g PREMIER ATTENDS BANNU MARTYRS ’ FUNERAL WITH COA S, PLEDGES NO COMPROMISE IN FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
killed 13
during an intense exchange of fire in South Waziris-
From September 10 to 13, security
eliminated
khwarij belonging to Indian proxy
al-Khwarij” in two separate engagements On Thursday seven more soldiers were martyred and 10 terrorists killed in Lower Dir The state uses the term Fitna alKhwarij to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Balochistan-based groups have also been designated Fitna al-Hindustan to underline India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan PM Shehbaz accompanied by Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, later attended a high-level counterterrorism meeting in Bannu Both leaders also joined the funeral prayers of the martyrs of the South Waziristan operation
RAWALPINDI
R e p o R t
A total of 19 soldiers were martyred and 45 terrorists linked to the “Indian proxy Fitna al-Khwarij” were killed in three separate intelligence-based operations conducted in KhyberPakhtunkhwa between September 10 and 13, the military s media wing reported on Saturday According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the first operation took place in Bajaur district following reports of terrorist presence Own troops effectively engaged the location, and after an intense exchange of fire, 22 terrorists were killed, the statement said In a separate encounter in South Waziristan district 13 more terrorists were neutralised by security forces The army confirmed that 12 personnel fought gallantly paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat (martyrdom) Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from Indian-sponsored
The Afghan interim government has been clearly told to choose between supporting the khwarij or standing with Pakistan, the prime minister said, stressing the involvement of infiltrated Afghan nationals in terrorist incidents and reiterating the urgent need for the repatriation of illegal Afghan residents He further warned that anyone facilitating or advocating for terrorists or
acting as proxies for India was essentially their agent and would be dealt with accordingly Praising the resilience of the nation, particularly the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PM Shehbaz said they had “stood like Banyanum Marsoos (a wall fortified with lead) with the state and armed forces against Indian proxies
pected to participate in the summit The summit will be preceded by the preparatory meeting of the foreign ministers on September 14 2025 Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will participate in the preparatory session,” the FO said The FO reiterated that Pakistan accorded high importance to its relations with Qatar and strongly condemned Israeli aggression against the country and other regional states Among the leaders attending will be Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani Recep Tayyip Erdogan the president of Turkey will also be in Doha but confirmation of his attendance at the meeting is pending
a
COMMENT
IMF and flood relief
The IMF imprimatur on ever y financial decision is coming in way of flood relief
HE IMF s approval will be needed if the gov-
Ternment wishes to provide relief to the floodaffected peasantry by writing off their electricity bills even though if not written off the burden of the bills is such that many of the affected consumers would be unable to pay those bills anyhow, leading to the money still being lost unless piled up as receivables The IMF is to be asked to sign off on a one-month waiver for all consumers There is double anxiety about the IMF’s approval, for it has historically been hypersensitive about anything to do with power sector finances and it has a review team arriving soon to conduct the second review of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility of $7 billion The first review ended with concerns about revenue collection and provincial finances The second review is already complicated because of the floods, with tax collection and spending figures, as well as inflation and growth targets, all askew because of them
It bears remembering that national sovereignty means the ability to spend to meet national aspirations, and having the IMF vet every spending proposal is clearly a violation At the same time it could be argued that the government was composed of adults who went into the deal with their eyes open, and knowing that if the IMF agreed to lend Pakistan the money it would do so on condition that it got control of the nation s economy Thus, the IMF would be perfectly justified to ensure that when giving relief, whether by the waiver of electricity bills, agricultural income tex (another point where the IMF would demand a say) or any other means, the government ensured that the books were balanced
However, it should not be forgotten that this is not an ordinary government transaction not the reconstruction of a destroyed bridge or a washersaway road; it is the relief of people who have lost their homes and household goods, who have lost their livestock and their crops who have nothing but the clothes they wear and a determination to rebuild their lives The IMF must be convinced that people matter more than money If the government cannot help people now will it be able to do so in the future, when calamities such as the floods will be worse than at present?
