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Pakistan says 44 million vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio nationwide campaign

Pakistan says 44 million vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio nationwide campaign
A police officer stands guard (left) as a health worker (right) administers a polio vaccine to a child at a neighborhood of Lahore, Pakistan, on April 21, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 3 min 19 sec ago
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Pakistan says 44 million vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio nationwide campaign

Pakistan says 44 million vaccinated in ongoing anti-polio nationwide campaign
  • Pakistan launched this year’s second nationwide polio vaccination campaign from Apr. 21-27
  • Vaccination coverage reaches 97 percent in Punjab and Sindh, 99 percent in KP and Balochistan
Updated 3 min 19 sec ago
Shahjahan Khurram
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have administered polio drops to over 44 million children in the country’s ongoing nationwide vaccination drive, state-run media reported this week. 

Pakistan launched a nationwide campaign from Apr. 21-27 to vaccinate over 45 million children against polio. The country reported 74 cases in 2024 and has planned three major vaccination drives in the first half of this year.

The current campaign is the second of 2025, with a third set to begin from May 26 to June 1.

“The government has successfully administered anti-polio drops to over 44 million children across Pakistan in five days during ongoing vaccination drive,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Saturday. 

Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said the ongoing polio vaccination campaign is being conducted simultaneously in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The APP report said the ongoing vaccination coverage has reached 97 percent in Punjab and Sindh provinces and 99 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. 
“In the federal capital Islamabad, 99 percent of the target has been achieved while Azad Jammu and Kashmir reported 100 percent coverage, and Gilgit-Baltistan achieved 99 percent,” it added. 
The report said the NEOC expected another one million children to be vaccinated by Apr. 27. 
“Parents have been urged to fully cooperate with polio workers and ensure that all children under the age of five receive polio drops during every campaign,” the APP said. 
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the last polio-endemic countries in the world. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually, but by 2018, the number had dropped to eight. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program, launched in 1994, has faced persistent challenges, including vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim immunization is a foreign conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western espionage.

Militant groups have also repeatedly targeted and killed polio vaccination workers.

Topics: anti-polio campaign Anti-polio drive Polio cases in Pakistan

No handshake at muted India-Pakistan border ceremony

No handshake at muted India-Pakistan border ceremony
Updated 3 min 11 sec ago
AFP
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No handshake at muted India-Pakistan border ceremony

No handshake at muted India-Pakistan border ceremony
  • Relations between Pakistan, India have soured after Apr. 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • For years, Attari-Wagah border in Punjab separating India from Pakistan has been a hugely popular tourist attraction
Updated 3 min 11 sec ago
AFP

ATTARI: With swaggering soldiers giving high kicks set to booming patriotic music cheered on by crowds, it was the usual daily border ceremony between nuclear-armed arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

But there was one key thing at the show that was missing — the usual symbol of cooperation, a handshake between the opposing soldiers, did not take place.

Relations have plummeted after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing an attack targeting tourists on April 22 — the deadliest attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir for years.

Islamabad rejects the claims, and the countries have since exchanged gunfire, diplomatic barbs, expelled citizens — and ordered the border to be shut.

The iron gates that separate the two sides remain locked.

“It just fills you with passion and patriotic pride,” said Simarjeet Singh, 17, from the nearby Indian city of Amritsar, his face painted with the national tricolor flag.

Many fear the risk of a military escalation in the coming days.

For years, the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab has been a hugely popular tourist attraction.

Visitors from both sides come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry.

Numbers were muted at the sunset show on Saturday, but thousands of Indians still came to show their loyalty to their nation.

“There were people from all over who looked and dressed different but were cheering and screaming at the same time — for our country and the soldiers,” Singh said, who came with his friends from college.

Cheering crowds still filled the stadium-like space around the gates with noise, at least on the Indian side, where on Saturday some 5,000 people — about a fifth of full capacity — watched.

There was only a small fraction of the support on the Pakistani side.

Enthusiastic spectators sang in chorus, waving flags and chanting “India Zindabad,” or “Long live India.”

The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

The daily border ritual has largely endured over the decades, surviving innumerable diplomatic flare-ups and military skirmishes.

Reena Devi, 54, and PK Nath, 70, tourists from Tezpur in India’s northeastern state of Assam, are part of a tour of the country.

“We are just so excited to be here,” Devi said. “We just wanted to see this ceremony and experience being at the border with Pakistan.”

Nath said she and her group planned to visit a Hindu site in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Some of us are now a little apprehensive about the security there,” she said.

Nath said he “totally supported” New Delhi’s decision to expel Pakistani citizens and to shut down the border.

“You can’t send people to kill here and still not expect any response,” Nath said.

“We don’t know what will happen next but we are sure that the government would do the right thing,” he added.

As the energetic masters of the ceremony goaded the crowd, the Indian soldiers in red-fanned hats stomped up to the locked gate, kicking their legs up — with Pakistanis doing the same on the other side.

