ARMY TOP BRASS CONDEMNS
a comprehensive review of the internal and external security environment It reiterated a firm resolve to eliminate terrorist proxies allegedly backed by India and other external actors along with their facilitators
Pakistan condemns Iranian strikes on Saudi energy facilities
actions risk derailing ongoing diplomatic initiatives The forum noted that Riyadh’s measured response despite “grave provocations” had created space for mediation cautioning that continued aggression could jeopardize these efforts Earlier, Pakistan s Foreign Office also condemned the strikes, terming them a dangerous escalation that threatens regional peace
The development comes in the backdrop of a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year, under which any attack on either country is considered an act of aggression against both The conference also conducted
The military leadership emphasized that ongoing operations against militants would continue with full intensity including efforts to dismantle safe havens and prevent the use of Afghanistan s soil for attacks against Pakistan
The forum further rejected what it described as persistent disinformation and “false flag” narratives attributed to India asserting that such claims have been widely discredited internationally It also raised concern over alleged human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including reports of extrajudicial killings
PAKISTAN EYES FRESH FINANCING FROM CHINA , SAUDI ARABIA AS UAE REPAYMENTS STRAIN FOREX RESERVES
policy focus on expanding access to services, improving targeting mechanisms and strengthening institutional systems to support vulnerable populations
S TA F F R E P O R T
Pakistan has developed a new integrated energy planning model to guide long-term policy decisions, as rising demand, import dependence and climate commitments place pressure on the energy sector according to a news report
The model Pak-IEM 2 0 has been developed by Germany s development agency GIZ in collaboration with the Energy Planning and Resource Centre (EP&RC) under a project focused on decarbonisation and digitisation of power distribution networks
A report presented to the power minister said Pakistan s energy system is under strain from population growth, urbanisation and increasing demand for cooling transport and industrial output alongside reliance on imported fossil fuels These factors are affecting affordability, en-
ergy security and fiscal stability
The model is designed to support long-term planning using the TIMES-VEDA framework allowing policymakers to compare different energy pathways and assess trade-offs related to costs, investment, emissions and energy security It provides a system-wide view of both supply and demand across the energy sector
Two scenarios have been developed under the model: a Least Cost Baseline (LCB) and a Net Zero Energy (NZE) pathway
The LCB scenario assumes continuation of current policies as of July 2025 with adoption of cost-efficient technologies but without strict decarbonisation targets Under this pathway, energy demand is projected to grow about 2 5 times by 2050 compared to 2024 levels while final energy demand increases by around 30% Renewable sources become the main contributor to power gener-
ation, reducing emissions from the power sector by about 56% However fossil fuels including imported oil and LNG continue to play a significant role in sectors such as transport, industry and households, resulting in overall emissions stabilising rather than declining
The NZE scenario outlines a
oil facility, the statement said The prime minister assured the crown prince that Pakistan would always stand “shoulder to shoulder with the kingdom recalling Saudi Arabia s steadfast support to Pakistan through thick and thin He also lauded the wisdom and restraint demonstrated by Saudi leadership amid the ongoing crisis “Pakistan is working assiduously for the success of peace efforts in partnership with other countries the PMO statement added PM Shehbaz also briefed the crown prince on Islamabad s ongoing mediation efforts to de-escalate the Middle East crisis The
crown prince reportedly appreciated Pakistan s initiatives aimed at restoring regional stability Later, PM Shehbaz reiterated Pakistan s solidarity with Saudi Arabia in a post on X, echoing the sentiments conveyed in his call
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed grief over the loss of lives and deplored the damage to vital infrastructure, offering condolences to the families of the victims and reaffirming solidarity with the government and people of Saudi Arabia The ministry described the attacks as a serious violation of Saudi Arabia s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a dangerous escalation that undermines regional peace and stability ” The military leadership also condemned the strikes during the 274th Corps Commanders Conference (CCC), terming them an
unnecessary escalation” that could undermine ongoing mediation efforts
Solarization cannot be blocked forever
The price of storage the only barrier to wholesale flight from the grid
R
SPI N C E Donald Trump first broke onto the national political scene there has been a serious debate among Republicans regarding his commitment to conservative principles His style was, in a word, flamboyant His morality was questionable And his behavior and language were outrageous None of these behaviors could be identified with the staid buttoned-down behaviour on display in conservative circles In recent decades Republicans have latched onto a range of social issues like gay marriage, transgender rights and abortion, or cultural matters like xenophobia and opposition to affirmative action
