hour to get from the vehicle to his house as a throng of adoring cricket fans clamored for photographs.

Fans decorated the street and waited through the night to welcome their hero, with some carrying children on their shoulders to get a glimpse of the man who led Pakistan to an unlikely win in the Champions Trophy in London.

Supporters unfurled a 70-foot (21-meter) long national flag and carried it in the street as Ahmed drove in, as police tried to clear a path.

Ahmed waved the trophy from the balcony of his house as he was showered with rose petals as the crowd chanted “Pakistan Zindabad,” meaning long live Pakistan.

“This is your trophy and we won it just because of you,” Ahmed said.

Thousands of fans stayed up late across the country to welcome home members of the Pakistan squad.

Ahmed and fast bowler Ruman Raees arrived in Karachi at 4:45 a.m. with the trophy that Pakistan had won for the first time.

Both cricketers were presented with traditional Sindhi shawls and caps at the lounge as fans, and airport officials, didn’t miss an opportunity to take selfies with their heroes.

Pakistan stunned the cricketing world on Sunday when it beat archrival and hot favorite India by 180 runs in the final.

Ahmed’s squad overcame a terrible start in the event — beaten by 124 runs in the first group match by India — to beat South Africa, Sri Lanka and England on the way to the championship match.

“Players came under pressure in the first match, but credit goes to the team management the way they motivated the players,” Ahmed said. “It was a very big victory … it will be remembered for a long time and we are enjoying every moment of it.”

Raees said he didn’t sleep for two days because of all the excitement following Pakistan’s first win in a major cricket tournament since the 1992 World Cup.

“I dedicate the win to the whole nation and we enjoyed the victory a lot, congratulations to the whole country,” Raees said.

Provincial governor Mohammad Zubair said he was proud of “son of Sindh” Ahmed and hoped the victory will ignite more energy into youngsters playing the sport.

“He is the son of Sindh province and we are here to accord him warm welcome,” Zubair said.

“We have not hosted any international team for the last 8 or 9 years, Pakistani players are barred from playing in the IPL (Indian Premier League), but I’m sure with this victory our players will get more opportunities.”

Messages such as “Champion of champions. Team Pakistan! Welcome back after such a tremendous victory” were emblazoned on banners erected at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore when the team landed.

Television footage showed supporters chanting “Pakistan Zindabad” when four of the players entered the public area at 2:30 a.m.

Player-of-the-tournament Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Babar Azam, and Ahmed Shehzad were presented with bouquets by Punjab provincial ministers.

Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif was due to receive the cricketers, but Geo Television reported he couldn’t travel to the airport at the last minute because of security reasons.

Ali took three wickets in the final and finished as the tournament’s leading bowler with 13 wickets in five matches.

Fans surrounded Ali’s car and showered it with rose petals, while the fast bowler smiled and waved from inside the vehicle.

A similar reception was accorded to man-of-the-match in the final, Fakhar Zaman, who smashed 114 off 106 balls, when he landed in Peshawar.

Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Junaid Khan arrived in Islamabad where a fleet of policemen a gave guard of honor to the three players at the airport.-AP

Pakistan: A powerful earthquake struck a border area of southeast Iran on Tuesday killing at least 35 people in neighboring Pakistan, destroying hundreds of houses and shaking buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states.

Communications with the sparsely-populated desert and mountain region were largely cut off, making it difficult to assess Iranian casualties. But an Iranian provincial governor later said there were no reports of deaths there so far.

“Our staff were in a meeting and we felt the ground shake,” Saleh Mangi, Programme Unit Manager for Plan International in the Pakistani town of Thatta, was quoted as saying by the British office of the children’s charity.

“It was horrible – we felt the movement in the chairs and even the cupboards were shaking. This is the strongest quake I have felt since the 1980s.”

Pakistani officials said at least 30 people were killed and 150 injured in the town of Mashkeel in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, which borders Iran.

Mohammed Ashraf, head of a health center in Mashkeel, said several hundred houses in the town had caved in. Three women and two children were also killed when their mud house collapsed in the Baluchistan district of Panjgur.

“The earthquake has killed at least five people in Panjgur,” said Ali Imran, an official at the government disaster-response unit in Quetta, Baluchistan’s main city.

Pakistan’s army said it had deployed troops and helicopters to ferry tents, medicines and medical teams to Mashkeel.

IRAN RELATIVELY UNSCATHED

Iran appeared to have emerged relatively unscathed. National media reported that 27 people were injured and that the significant depth was the likely reason for the relatively low level of damage from a 7.8 magnitude quake.

Soon after the quake, an Iranian official told Reuters he expected hundreds of dead and state media quoted unconfirmed reports of 40 fatalities in Iran.

But Hatam Narouyi, governor of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, said there were “no fatalities”, the student news agency (ISNA) reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in a revised bulletin, said the quake hit at 1044 GMT at a depth of 82 km (51 miles). The epicenter was 198 km (123 miles) southeast of the city of Zahedan and 250 km northwest of Turbat in Pakistan.

People in the Iranian city of Zahedan poured into the streets when it struck, Fars news agency reported. Officials in Saravan, the nearest city to the epicenter, said there had been no serious damage.

Iranian Red Crescent official Morteza Moradipour said emergency crews, including dog teams to sniff through the debris for any buried survivors, had reached the area.

“Because of the strength of the earthquake we had expected to see significant damage in residential areas but the quake was at a depth of 95 km and therefore the extent of the damage was on par with earthquakes measuring magnitude 4,” he said.

The U.N.’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it was in contact with authorities in Iran and “stands ready to assist upon request”, a spokesman said.

NUCLEAR RISK

It was the second big quake to hit Iran in a week. On April 9, a powerful 6.3 magnitude quake struck close to the Bushehr nuclear power station, killing 37 people, injuring 850 and devastating two villages.

Most of Iran’s nuclear-related facilities are located in central Iran or its west, including Bushehr, its nuclear power plant, which sits on the Gulf coast. Iran says safety standards at Bushehr are good, but some Western experts have their doubts.

“It (the quake epicenter) is far from Bushehr and other nuclear-related facilities,” Iran expert Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group think-tank said.

“However, the recent tremors are ominous reminders of how earthquake prone Iran’s terrain truly is and how critical it is for the Iranian government to be prepared for a nuclear emergency.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear authority had informed it that there was no damage to the Bushehr power plant or other facilities.

Iran sits on major geological faultlines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 that flattened the city of Bam, in Iran’s far southeast, killing more than 25,000 people.

This quake also shook tall buildings in India’s capital New Delhi, sending people running into the streets. People also evacuated buildings in Qatar and Dubai.

“I was working and my work station was shaking,” said Viidhu Sekhri, 35, an underwriter at a New Delhi insurance company. “Then it was a bit shaky so we just rushed outside.”