Aside from the ceremony, Indian and Pakistani citizens have been crossing the border since both sides canceled visas before India’s April 29 deadline to leave — tearing apart families with relations in both nations.

“There is obvious anxiety right now,” said Harpal Singh, an Amritsar-based taxi driver who regularly brings visitors to the ceremony, insisting the spectacle was still worth coming to see.

“There was no one who didn’t come back impressed and excited,” he said.

KT Ramesh, 57, from Kozhikode in the southern state of Kerala, said that even the scaled-down ceremony “was worth it.”

“There was no shortage of passion among our people,” Ramesh said.

He said that he’d “seen anger” about the attack in Kashmir “in whoever I spoke with, from our hotel staff to the taxi driver and other tourists here.”

“Everyone was talking about it,” he said. “We don’t like a war but this time we must teach them a lesson.”

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Wagah Border

British Pakistani ex-Formula champion hopes to bridge motorsport gap between Muslim countries and Europe

British Pakistani ex-Formula champion hopes to bridge motorsport gap between Muslim countries and Europe
Updated 10 min 49 sec ago
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British Pakistani ex-Formula champion hopes to bridge motorsport gap between Muslim countries and Europe

British Pakistani ex-Formula champion hopes to bridge motorsport gap between Muslim countries and Europe
  • Enaam Ahmed, 25, is a former British Formula 3 champion and European and World Carting Champion
  • Since October 2024, Ahmed has been training young racers from the Middle East in his Dubai academy
Updated 10 min 49 sec ago
BURAQ SHABBIR

KARACHI: British Pakistani racer Enaam Ahmed, a former British Formula 3 champion with various racing titles under his belt, said on Thursday he aims to bridge the gap in motorsport between Muslim countries and Europe by training young drivers from the Middle East.

Ahmed, 25, was born to Pakistani parents in London where he started racing on Go-Kart tracks at the age of 8. His passion for racing grew with time and at the age of 12, he became the British Formula 3 champion. Still a teen at 14, he became a European and World Karting Champion.

After spending a lot of time in Saudi Arabia and Dubai the past year, Ahmed and his friend Maz Chughtai from Pakistan started an academy, “Origin Motorsport,” in October 2024 to train young racers from the Middle East.

“At the moment, the GCC and the Muslim world are quite behind in racing compared to Europe,” Ahmed told Arab News over the phone. “I want to try and help bring it up to the same level, which will happen very quickly.”

Ahmed praised Saudi Arabia and the UAE for investing in motorsport. Ahmed was in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, for a Formula E race last year where he met Martin Whitaker, the head of the Saudi Motorsports Company.

“We talked about the future for motorsports in the GCC and in Saudi Arabia,” the British Pakistani driver said. “And now they are developing another racing track outside of Riyadh in addition to a few go-karting tracks.”

British-Pakistani racing driver Enaam Ahmed poses for a photo with a group of drivers from across the Middle East after participating in the national championship at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi in January 2025. (Photo: provided)

The academy is officially registered in Dubai, according to Ahmed, with five drivers from various countries in the Middle East training with them. Ahmed is the coach of their team, which is also named Origin Motorsports, while his friend Chughtai is the team’s principal.

While Saudi Arabia is investing in motorsport, Ahmed said there is no racing infrastructure in the Kingdom, prompting Saudi drivers to come to Dubai for the sport.

“The racing track in Saudi Arabia will be finished in Qiddiya, the entertainment and tourism megaproject in Riyadh,” he said. “Once it’s finished, I’ll start training the drivers over there.”

Ahmed is currently training young drivers in his academy for the UAE National Championship racing competition. He says most of the drivers from Dubai and in the Middle East he works with are from the UK.

While Saudi Arabia and the UAE are headed in the right direction for motorsport, Ahmed lamented the lack of opportunities for drivers in Pakistan essentially due to a lack of infrastructure for motorsport in the country.

“The infrastructure to give the opportunity to the young drivers is something we don’t have in Pakistan,” Ahmed explained. “Without the infrastructure, you will never find the talent.”

An undated photograph of British-Pakistani racing driver Enaam Ahmed (right) as he poses for a photograph with his friend Maz Chughtai in Dubai. (Supplied)

The Pakistani driver hoped he would someday get to train young racers from Pakistan other than those from the Middle East.

“Because they can’t do that in Pakistan,” he said. “Even though there are tracks, none of the race tracks in the country are to a good standard.

“There is no official racing in Pakistan. It’s just hobby racing.”

He said the next generation of racers in the GCC countries is “growing quite a lot” and that the young drivers under his tutelage are performing well.

“They all have a lot of potential, and they are very good to work with,” Ahmed said.

And given that he is a former world champion, he gets a lot of recognition from the young racers he trains.

“Wherever I go, they see it like I am the first Muslim world champion in the field.,” he said. “They all come to me, and they want to be trained by me. 