None of these issues however were central to textbook conservatism which historically has been encapsulated in the mantra lower taxes smaller government and the insistence that the principal role of government ought to be securing the national defence
Despite not being cut from the same mold as Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan, President Trump has proven his bona fides on advancing these core conservative goals Mimicking the Reagan and George W Bush administrations President Trump in his first and second terms has coupled significant reductions in taxes with dramatic increases in defense spending either to expand the Pentagon s already bloated budget or to underwrite foreign wars fought by us or allies This week’s rollout of Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 looks like a conservative s dream come true He is asking for a $500 billion increase in the defense department s budget, amounting to the largest increase (44 percent) and the largest overall military budget since World War II This 2027 increase is on top of the $350 billion supplement requested for 2026 presumably to offset the increased costs resulting from the US-Israel war on Iran
The 2027 budget request also includes increases for Veterans Affairs and the Justice Department (to cover the costs of immigration prosecutions) But the 2027 budget also makes cuts in 10 other government agencies, with sharp reductions for the State Department and international programmes renewable energy projects research grants in health care and a
Wisdom in the Age of Algorithms
number of social, educational and medical programs When asked by reporters about the impact of these reductions specifically on Medicare, Medicaid, and daycare programs, the president replied: “We’re fighting wars It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare Medicaid Medicare all these things What makes this problematic is that these dramatic increases in defence spending have been coupled with a sharp reduction in revenues resulting from Trump s signature legislation the One Big Beautiful Bill” that passed last year That bill included reductions in taxes totaling $4 5 trillion over the
If this presidentÊs policies over the last decade havenÊt convinced the conser vative elite that he isnÊt really one of them or voters that heÊs not the radical populist his rhetoric made him out to be , then his 2027 budg et should be all the convincing they need
TChatGPT and Google s Gemini can now explain almost any concept in multiple languages at beginner or doctoral depth, with infinite patience and no visible fatigue They draft essays, solve equations, generate simulations, translate research, and provide feedback at any time with the same composure The second is robotics Companies like Boston Dynamics and Tesla are advancing humanoid machines capable of walking gesturing maintaining eye contact, and mimicking warmth through increasingly refined motor control and affective computing What was once the realm of speculative fiction is now a line item in venture capital portfolios Combine these trajectories Embed state-ofthe-art AI into a humanoid body that looks and sounds convincingly human What do you have? A professor who never tires, never forgets, never arrives late, never deviates from curriculum, and critically scales infinitely This is not alarmism; it is trajectory analysis According to UNESCO data global tertiary enrollment has surpassed 235 million students and continues to grow especially in South Asia and Africa Yet faculty hiring has not kept pace In many countries, student–faculty ratios are widening, adjunctification is rising, and budgetary pressures are constant Meanwhile, AI adoption in education is accelerating Surveys from major consulting firms in 2024–25 suggest that over 60 percent of university students globally have used generative AI for academic assistance Institutions are experimenting with AI tutors, automated grading systems, and adaptive learning platforms The economic logic is obvious If an AI-driven humanoid system can deliver standardized content answer questions in real time generate personalized practice sets and provide immediate formative feedback, the marginal cost per student approaches zero For cash-strapped universities, that is an irresistible proposition So let us ask candidly: what secures a professor ’s job five to ten years from now? If the answer is I deliver content that function is already being commoditized If the answer is I explain things clearly AI systems are rapidly approaching parity in clarity, especially in
structured domains such as mathematics coding and foundational sciences If the answer is I stand at the front of a classroom and speak for an hour, the countdown has begun The uncomfortable truth is that much of modern higher education has reduced the professor to a knowledge transmission device Lecture slides Standardized assessments Content coverage Learning management systems
These are precisely the functions most vulnerable to automation because they are rule-based, scalable, and measurable But education, at its best has never been about content delivery alone Students do not merely need information; they need formation No algorithm however sophisticated has lived through professional failure navigated institutional politics rebuilt after personal loss, or wrestled with ethical ambiguity in real-world settings AI can simulate advice It cannot embody consequence It can generate moral frameworks It has never paid the price of a wrong decision