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M
A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
SOCIAL media has opened up many new platforms in communication, entertainment and knowledge Unfortunately, it has also given radicals the means to target connect and communicate with individuals who are vulnerable to radicalization The exposure to extremist content and online groups can lead them down to a very dangerous track Terrorist groups exploit social media platforms for propaganda, recruitment, coordination, fundraising and execution of their terror activities and it is only due to the platform's wide accessibility low cost and instant reach Social media also enables them to communicate directly with audiences in real time-unfiltered by mainstream media channels To radicalize the individuals, terrorists use numerous social media platforms which include, online journals, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, video games, Telegram, and many others It has been seen that both the terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State publish online journals which are available worldwide to train educate and radicalize individuals Social media is not about exploitation but service to the community Simon Mainwaring A study by Gabriel Weimann (University of Haifa) estimates that nearly 90 percent of organized online terrorism occurs via social media platforms ISIS alone deployed approximately 46 000 Twitter accounts between September and December 2014 with many accounts being duplicates due to suspensions The Islamic State has maintained a media insurgency featuring slick video content, posters like “Jihadi John” and highly produced propaganda aimed at both global and regional audiences The Algorithmic design and artificial intelligence have accelerated the delivery of extremist content Platforms like Tik Tok are implicated in algorithmdriven radicalization Austrian authority disrupted a
b e r u n i t s f o c u s e d o n d i s m a n t l i n g t e r r o r n e t w o r k s o n l i n e W e n e e d t o t r a i n p e o p l e t o r e c o g n i z e f a k e n e w s , e x t r e m i s t p r o p a g a n d a a n d r e c r u i t m e n t a t t e m p t s I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o p r e v e n t t e r r o r i s t s f r o m u s i n g e n c r y p t e d c h a n n e l s
O p e r a t i o n S p i d e r w e b a n d t h e R e c a l i b r a t i o n o f A
tributed resilient and smart aerial capabilities
Fields of reform
Public-private partnerships must step forward to organise awareness seminars and capacity-building workshops at the grassroots
Undoubtedly
events can
a pivotal role in educating farmers about
techniques like drip irrigation sprinkler systems and the use of climate-smart agricultural practices that significantly enhance productivity and water conservation, enabling a sustainable agricultural growth A
example of agricultural advancement can be
Abdul
in
University in Khairpur, which has
Date Palm Research Institute (DPRI) Khairpur is renowned for its
and this dedicated institution is helping revolutionise the date industry by researching and cultivating multiple species of date palms By employing these and other scientific methods and farmer collaboration the DPRI is enabling local farmers to irrigate date palms more efficiently, and to increase their yields considerably The Agriculture University of Tando-jam,
costly, smaller, and commonly improvised but no less effective The contemporary
drone battlefield also erases the distinction between regular and irregular warfare Aerial attacks may now be initiated anonymously, remotely, or even from third-party territories
This has a broad relevance, especially in contested airspaces where historical rivalries have shaped defense postures
Unmanned warfare also provides plausible deniability and a higher threshold of public tolerance This has political utility since states can now project force with impunity from the political costs that are usually borne by troops
Though this would seem to diminish the risk of armed conflict it also renders it more conceivable The same qualities that make drone warfare appealing low cost low risk and low visibility may also lower the threshold for using it, exposing the world to a more volatile strategic environment
This new model presents both a challenge and an opportunity to countries that prioritize strategic autonomy and credible deterrence but do not want to overstretch defense budgets Institutional innovation is required to move to dis-
This change does not occur in isolation Pakistan Air Force s (PAF) successful drone strikes against India during Operation Zarb-e-Karrar thwarted aggressive Indian military ambitions The PAF demonstrated its ability to respond to new realities of aerial warfare by integrating drone warfare with intelligence gathering, surveillance, and top-notch human command and control With Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at the helm, the PAF is set to redefine its defense stance and innovate ahead of a larger adversary
Instead of overreliance on legacy platforms, the focus should be shifted to integrated sensor networks, electronic warfare resilience, and tactical autonomy Still, even the most autonomous systems rely on human command context and interpretation
