ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) incarcerated and beleaguered founding chairperson Imran Khan emphasised the urgent need for the establishment to step back to ensure transparent elections in the country. “If we want to save the country, the establishment must step back to move towards transparent elections,” the former premier asserted during an informal talk with media in the Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail …

RAWALPINDI: Two Pakistan Army soldiers and as many police officers were martyred on Wednesday in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Peshawar district’s Hassan Khel area, according to the military’s media wing. A statement from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a joint IBO was conducted by security forces and the police based on the reported presence of a “high profile terrorist”. …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insad (PTI) has announced its intention to challenge the government’s notification which granted Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls in the “interest of national security”. Earlier today, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication authorised the intelligence wing to tap phones, stating that this authority was granted under Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has issued a notification authorising the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls within the domain of national security, under Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996. “In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 54 … the federal government in the interest of national security and in the …

RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan Army captain was martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Tuesday, according to the military’s media wing. A statement from the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that Captain Muhammad Osama bin Arshad, 24, resident of Rawalpindi district, was martyred during a fire exchange between security forces and terrorists …

BEIJING: The Asia-Pacific region needs neither a military bloc nor a “small circle” that provokes confrontation between camps and incites a new Cold War, said a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday. Lin Jian made the comments in response to a defense pact signed earlier Monday between Japan and the Philippines that allows the deployment of one’s military …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated Julian Moazzam James, a Pakistan Army officer belonging to the Christian community, on his promotion to the rank of major general. The prime minister expressed his good wishes to Major General James for his future, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release on Sunday. “Major General James’s professional capabilities and his …

ISLAMABAD: A day after the corps commanders’ conference, the PTI on Saturday said that labelling free speech as “digital terrorism” would be detrimental to both the country and institutions. A PTI spokesperson feared that attempts to criminalise freedom of speech would “open the door to use extra-legal measures against critics”. The spokesperson called upon the institutions to be receptive to criticism …

ISLAMABAD: In a forceful rebuke, Pakistan’s top military leaders on Friday lambasted critics of the newly launched Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, accusing them of peddling self-serving agendas and malicious propaganda aimed at undermining counterterrorism efforts. “Forum noted with concern the unwarranted criticism by some quarters and deliberate misrepresentation of the vision, only for furthering their vested interests,” the armed forces’ public affairs wing, …

RAWALPINDI: PTI founder Imran Khan on Friday said that his party would participate in the government’s All Parties Conference (APC) to discuss Operation Azm-i-Istehkam. The reinvigorated and re-energised national counter-terrorism campaign was announced by the Central Apex Committee on the National Action Plan last month. The government vowed to unleash the full force of the country’s military, diplomatic, legislative, and socio-economic …