Pakistan
Pakistan's premier apologizes to nation for power outage
Pakistan’s prime minister on Tuesday apologized to the nation for a major, daylong power outage that disrupted normal life across the country and drew criticism from millions who were left without electricity amid the harsh winter weather.
Monday's blackout engulfed schools, factories and shops, and many among Pakistan's 220 million people were without drinking water as pumps powered by electricity also failed to work. In key businesses and institutions, including main hospitals, military and government facilities, backup generators kicked in.
Power was mostly restored, though some parts of the country still experienced blackouts on Tuesday.
“On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to power outage yesterday," tweeted Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
“On my orders an inquiry is underway to determine reasons of the power failure," he said adding that the probe will uncover who was responsible.
Read more: Lights out in Pakistan as energy-saving move backfires
At a press conference earlier Tuesday, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir defended the government’s handling of the collapse of the grid and lauded engineers and technicians for their efforts to boot up the system. He made no reference to the fact that an energy-saving measure by the government had backfired.
Authorities had turned off electricity during low-usage hours on Sunday night to conserve fuel, according to an energy-saving plan. Efforts to turn power back on early on Monday morning led to the system-wide meltdown.
“Today, at 5:15 in the morning, power was fully restored,” Dastgir said Tuesday. He blamed the outage on a technical glitch but also floated a “remote chance" that it was caused by hackers targeting the country's grid systems.
The minister also expressed faith in Sharif's three-member committee, which is expected to complete a preliminary investigation within days. “We will fully cooperate" with it, he said.
Read more: Pakistan orders malls to close early amid economic crisis
He cautioned that some regions may still face “routine power outages" this week as Pakistan's two nuclear power plants and coal plants have yet to come fully online.
The outage was reminiscent of a massive blackout in January 2021, attributed at the time to a technical fault in Pakistan’s power generation and distribution system. Pakistan gets at least 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels, while nearly 27% of the electricity is generated by hydropower. The contribution of nuclear and solar power to the nation’s grid is about 10%.
Fawad Chaudhry, a senior leader at the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Monday criticized the government for mismanaging the country's economy and said the outage was a reflection of the government's incompetence.
Grappling with one of its worst economic crisis in recent years amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan is currently in talks with the International Monetary Fund to soften some conditions on a $6 billion bailout. Sharif's government say the harsh conditions will trigger further inflation hikes.
The IMF released the last crucial tranche of $1.1 billion to Islamabad in August but since then, discussions between the two parties have oscillated due to Pakistan’s reluctance to impose new tax measures.
Lights out in Pakistan as energy-saving move backfires
Much of Pakistan was left without power for several hours on Monday morning as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage spread panic and raised questions about the cash-strapped government’s handling of the crisis.
Electricity was turned off across the country during low usage hours overnight to conserve fuel across the country, leaving technicians unable to boot up the system all at once after daybreak, officials said.
The outage was reminiscent of a massive blackout in January 2021, attributed at the time to a technical fault in the country's power generation and distribution system.
Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir told local media on Monday that engineers were working to restore the power supply across the country, including in the capital of Islamabad, and tried to reassure the nation that power would be fully restored within the next 12 hours.
According to the minister, during winter, electricity usage typically goes down overnight. “As an economic measure, we temporarily shut down our power generation systems" on Sunday night, he said.
When engineers tried to turn the systems back on, a “fluctuation in voltage" was observed, which “forced engineers to shut down the power grid" stations one by one, Dastgir said.
He insisted that this was not a major crisis, and that electricity was being restored in phases. In many places and key businesses and institutions, including hospitals, military and government facilities, backup generators kicked in.
Karachi, the country's largest city and economic hub, was also without power Monday, as were other key cities such as Quetta, Peshawar and Lahore.
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Imran Rana, a spokesman for Karachi's power supply company, said the government's priority was to “restore power to strategic facilities, including hospitals," airports and other places.
Pakistan gets at least 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels, while nearly 27% of the electricity is generated by hydropower. The contribution of nuclear and solar power to the nation's grid is about 10%.
Pakistan is grappling with one of the country's worst economic crisis in recent years amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves. This has compelled the government earlier this month to order shopping malls and markets closed by 8:30 p.m. for energy conservation purposes.