However even the smartest drone systems must rely on human context target verification, and doctrinal clarity It also requires definition of doctrine: at what point does a drone attack constitute an act of war? Who is to be held responsible when authorship lines are intentionally crossed? These questions are not restricted to one conflict or theater This is a new age where the size of the fleet or the range of the flight is not the only measure of air dominance; survivability, adaptability, and control of information are crucial aspects Actors with complex threat environments have to start thinking of airpower as a layered concept one that embraces agility over prestige and innovation over inertia
This change does not occur in isolation Pakistan Air Force s (PAF) successful drone strikes against India during Operation Zarb-eKarrar thwarted aggressive Indian military ambitions The PAF demonstrated its ability to respond to new realities of aerial warfare by integrating drone warfare with intelligence gathering surveillance and top-notch human command and control With Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at the helm, the PAF is set to redefine its defense stance and innovate ahead of a larger adversary
Imama Khan is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS) Lahore She can be reached at info@casslhr com
Alavi’s lasting gift
by his grandparents He later went abroad for higher studies On return to the country he became a respected name among progressive circles especially students, in the early 1950s As a professional, he rose to be the chairman of a leading multinational logistics, sales and dis-tribution company specialising in pharma-ceutical
The Unforgivable Betrayal
Tlentless antagonist that, with each calculated atrocity, drags the entire world closer to the precipice of an unimaginable regional perhaps even global inferno The time for polite diplomacy is over; the time for unvarnished truth is now The fundamental reality that Israel is not just a regional actor but is and has always been the antagonist of every story it touches, must be understood before one can appreciate the heinousness of the attack on Qatar The most recent but by no means the only evidence of this indisputable fact is the horrific, post-apocalyptic landscape of Gaza A systematic, painstakingly carried out genocide, broadcast live to a world that largely ignores it, is what takes place every day in that besieged strip It is not war We see in graphic detail the willful starvation of chil-
dren the targeted destruction of hospitals the ruthless killing of humanitarian workers and the complete destruction of entire cities, all of which are excused by the twisted justification of "self-defence " The disastrous exodus of more than 700 000 Palestinians from their homes to establish the state of Israel known as the Nakba was the model Every single Israeli policy action for more than 76 years every settlement built illegally on stolen land, every siege imposed, every life put down, every voice silenced, has been a direct continuation of that first ruthless dispossession
The ongoing humiliation and dehumanization of a whole people the choking blockade of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank are not unintended outcomes of a convoluted geopolitical conflict They are the purposeful, planned tools of an apartheid state, intended to destroy Palestinian identity and assert total control over supposedly ancestral homelands Israel has a history of conquest rather than defence Its story is one of systematic oppression rather than one of survival However, even for a state used to functioning outside the bounds of international law the attack on Qatar marks a new terrifying low As the main frequently only mediator between Israel and Hamas Qatar has been instrumental for months This was not a self-appointed mission; rather, the USA and other Western powers explicitly urged, indeed, begged for this responsibility The betrayal of Qatar by its closest ally is a significant geopolitical development Al Udeid Air Base the biggest US military facility in the Middle East, is located in Qatar, which has long been a vital strategic ally of the United States The USA has a de facto commitment to safeguarding Qatari airspace making this relationship a pillar of regional
security The US government explicitly supported and encouraged Qatar s diplomatic efforts, which included mediating a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas These efforts went beyond simple humanitarian efforts Israel has committed a grave betrayal with its attack on Qatar a country that has continuously served as a mediator on behalf of the USA It shatters the notion that nations aiding the USA will be shielded from the aggressions of its other allies openly disregards the sovereignty and security of a vital ally, and directly undercuts the country's diplomatic efforts And what has Israel done to repay this vital life-saving diplomatic endeavour? Utilizing a missile a clear-cut act of aggression directed at a sovereign state If the stakes weren't so tragically high, the hypocrisy would be almost comical An unprovoked attack has now been directed at Qatar a country that has continuously offered a lifeline to stability in a volatile region and has even given crucial support to the United States and its allies recall Qatar's unwavering support when Israel itself attempted to drag the USA into a war with Iran This is not just an assault on Qatar; it is an assault on the idea of diplomacy itself, a calculated move intended to destroy any remaining confidence and obstruct any attempts at de-escalation It screams of a state that seeks perpetual