The professors who will remain indispensable are not those who outperform machines in information density They are those who model judgment under uncertainty Consider what students actually remember ten years after graduation Rarely is it the third slide from Week 6 It is the mentor who believed in them when they failed The supervisor who shared a story of rejection before success The teacher who admitted doubt in a world obsessed with certainty These are not soft add-ons; they are developmental catalysts The university of the future does not need professors who function as databases with salaries It needs what might be called houses of wisdom individuals who integrate knowledge with character experience and ethical reflection This is not a sentimental defense of the status quo It is a strategic redefinition of academic value If universities intend to remain relevant in an era shaped by artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics structural reform is no longer optional it is strategic Faculty evaluation systems must be redesigned to reward mentorship quality, transformative student engagement, and reflective teaching practice rather than relying almost exclusively on publication counts and contact hours Institutions should treat AI as foundational infrastructure like electricity or broadband integrating it to handle repetitive explanation grading and administrative tasks thereby freeing professors to focus on higherorder dialogue, supervision, and interdisciplinary synthesis Pedagogy must also shift from lecture-cen-
tric delivery to conversation-driven learning replacing high-stakes memory exams with oral defenses, reflective writing, and problem-based studios that make human reasoning visible At the same time, mentorship should be professionalized through formal training in coaching ethical leadership and developmental guidance recognizing that research expertise alone does not guarantee mentoring competence Finally, universities must incentivize community-embedded learning through industry partnerships, civic engagement, and field immersion grounding education in real-world complexity where human accountability not algorithmic simulation remains indispensable Beyond policy there is an individual question What do you offer that cannot be scraped trained, optimized, and deployed at scale? Your discipline is not unique Your lecture notes are not unique Your PowerPoint slides are certainly not unique Your humanity might be Bring your failures into the classroom not as confession but as case study Discuss the paper that was rejected the grant that did not materialize, the career pivot you never planned Share unresolved questions rather than pretending omniscience Model intellectual humility in a time of algorithmic confidence Students do not need another flawless interface They need an adult who demonstrates how to think decide and recover This future will not automatically preserve academic positions out of nostalgia It will evaluate them against systems that perform better on speed, consistency, and scalability If value is defined purely in terms of efficiency machines will win The strategic error would be to compete on the machine s terrain The opportunity is to redefine the terrain Professors who become relational anchors, ethical exemplars, and intellectual companions in uncertainty will not be replaced easily Those who remain content distributors will be compared to technologies that never sleep Disruption rarely announces itself politely It arrives incrementally then suddenly The convergence of advanced AI and humanoid robotics is not a distant abstraction; it is an unfolding reality The question is no longer whether change is coming It is whether the professor of tomorrow will be a performer of knowledge or a presence of wisdom The time to decide is not after the lecture hall installs its first robotic colleague It is now
The writer is Director Quality Enhancement Cell Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan
The question is no longer whether change is coming It is whether the professor of tomorrow will be a performer of knowledge or a presence of wisdom The time to decide is not after the lecture hall installs its first robotic colleague It is now
Fake surgeries in Lahore
Indian media fuels fear
centuries many thought that mass unemployment would ensue, but things turned out in a surprisingly different way The factory production was more efficient and cost-effective The demand for textile products increased significantly and millions of jobs were created in mills transportation engineering and new cities What we learnt from this story is: Technology shifted the type of work, not the existence of work ” During the late 19th century and early 20th century there was a rise in electricity and automation Electricity and automation replaced many tasks but also created new roles, including electricians, factory operators, appliance manufacturers, and changed the entire power distribution industry Ultimately, this shift increased productivity, economies expanded and employment grew with them
From the mid-20th century during the computer revolution computers did not destroy employment; they transformed it Computers produced, software engineers, data analysts, cybersecurity experts, hardware manufacturers and IT support Overall computers shaped the entire digital econ-
Te c h n o l o g y h a s n e v e r r e p l a c e d j o b s bu t h a s e v e n c r e a t e d m o r e T h o s e w h o b e l i e v e t h a t t e c h n o l o g y w i l l
e l i m i n a t e t h e i r j o b s a r e t h e o n e s w h o i g n o r e t h e
h i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e o f i n d u s t r i a l m a c h i n e s , m o b i l e
p h o n e s , a n d t h e i n t e r n e t t h a t c r e a t e d m i l l i o n s o f n e w
o p p o r t u n i t i e s . A I w i l l o p e n i n d u s t r i e s a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s t h a t w e c a n n o t e v e n d r e a m o f a t t h i s
t i m e . N e w t e c h n o l o g i e s , s u c h a s A I , a r e n o t j o b k i l l e r s ;
t h e y a r e , i n f a c t , j o b c r e a t o r s ,