Talks are underway with the International Monetary Fund to soften some conditions on Pakistan’s $6 billion bailout, which the government thinks will trigger further inflation hikes. The IMF released the last crucial tranche of $1.1 billion to Islamabad in August.
Since then, talks between the two parties have oscillated due to Pakistan's reluctance to impose new tax measures.
Bombing derails passenger train in SW Pakistan, injures 15
A bomb planted by suspected militants derailed a passenger train in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, injuring at least 15 people on board, officials said. A separatist group later claimed responsibility.
The train was passing through the district of Bolan in Baluchistan province when the bomb went off, according to a district administrator, Samiullah Agha.
The explosion was so powerful that it derailed eight train cars, Agha said. Rescuers transported the injured to a nearby hospital, and engineers were repairing the damaged rail tracks.
Some of the more seriously injured were moved to a military hospital in Quetta, the provincial capital in Baluchistan.
Read more: Suicide blast in southern Pakistan kills 3 Chinese, driver
Hours later, the separatist Baluchistan Liberation Army, which was designated a “terrorist” group by the United States in 2019, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Azad Baloch, a spokesman for the group, said their fighters targeted security forces traveling by train to the garrison city of Rawalpindi in eastern Punjab province.
Government and military officials did not immediately comment on the separatist group's claim.
For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by ethnic Baluch separatists seeking autonomy from the Islamabad government or outright independence
Pakistani militants also have a presence in the province, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran.
Read more: Suicide bombing kills 56 at Shiite mosque in Pakistan
Transgender men look for inclusion in conservative Pakistan
Aman, a 22-year-old transgender man from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, says he was always close to his father. When he was little and it was cold out, his father held his hands to warm them. When he was at university, his father would wait until he got home to eat dinner together, regardless of how late it was.
Now they are cut off. Aman's decision to live as a man has cost him everything. His parents and five siblings no longer speak to him. He dropped out of university and had to leave home. He has attempted suicide three times.
Trans men face deep isolation in Pakistan. The country, with a conservative Muslim majority, has entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality, so trans people are often considered outcasts. But trans women have a degree of toleration because of cultural traditions. Trans women in public office, on news programs, in TV shows and films, even on the catwalk, have raised awareness about a marginalized and misunderstood community.
The Pakistani movie and Oscar contender “Joyland” caused an uproar last year for its depiction of a relationship between a married man and a trans woman, but it also shone a spotlight on the country’s transgender community.
Trans men, however, remain largely invisible, with little mobilization, support or resources. Trans women have growing activist networks — but, according to Aman and others, they rarely incorporate or deal with trans men and their difficulties.
“It’s the worst,” said Aman. “We are already disowned by our families and blood relatives, then the people we think are our people also exclude us.”
Trans women have been able to carve out their space in the culture because of the historic tradition of “khawaja sira,” originally a term for male eunuchs working in South Asia’s Mughal empire hundreds of years ago. Today, the term is generally associated with people who were born male and identify as female. Khawaja sira culture also has a traditional support system of “gurus,” prominent figures who lead others.
But there is no space within the term or the culture surrounding it for people who were born female and identify as male.
“Every khawaja sira is transgender, but not all transgenders are khawaja sira,” said Mani, a representative for the trans male community in Pakistan. “People have been aware of the khawaja sira community for a long time, but not of trans men.”
He set up a nonprofit group in 2018 because he saw nothing being done for trans men, their well-being or mental health.
Trans people have seen some progress in protecting their rights. Supreme Court rulings allow them to self-identify as a third gender, neither male nor female, and have underscored they have the same rights as all Pakistani citizens.
Although Mani was involved in the trans rights bill, most lobbying and advocacy work has been from transgender women since it became law.
“Nobody talks about trans men or how they are impacted by the act,” said Mani. "But this is not the right time to talk about this because of the campaign by religious extremists (to veto changes to the act). I don’t want to cause any harm to the community.”
Another reason for trans men’s low visibility is that females lead a more restricted life than males in Pakistan, with limits on what they can do, where they can go and how they can live. Family honor is tied to the behavior of women and girls, so they have less room to behave outside society’s norms. On a practical level, even if a girl wanted to meet trans people and get involved in the community, she wouldn’t be able to because she wouldn’t be allowed out, said Aman.
