News from The Thursday Times' news desk.
The U.S. has voiced support for Pakistan’s self-defence after Allison M Hooker said she spoke with Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch to offer condolences for the dead, backing Pakistan’s right to respond to Taliban attacks.
Senior establishment sources deny any backchannel deal with Imran Khan, stating his only recourse lies in courts through constitutional and legal processes, not political negotiation or pressure tactics.
The UAE has condemned terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, reaffirming its rejection of violence and extending condolences to the victims and the Pakistani nation.
An official KP government letter has contradicted claims that the Tirah Valley evacuation was the result of a military operation, revealing it was a voluntary civilian-led decision agreed through jirgas and prompting questions over the handling of Rs 4 billion in relief funds.
The European Union is moving to freeze progress on a US trade deal following renewed tariff threats, signalling growing political resistance to advancing transatlantic economic cooperation
Pakistan’s aviation clearance for Biman’s Dhaka to Karachi route brings direct flights back into play, turning a long-delayed connection into a concrete step in warming Pakistan Bangladesh relations.
Pakistan has rejected allegations raised in a UN Human Rights Council statement, with sources saying the claims rely on politicised narratives rather than verified facts and risk prejudging matters currently before the courts.
Field Marshal Asim Munir linked Pakistan to the State of Madina, called the Saudi defence pact historic and said Pakistan has been honoured as a guardian of the Haramain. He branded terrorism as India’s habit, insisted that only the state can declare jihad and urged religious scholars to unite the country around knowledge, hard work and a wider national vision.
Speaking to religious scholars in Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan will not progress through “magic” or shortcuts but through hard work, unity and respect for the armed forces. He hailed the army’s performance against India, urged clerics to fight sectarianism and argued that tough decisions by political and military leaders have helped pull the economy back from the edge of default.
Pakistan’s new Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has tied the future of relations with Kabul to the fate of the TTP, warning Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers that they must choose between partnership with Islamabad or continued tolerance of Pakistani Taliban networks on Afghan soil, as a powerful new tri service command comes online in Rawalpindi.