omy Millions of new careers were born from technologies that the earlier generation feared Just take the real-world case study of mobile phones and the internet We do not need to go far Mobile phones and the internet transformed societies within two decades and created massive new job categories ride sharing and mobility apps like Uber, Careem, InDrive, and Yango created millions of driver jobs worldwide
These are jobs that never existed before; smartphones created these jobs by enabling GPS-based services Food Delivery Platforms like Foodpanda and many other food brands that have developed their apps have employed: riders, restaurants partners, call centre agents, app developers, and digital marketers This entire ecosystem only exists because of mobile technology
According to a report published by McKinsey and Company called Jobs Lost and Jobs Gained: Workforce Transition in a Time of Automation , published in 2017, researchers discovered that a third of the jobs which we have today did not exist 25 years ago Findings of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicate that 60 percent of the jobs in the current world did not exist 80 years ago; this is how work changes with time Even though AI replaces workers in some occupations that are manual, task-oriented, and monotonous, new jobs will be created
ECommerce and digital trade platforms like Alibaba Amazon Daraz Shopify and many others have created opportunities for sellers packaging suppliers delivery companies, customer support teams, content creators, influencers, and digital payment providers Each online order generates hundreds of back-office micro-jobs throughout the supply chain The app industry alone has tens of millions of employees worldwide It has created developers UX/UI designers cloud engineers quality assurance engineers and startups None of these existed before the smartphone age The real question is how emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence create jobs? The answer lies in its increased productivity which expands the economy A growing economy always hires more people Technology efficiency reduces cost, increases output, and expands markets, which naturally increases employment Artificial intelligence is creating new industries just like the internet created fintech social media eCommerce and the gig economy AI is creating AI training and data labeling robotics maintenance prompt engineering, AI governance and ethics, automation consulting, personalized education, and advanced healthcare diagnosis These fields were never imagined by anyone just a decade ago Emerging technologies transform tradi-
tional industries rather than eliminate them AI enhances not replaces the workers According to the prediction of the World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” 85 million jobs will be lost by 2025, and 97 million jobs will be created at the same time There is a net increase of 12 million
Doctors using AI in diagnosis accuracy lawyers using AI in research and drafting, farmers using AI in crop monitoring and crop yield optimization, and teachers using AI in identifying individual learning plans It does not make human labour
T u c k e r C a r l s o n u r g e s U S m i l i t a r y t o r e f u s e o r d e r s i n W M D s c e n a r i o
CO N S E RVAT I V E commentator Tucker Carlson has publicly urged the US military and Pentagon officials to actively defy US President Donald Trump and refuse orders if he attempts to launch nuclear weapons against Iran
In a The Tucker Carlson Show episode released on April 7 Carlson warned that the administration is "completely out of control" and that the logic of escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran is leading toward an unimaginable catastrophe It is the logic of escalation in this war Carlson said Unless somebody puts the brakes on right away, we're going to wind up in a place that we can't even imagine Not just Iran, us and the rest of the world " DIRECT CALL TO DEFY THE PRESIDENT Carlson directed his message to staff and troops serving in the White House and the US military If you work in the White House or in the US military now is the time to say, no, absolutely not Say it directly to the president, no he said He specifically addres d th sibility of using weapons of mass de i e , nuclear bombs, against the Iran ulation "If you're thinking abou some weapon of mass destruction the population of Iran in whose nam liberated Iran Carlson claimed T people who are in direct contact w the president need to say no I ll res I ll do whatever I can do legally to this because this is insane " 'I'M NOT CARRYING IT OUT Carlson went further explicitl urging military personnel to refus orders And if given the order I m not carrying it out Figure out the codes on the football yourself, he said, referring to the nuclear launch codes carried by the president's aide "Because everything hangs in the balance right now This is not his A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT Carlson s remarks mark a significant escalation in
iticism from a figure who has generally supported Trump and his policies His call for military defiance, including refusing nuclear orders, reflects growing alarm even among conservative circles about the trajectory of the USli war on Iran The war, now in its sixth week, seen Trump issue increasingly extreme threats against Iran, including warnings to "obliterate" power plants and bridges and a promise that the entire country could be taken ut in one night Trump has set e ultimatums demanding Iran the Strait of Hormuz, with the deadline expiring Tuesday g Carlson s warning that the administration is completely out of control and his call for military personnel to refuse orders underscores a growing