Coming from a privileged and educated family, Aman said his parents indulged him as a child, letting him behave in ways seen as male and dress in a boyish way. He wore a boy’s uniform to school.
But there came a time when he was expected to live and look like a girl. That meant fewer freedoms and the prospect of marriage. He didn’t want that life and knew there were operations to change his gender. But his father told him he was too young and would have to wait until he was 18, apparently hoping he would grow out of it.
Aman had nobody to speak to about his gender identity struggles. He used social media and search engines, making contact with a trans man in India who connected him with a WhatsApp group of trans men in Pakistan.
Aman grew his hair long and dressed like a girl “just to survive” while still at home, he said. He also felt he shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the family’s honor.
“These restrictions created a war in my mind,” he said. “You have to socialize, and it was difficult for me because I had to socialize as a girl.”
He wasn’t allowed male friends because of the taboos around mixing with the opposite sex, nor was he allowed female friends because his parents feared it would lead to a lesbian relationship.
Still, Aman set goals to get educated, earn money and be independent, planning eventually to live as a man. By 2021, he was on hormone therapy and his voice was changing.
But it all changed when a family member asked outright if Aman was changing his gender. The question inflamed all the doubts and worries his parents already had about his steps to transition. They disowned him, saying he could no longer live under their roof if he wanted to live as a man.
“They said everything can be tolerated but we can’t tolerate this,” Aman said. His mother said it would hurt his siblings and their marital prospects. His sisters locked him in a bathroom once. Only his older brother supported him.
Aman moved out and began living alone – and fully as a man.
Mani has helped, giving him an office job at the non-governmental organization. Still, Aman barely gets by and faces constant problems. One is that he hasn’t changed his gender to male officially on his ID card, which he needs to vote, open a bank account, apply for jobs and access government benefits including health care.
He went once to NADRA, the government agency responsible for ID cards, but there the officials harassed him. They inspected him, talked derisively about him, and demanded a bribe. One official felt his chest.
He feels isolated.
“I’m satisfied with my gender, but I’m not happy to live anymore,” he said. “I love my family. I need my father, I need my brother.”
Imran Khan's party dissolves assembly in Pakistani province
The party of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday dissolved a provincial assembly in the country’s northwest, where it held majority seats. Its rival, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, criticized the move, saying it meant to deepen the political crisis and force early parliamentary elections.
As opposition leader, Khan has been campaigning for early elections and has claimed — without providing evidence — that his ouster last April in a no-confidence vote in Parliament was illegal.
He has also accused his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the Pakistani military and the United States of orchestrating his ouster. Sharif, army officials and Washington have all dismissed the allegations.
Khan has also banked on his popularity and wide grassroot support to force early elections, and has since his ouster staged rallies across the country, calling for the vote. But Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League have repeatedly dismissed the demands, saying elections will be held as scheduled — later in 2023 — when the current parliament completes its five-year term.
On Wednesday, Ghulam Ali, provincial governor in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, dissolved the local assembly there, just days after another Khan ally, provincial lawmaker Pervez Elahi, dissolved the assembly in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, in eastern Pakistan.
Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party was in power in both provinces. The dissolution of the chambers will lead to snap elections in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab — and may lead to the party being reelected in both provinces — but will unlikely effect any change on the national level.
Read more: Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan wounded in firing at anti-govt rally
Sharif's government maintains that the tactics of the 70-year-old Khan are damaging the country's economy. Pakistan has struggled with the aftermath of unprecedented floods that devastated the country last summer and which experts say were exacerbated by climate change. Cash-strapped Pakistan is also facing a serious financial crisis and unabating militant violence.
Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, was wounded in a gun attack while leading a rally toward the capital, Islamabad, last November. One of Khan's supporters was killed and several others were wounded in the shooting.
Khan accused Sharif's government of being behind the attack; authorities have denied the allegation. The gunman was arrested on the scene.
Since the assassination attempt, Khan has been leading his political campaign from his hometown of Lahore, the capital of Punjab.