“I wanted to be in a Muslim country and train Muslim drivers. That’s my real passion.”

Topics: Motorsports car race Formula champion Enaam Ahmed

Azad Kashmir warns of flooding in river Jhelum as India releases water unannounced amid tensions

Azad Kashmir warns of flooding in river Jhelum as India releases water unannounced amid tensions
Updated 27 April 2025
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Azad Kashmir warns of flooding in river Jhelum as India releases water unannounced amid tensions

Azad Kashmir warns of flooding in river Jhelum as India releases water unannounced amid tensions
  • Jhelum river flows from Indian-administered Kashmir into Azad Kashmir and then Pakistan’s Punjab province
  • Suspension of Indus Waters Treaty means India can stop sharing crucial information on release of water
Updated 27 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday warned of flooding in river Jhelum after India’s unannounced discharge of additional water, amid surging tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. 

India announced this week it will suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty under which the two neighbors regulate the water share of six rivers in the Indus Basin. This decision was taken after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for being involved in an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists this week. Pakistan denies the allegations.

The Jhelum river flows from Indian-administered Kashmir into Azad Kashmir and then Punjab. Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty means India can stop sharing crucial information and data on the release of water from barrages/dams or on flooding.

“Due to India releasing more water than usual into the Jhelum River, there is moderate flooding,” a spokesperson of the Azad Kashmir government said in a press release on Saturday. 

The spokesperson urged residents to avoid visiting areas near the Jhelum river due to the rising water levels.

As per the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan has rights to the western rivers— Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab— for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower. India controls the eastern rivers— Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej— for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow.

India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes. Experts, like Hassaan F. Khan from Tufts University, argue that India lacks the infrastructure to divert large amounts of Indus waters.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday warned attempts to reduce or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty would be “responded to with full force.”

“Our valiant armed forces remain fully capable and prepared to defend the country’s sovereignty and its territorial integrity against any misadventure as clearly demonstrated by its measured yet resolute response to India’s reckless incursion in February 2019,” he said.

Topics: Jhelum river Pakistan India Ties

Pakistani who wounded ex-PM Khan in 2022 attack sentenced to life

Pakistani who wounded ex-PM Khan in 2022 attack sentenced to life
Updated 27 April 2025
AP
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Pakistani who wounded ex-PM Khan in 2022 attack sentenced to life

Pakistani who wounded ex-PM Khan in 2022 attack sentenced to life
  • Naveed Ahmad was arrested after he opened fire on Khan in Wazirabad in November 2022 during a rally
  • Khan is currently serving prison sentences for corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws
Updated 27 April 2025
AP

LAHORE: A Pakistani man who shot and wounded former Prime Minister Imran Khan and killed one of his supporters in 2022 was convicted and sentenced Saturday to life in prison, his lawyer said.

The attacker, Naveed Ahmad, was arrested shortly after he opened fire on Khan in Wazirabad, a city in Punjab province, wounding him in the leg.

Khan was traveling in a convoy of vehicles on his way to a rally in Islamabad in November 2022, after he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April that year.
He is currently serving prison sentences for corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws.

Topics: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan

Fifteen militants, two soldiers killed in military operations in Pakistan’s northwest

Fifteen militants, two soldiers killed in military operations in Pakistan’s northwest
Updated 27 April 2025
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Fifteen militants, two soldiers killed in military operations in Pakistan’s northwest

Fifteen militants, two soldiers killed in military operations in Pakistan’s northwest
  • Pakistani security forces carried out three separate raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
  • PM Sharif praises security forces for successful operations, pays tribute to the dead soldiers
Updated 27 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Two soldiers and 15 militants were killed as Pakistani security forces launched three separate operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Saturday.

Pakistani militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has intensified attacks in the region in recent years. Pakistan refers to TTP fighters as “khwarij,” a term rooted in Islamic history for an extremist sect that rebelled against authority and declared other Muslims to be apostates.

“On 25-26 April 2025, fifteen khwarij were killed in three separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province,” the ISPR said in a statement.

The operations were conducted in Karak, North Waziristan and South Waziristan districts.

In Karak, eight militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation.

“In an another operation conducted in North Waziristan District, four khwarij were killed by the security forces,” the statement continued. “However, during the intense fire exchange, two brave sons of soil, Lance Naik Usman Mohmand (age: 28 years, resident of District Charsadda) and Sepoy Imran Khan (age: 26 years, resident of District Kurram) having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat [martyrdom].”

The ISPR said that in South Waziristan’s Gomal Zam area, three more militants were killed. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead militants, who, according to the statement, were involved in “numerous terrorist activities.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for the successful operations and paid tribute to the soldiers who died.

“The entire nation stands with the security forces in the fight against terrorism,” he said in a statement circulated by his office.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence, particularly in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and southwestern Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad accuses TTP factions operating from Afghanistan of fueling unrest, a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.

Topics: Pakistan Pakistan militancy

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