recognition that the president s rhetoric has crossed a line Whether anyone in the Pentagon or the White House will heed his call remains to be seen But the fact that a prominent conservative voice is now urging the military to defy the commander in chief suggests that the cracks in Trump s support are widening And as Carlson put it everything hangs in the balance MORAL AND POLITICAL OPPOSITION EMERGES Some US troops have also voiced opposition to the political motivations behind the war One reservist reported hearing service members say, "We do not want to die for Israel we don’t want to be political pawns," HuffPost reported Advocacy groups supporting military personnel reported a sharp rise in inquiries about conscientious objector status with some organizations noting a dramatic increase in requests since the war began Matt Howard, co-director of the group About Face: Veterans Against The War, said his organization has increasingly been assisting active-duty troops in understand-
MAYADEEN ENGLISH
ISRAELI STRIKE NEAR GA Z A SCHOOL KILLS 10 AS CEASEFIRE STRAINS PERSIST
elect a new prime minister to replace outgoing premier Pham Minh Chinh In a televised address after the vote Lam said it was an honour to hold both offices and pledged a new growth model with science technology innovation and digital transformation as the primary driving forces He also said he would prioritise self-reliance in defence Lam said his main goals were to preserve stability advance rapid and sustainable national development and improve all aspects of people s lives Power concentrated in one office Analysts said the combination of the two roles could help Lam pursue his agenda more effectively while also raising concerns about the concentration of power in a single leader Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said, “Concentrating greater power in To Lam’s hands
could pose risks to Vietnam’s political system such as increased authoritarianism He added that such consolidation could enable Vietnam to formulate and implement policies more quickly and effectively, which could support growth Alexander Vuving of the AsiaPacific Centre for Security Studies in the United States said the merger of the two offices will shift Vietnam s domestic politics to a new normal where most of the old assumptions about Vietnam s politics, including those about collective leadership, are no longer valid” Lam had briefly held both positions for several months after the death in 2024 of party chief Nguyen Phu Trong Even after handing over the presidency to army general Luong Cuong, he continued to travel widely and represent Vietnam in meetings with foreign leaders Economic and foreign policy direction
During his first term as party chief, the 68-year-old leader introduced broad economic changes aimed at improving Vietnam’s competitiveness Those measures drew both support and criticism
Lam has said he wants to pursue double-digit growth through a development strategy less dependent on low-cost manufacturing, which has long underpinned Vietnam s ex-
port-led expansion and has been driven by foreign multinationals His policy moves have at times unsettled the administration and businesses though he has also shown flexibility in carrying them out He has supported the expansion of private conglomerates, but before his reappointment he also issued a directive stressing the leading role of state-owned enterprises a move seen as reassuring party traditionalists Foreign investors, an important part of Vietnam’s export-reliant economy, have often welcomed the country’s political stability and view Lam as a pro-business leader At the same time his support for national champions and his push for very rapid growth have prompted concerns among some observers about favouritism, corruption risks, asset bubbles and waste
On foreign policy analysts said Lam has maintained Vietnam s Bamboo Diplomacy seeking to balance ties with major powers while broadening international partnerships Khang Vu, a visiting scholar at Boston College said “Lam’s double-hat would not signal any changes in Vietnam s foreign policy even if there are concerns that Vietnam is concentrating more power in a single individual
CORPORATE CORNER
An important meeting was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Commissioner Islamabad and Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) Sohail Ashraf regarding the implementation of austerity and fuel conservation measures in the Federal Capital Islamabad The meeting was attended by Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon district administration and senior officers of CDA and Islamabad Police The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Federal Government’s directions regarding austerity and fuel conservation measures Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon and relevant officers while briefing on the steps taken to
ACHAK Z AI CALLS FOR NATIONAL GOVT FORMATION AS NA DEBATES IRAN CRISIS
t grants
argued that the allegations were baseless and maintained that his client had no intention of committing any offence The lawyer told the court that Abbasi was willing to cooperate with the investigation The court subsequently granted interim pre-arrest bail and restrained authorities from arresting her until the next hearing while directing her to appear before the investigating officer
ECP rejects MQM-P plea for two-month delay in intra-party elections case
ISLAMABAD
s ta f f r e p o r t