Read more: Imran Khan accuses Pak army of recreating 1971-like situation
Also on Wednesday, suspected militants ambushed a security convoy in a remote area in southwestern Pakistan, near the Iranian border, killing four soldiers, the military said. The army statement said the attackers used Iran's territory to launch the attack and that Islamabad has asked Tehran to arrest the assailants.
UN names Pakistani linked to Mumbai attacks as terrorist
The United Nations has designated an anti-India militant being held in Pakistan as a global terrorist, the world body’s second such designation stemming from the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The announcement regarding Pakistani citizen Abdul Rehan Makki was hailed by neighboring India on Tuesday, a day after the decision.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the Islamic nation is itself a victim of terrorism and Pakistan supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level, including at the United Nations.
Makki, 68, is a senior figure in the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which is mainly active in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. He was arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province in 2019 and convicted in November and December 2020 in two separate cases on charges of terror financing.
Makki was sentenced to one year in prison but officials say he is still in custody without providing an explanation. He is being held in Punjab pending his appeals, according to several government officials who are familiar with the case.
The U.N. Security Council committee overseeing sanctions against al-Qaida and Islamic State extremists and their associates put Makki on the sanctions blacklist after approval by the council’s 15 members.
Under the U.N. measure, Makki's assets can be frozen and he will also face a travel ban.
Makki is a close relative of Hafiz Saeed, a militant leader accused of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Saeed, 72, is serving a 31-year prison sentence and was designated a terrorist by the United States and the U.N. Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Saeed, like Makki, was never charged in connection with the Mumbai attacks that strained relations between Pakistan and India. He is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed by India for the attacks in India.
Read more: Savage Truth Behind Mumbai Carnage
Monday's U.N. Security Council decision came after China lifted a hold on adding Makki, who has been under U.S. sanctions since November 2010.
The spokesperson at India's Ministry of External Affairs in the capital New Delhi, Shri Arindam Bagchi, on Tuesday welcomed Makki's designation as a terrorist.
“India remains committed to pursuing a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism," he said.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said: “Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level including at the United Nations and other multilateral fora."
Baloch said in a statement that “Pakistan has always called for strict compliance with the Security Council’s listing rules, procedures and established processes to maintain the integrity of the UN counter-terrorism regime."
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India, which have a history of bitter relations, have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
Read more: 13th anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks observed in Bangladesh
Pakistan orders malls to close early amid economic crisis
Authorities on Wednesday ordered shopping malls and markets to close by 8:30 p.m. as part of a new energy conservation plan aimed at easing Pakistan's economic crisis, officials said. The move comes amid talks with the International Monetary Fund.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Minister for Power Ghultam Dastghir said the government decided to shut establishments early as part of the new energy conservation plan approved by the Cabinet. Authorities also ordered wedding halls and restaurants to shut at 10 p.m.
The government expects these measures to save energy and curtail the costs of imported oil, for which Pakistan spends $3 billion annually. In Pakistan, most of the electricity is generated by using imported oil.
So far, there has been a mixed reaction from representatives of shopping malls, restaurants and shop owners who want the government to reverse the decision.
Many Pakistanis do their shopping and dine at restaurants as late as midnight.
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Business leaders say the new measures will have a negative impact on their establishments, which suffered during the pandemic under government-imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Since 2021, the coronavirus has caused 36,000 deaths out of 1.5 million cases in Pakistan.
Pakistan is currently in talks with the IMF to soften some conditions on its $6 billion bailout, which the government thinks will cause a further increase in inflation.
The fund released the last crucial tranche of $1.1 billion to cash-strapped Pakistan in August. Since then, there has been a stalemate in talks between the two parties.
Pakistan says last summer's devastating floods caused up to $40 billion in damages to the country's economy, making it difficult for the government to comply with some of the IMF's conditions, including increases in the price of gas and electricity and new taxes.
Pakistan loses Imam, at 224-4 in 2nd test vs New Zealand
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq missed out on his second successive century as New Zealand pinned down Pakistan’s progress to 224-4 on the third day of the second test on Wednesday.
Imam followed his 96 in the drawn first test last week with a knock of 83 runs before he was caught behind after captain Tim Southee successfully overturned an on-field not out decision through television referral in the only wicket to fall in the first session.