conflict rather than true peace, using every negotiation as a pretext for its next violent outburst Any country that dares to mediate should take note: if you disobey our unwavering will you will pay the price Israel s attack on Qatar has absolutely disastrous ramifications This is a purposeful, incendiary act intended to add fuel to an already raging fire not just a single act of aggression Israel has shattered the last semblance of diplomatic decorum by attacking a country that has acted as a neutral arbiter and declared open season on anyone who dared to oppose its ruthless agenda or stand in its way This is a state that has never stopped and never will Its history is one of unrelenting territorial expansion and neighbour-subjugation The West Bank is still suffering; Gaza was only one cruel chapter Israel has now made it apparent that it is prepared to significantly increase the scope of its operations with the strike on Qatar Who will come next? Will it
be Lebanon, which has already been damaged and endured countless Israeli bombardments? Will it be Jordan an unstable monarchy facing an unthinkable refugee crisis? Will it be Egypt, torn between the destabilizing power of Israeli aggression and its own internal problems? Israel has just given the final push to the already stacked dominoes Israel is dancing with a lit match in a fiery furnace that is the region The assault on Qatar will undoubtedly be viewed as a direct challenge to the Arab and Muslim world as a whole, not just as a slight to Doha Resistance will be unstoppable due to the collective memory of past atrocities the ongoing genocide in Gaza and this flagrant act of war against a major regional actor Already devastating, the current conflict runs the risk of turning into a regional apocalypse that could attract all major powers, upending international stability and bringing in an era of unspeakable suffering The USA has been frantically trying to hide the horrifying reality that it has lost control of its most important client state, but the attack on Qatar has exposed it The USA has been Israel's main enabler for decades, giving it unending
Charlie Kirk ’s legac y deser ves no mourning
gantly told Taylor Swift she should do after learning of her engagement ( Reject feminism he said You re not in charge ) We also live in a Haitian immigrant neighborhood, and if you only listened to Charlie Kirk,
CHARLES James Kirk, 31, died on Wednesday from a gunshot to the neck at a Utah Valley University campus event just as he was trying to deflect a question about mass shootings by suggesting they were largely a function of gang violence He died with a net worth of $12 million, which he made by espousing horrific and bigoted views in the name of advancing Christian nationalism The foundation of his empire was the group he cofounded and led Turning Point USA which is a key youth-recruitment arm of the MAGA movement Kirk was able to launch Turning Point at the age of 18 because he received money from Tea Party member Bill Montgomery right-wing donor Foster Feiss and his own father also a prolific right-wing donor He was an unrepentant racist transphobe homophobe and misogynist who often wrapped his bigotry in
Bible verses because there was no other way to pretend that it was morally correct He had children as do many vile people It is rude of me to say all of this because we live in a culture where manners are often valued more than truth That is why a slew of pundits and politicians have raced to portray Kirk’s activities, which harmed many vulnerable people, in a positive light and to give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not grant to anyone who wasn t white Christian straight and male California Governor Gavin Newsom framed Kirk s project as a healthy democratic exercise: The best way to honor Charlie s memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology through spirited discourse In a democracy ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate This downwardly defines both discourse and good-faith There is no requirement to take part in this whitewashing campaign, and refusing to join in doesn’t make anyone a bad person It’s a choice to write an obituary that begins “Joseph Goebbels was a gifted marketer and loving father to six children
Many of the facile defenses of Kirk and his legacy are predicated on the idea that it s acceptable to spread hateful ideas advocating for the persecution of perceived enemies as long you dress them up in a posture of debate This is just class privilege The man who said “Black women do not have brain processing power to be taken seriously You have to go steal a white person s slot said it while wearing a nice shirt and a tie on a podcast instead of tattered overalls in the park-