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday turned down a request by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) seeking a two-month period for party chairman Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui to appear in proceedings related to the party’s intra-party elections According to an ECP statement the matter was heard by a three-member commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja Director General Political Finance Masood Sherwani and a representative of MQM-P appeared before the commission during the hearing Sherwani told the commission that MQM-P last conducted its intra-party elections on October 16, 2021 He said that under the party’s legal framework the next intra-party elections were due on Oct 16 2025 He further informed the commission that the ECP had directed MQM-P to hold the elections by January 16 2026 However, the party later adopted a resolution under which the tenure of the current office-bearers was extended by one year Sherwani said the party’s resolution stated that the elections would be held before March 16 2026 Request for more time declined During the hearing the MQM-P representative told the commission that Siddiqui wanted to appear before it personally and requested that he be granted two months for that purpose The
IHC direc
Rescue teams moved several residents to safety after heavy rain caused flooding in parts of Peshawar on Tuesday while strong showers also affected multiple areas of Punjab The ongoing spell of rain over recent days has resulted in several deaths in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Balochistan, according to the report Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said at least 65 people were evacuated from Peshawar s Sardar Colony on Tuesday after flooding in Budhni nullah during a heavy afternoon downpour
He said the water level in the nullah had risen and water had entered Sardar Colony
A flood alert posted on the Irrigation Department’s X account at around 3:30pm said discharge in Budhni nullah had climbed to 13 035 cusecs and that the stream was in high flood Later in the evening Rescue 1122 said in a statement that District Emergency Officer Iftikhar Khan was supervising de-watering work that had been continuing since the previous night in Shaheen Housing Society, Warsak Road, Budhni Bridge, Sardar Colony, Board Bazaar, Bara Bridge and other parts of Peshawar The statement added that rainwater had entered homes and neighbourhoods in the city s Sardar Garhi area where rescue personnel evacuated more than 70 people
Provincial response
A statement issued by the office of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said he had directed the relevant authorities to take precautionary steps in view of heavy rainfall across the province
According to the statement the chief minister said all concerned departments were on high alert and were making sure precautionary measures were in place He also said the Provincial Disaster Manage-
ment Authority, Rescue 1122 and district administrations were responding immediately to complaints and were prepared to carry out relief operations
The district administration is continuously monitoring vulnerable and low-lying areas The protection of human lives is the top priority and no negligence will be tolerated in this regard , it stated
The statement also said the chief minister urged citizens to adopt precautionary measures and to immediately inform the district administration of any untoward incident “The government is continuously monitoring the situation and taking all possible steps it added Rain reported in other areas
The Met Office said rain was also recorded in Parachinar, Cherat, Dera Ismail Khan, Dir, Drosh, Bannu and Saidu Sharif In Punjab, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said several areas received rain on Monday and Tuesday including Faisalabad Dera Ghazi Khan Bhakkar Murree Minawali Kot Addu Attock Rahim Yar Khan Rawalpindi and Multan
LAKKI MARWAT
s ta f f r e p o r t
At least five police personnel were injured on Tuesday when a police mobile was hit by an improvised explosive device during a patrol in the Shahbazkhel police station area of Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
District Police Officer (DPO) Lakki Marwat Nazir Khan said the vehicle was targeted with a motorcycle-borne IED He said "The police vehicle was targeted with a motorcycle-borne IED resulting in injuries to five officers including an assistant sub-inspector Jamaluddin, constable Arif and driver Mir Hassan" According to the DPO, the injured personnel were shifted to a nearby hospital where they were receiving treatment
After being informed of the blast, Nazir Khan reached the site
along with a heavy police contingent as well as teams from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) He reviewed the situation and directed officials to examine all aspects of the incident
The DPO also ordered that those responsible be arrested as soon as possible and brought to justice Police said security in the area had been tightened further while a large-scale search operation was under way Recent attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The report comes amid continued militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The province has faced terrorism since the United States' ouster from Afghanistan, with militants often crossing the border and targeting police convoys and vehicles leading to the deaths of officials and personnel
Last month at least seven police personnel including the station house officer of Shadi Khel Police Station were martyred in an IED explosion near a police mobile in Lakki Marwat
A week before that incident, two policemen were killed and 15 people including five police personnel were injured in an IED blast in the Rustam Bazaar area of Wana in Lower South Waziristan Security situation in the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest number of militant incidents in the country last year according to figures cited in the report Out of 5 397 reported incidents nationwide 3 811 were recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by 1,557 in Balochistan The rest of the country accounted for 29 incidents The report added that 2 597 terrorists were killed during the