Saud Shakeel, who took 42 balls to get his first run on Day 2, survived an lbw referral in the last over before lunch against Matt Henry and moved to a sedate 43 off 158 balls while Sarfaraz Ahmed was unbeaten on 27 at the break.
Read: Williamson, Sodhi give New Zealand 81-run lead over Pakistan
Pakistan still trails by 225 runs after New Zealand’s last-wicket pair of Henry and Ajaz Patel had lifted the total to 449 with a century stand.
Fast bowlers Southee (1-42) and Henry (1-46) tied down Pakistan with their miserly opening spells on Day 3 as they conceded just 15 runs off their 11 overs.
Resuming on 154-3, Imam started off confidently with a boundary off Henry’s first ball of the day through point before Southee got the breakthrough in his second over at the stroke of the hour.
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Imam, who hit 10 fours and a six, batted for just over four hours but tried to play away from his body and the replays suggested the ball had taken the toe-end of his bat to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
Imam had revived Pakistan innings with an 83-run stand with Shakeel after captain Babar Azam was run out in a bizarre mix-up with him and had Pakistan in trouble at 99-3 late on Day 2.
Williamson, Sodhi give New Zealand 81-run lead over Pakistan
Kane Williamson and tailender Ish Sodhi dug in — much to the frustration of Pakistan — as New Zealand moved ahead by 81 runs on the fourth day of the first cricket test on Thursday.
Williamson, who completed his first test hundred in almost two years late on Day 2, was not out on 137 off 308 balls while Sodhi was unbeaten on 41 off 127 balls in his comeback test match after four years.
New Zealand reached 519-6 at lunch.
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Williamson has fully capitalized on two stumping chances early in his innings and now has batted for nearly eight hours, hitting 12 fours. Sodhi was closing in on his fourth test half century and showed plenty of determination with the bat on a slow turning wicket.
Resuming on 440-6 with a lead of two runs, both batters didn’t get troubled against spinners Abrar Ahmed (3-172) and Nauman Ali (2-154), who have bowled bulk of the overs.
Pakistan couldn’t get through the defenses of both overnight batters even after taking the third new ball with Sodhi hitting three boundaries against seamer Mir Hamza on the off side of the wicket.
Hamza, also making a comeback after playing his only previous test against Australia in 2018, could have got his first wicket in the penultimate over before the break but Pakistan didn’t appeal as the TV replays suggested he got a thin outside edge of Sodhi’s bat.
New Zealand’s lead was 24 when Nauman came close to dismissing Williamson on 116 in his second over of the day.
But Williamson quickly went for a successful television referral against umpire Aleem Dar’s lbw ruling after he missed a full-length delivery down the legside and the TV replays suggested the ball had pitched outside the off stump.
Both Abrar and Nauman also induced top edges that landed close to fielders as New Zealand continued to build its lead on its first test tour Pakistan since 2002.
US warns of possible attack in Islamabad amid security fears
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Sunday warned its staff of a possible attack on Americans at a top hotel in Pakistan's capital as the city was already on high alert following a suicide bombing earlier in the week.
The U.S. government is aware of information that “unknown individuals are possibly plotting to attack Americans at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad sometime during the holidays," the embassy said in a security alert. The advisory banned its American personnel from visiting the popular hotel over the holidays.
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The U.S. mission also urged all personnel to refrain from non-essential travel in Islamabad during the holiday season.
The embassy directive came two days after a suicide bombing in a residential area of the capital killed a police officer and wounded ten others. The explosion happened when police stopped a taxi for inspection during a patrol. According to the police, a rear seat passenger detonated explosives he was carrying, blowing up the vehicle.
Militants with the Pakistani Taliban, who are separate from but allied with Afghanistan's rulers, later claimed the attack.
Read more: Pakistan launches operation to free officers held by Taliban
Islamabad's administration has since put the city on high alert, banning public gatherings and processions, even as campaigns are ongoing for upcoming local elections. Police have stepped up patrols and established snap checkpoints to inspect vehicles across the city.
A suicide bombing targeted the capital's Marriott Hotel in September 2008, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the capital. Attackers drove a dump truck up to the hotel's gates before detonating it, killing 63 people and wounding over 250 others.