ing lot of a rural Walmart That does not make it any less racist It’s true that we cannot know what was in Charlie Kirk’s heart because we are not telepathic But we can make reasonable inferences based on the things he said and did publicly because we are also not colossally stupid He built a large following, and acquired real political power saying these things to young people, to the president and his minions to deep-pocket right-wing donors and there are far too many people who have been ready to suggest that he was able to do this through a combination of natural charisma and good old-fashioned hard work Speaking about and addressing the late Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who is Black, he said, “It’s very obvious to us you are not smart enough to be able to get it on your own I could not make it on my own so I needed to take opportunities from someone more deserving Kirk was smart enough to ask his father for a check when wanted to found Turning Point, and had always been happy to curtail opportunities for more deserving people when they failed to conform to his own ideology It s this that makes it particularly galling to see him cast by some as a free-speech warrior He created a professor watchlist explicitly designed to get academics fired who dared talk about the right’s usual assortment of verboten topics anything to do with race or gender in particular He also offered the standard right-wing plaint about left-wing indoctrination in American universities even
Trump c anceling India’s jobs grab
White
as he went on campus tours trying to indoctrinate young people into his hard-right Christian nationalist worldview When we decline to speak ill of the dead it s because we have compassion for the living In this respect I am sorry for Kirk s children I don t know if Kirk was a good father, but if he was, that does little to mitigate the damage he did to other people s children I can only hope for the sake of his kids that they have role models who will teach them that it is wrong to profit off the dehumanization of people because of who they are When asked about mass shootings he said, I think it s worth it I think it s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment ” Perhaps Kirk did not believe that his own life would be cut short by gun violence but like the rest of us he has witnessed countless school shootings When he said some gun deaths are acceptable, he surely knew he lived in a country where the deaths he deemed acceptable included those of children, some of whom were the age of his own There is no inherent virtue in caring about your own children; that is the bare minimum requirement for effective parenting Virtue lies in caring about the safety and well-being of children you don t know On that front, I m fairly sure Kirk did not care about my child My child lives in Brooklyn, in a progressive family His mother works and does not have a marriage where she is considered inferior to her husband or required to obey him as Kirk arro-
GOVT STEPS UP RELIEF, REHABILITATION DRIVE FOR FLOOD VICTIMS ACROSS PUNJAB
travelers, and the needy “True spirituality lies not only in worship and remembrance of God, but in serving humanity, he emphasized He further said that this spirit also guides us at the state level today The Ministry of Poverty Alleviation is working with the same commitment to ensure that no orphan remains without a support, women are respected and youth are provided with employment opportunities
No Compromise on Relief for Flood Vic tims: Azma B
LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t
Punjab Minister for Information and Culture, Azma Bokhari, has said that the Punjab government is ensuring relief and rehabilitation measures in every flood-affected area She said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is continuously visiting the affected regions and personally reviewing the facilities being provided to the
Promotion Board confirms 693 ASIs of Lahore police
As many as 693 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) of the Lahore police have been confirmed following a meeting of the Promotion Board Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana chaired the Promotion Board meeting that was attended DIG (Admin) Imran Kishwar SSP (Discipline) Hassan Javed Bhatti and SSP (Legal) Ghulam Hussain Chauhan The confirmations span across multiple divisions of Lahore Police, including Operations, Investigation, and Security Among those promoted are Muhammad Shahid, Imran Ali Sattar Abid Hussain Muhammad Ashraf Javed Muhammad Nadeem Muhammad Mahfooz Naveed Abbas Rehmat Ullah Muhammad Ayaz Mehmood Ataullah Nasir Muhammad Azam Butt, and Shabbir Hussain and others Speaking on the occasion, CCPO Kamyana congratulated the newly confirmed policemen and urged them to continue serving with professionalism dedication and integrity He stressed that timely promotions and resolution of service-related matters remain a priority for the department The Lahore Police is committed to acknowledging the hard work of its staff through merit-based promotions Special attention is also being given to the welfare of the families of our martyrs ” the CCPO stated He expressed hope that the newly confirmed ASIs would play a proactive role in upholding law
hari
CIVIL-MILITARY COORDINATION VITAL TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES FACED BY FLOOD-HIT PEOPLE: FIELD MARSHAL
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t
In an important development following an exchange of hot words between Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and rights activist and lawyer Advocate Imaan Mazari, the latter on Saturday
and police officials engaged in relief operations He lauded their high morale, operational readiness, and steadfast dedication to serving the nation under extremely challenging circumstances He commended their round-the-clock efforts carried out in close coordination with civil administration to provide timely relief and assistance to the people The Army Chief also undertook an aerial reconnaissance of flood-affected areas both along the Lahore-Kasur and MultanJalalpur Pir Wala Axes to assess the scale of damage and ongoing relief efforts
