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Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's lawyers were on Monday attempting to launch legal challenges against his three year-sentence for graft that has ruled him out of contesting national elections.The former international cricket star was arrested at his home on Saturday and taken to jail for charges he has previously said are politically motivated.His lawyers have so far been denied access to him at Attock Jail, established 100 years ago on the outskirts of historical Attock city, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of the capital, Islamabad.On Monday, petitions were being filed in Islamabad and Lahore High Courts demanding power of attorney for the jailed former leader, which would allow lawyers to challenge his conviction.A petition has also been filed to request that Khan be held in an 'A-class' cell, more comfortable than other quarters and usually reserved for VIP inmates.At a court hearing Khan did not attend Saturday, a judge found him guilty of graft in relation to gifts he received while prime minister and sentenced him to three years in jail.Anyone convicted of a criminal offence is disqualified from contesting elections in Pakistan, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday that parliament would likely be dissolved on Wednesday -- days ahead of the end of its natural term.This would give the incoming interim government until mid-November to hold an election, but there is already speculation it could be delayed following the release Saturday of the country's latest census data.Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told a local television channel that constituencies would have to be redrawn according to the new census, warning there could be a delay to polls of up to two and a half months.Khan's arrest and detention for three days in connection with the same case in May sparked deadly violence when his supporters took to the streets in the tens of thousands, clashing with police.But a massive crackdown by the authorities that saw thousands of PTI supporters rounded up - some still in prison - and a muzzling of the press has vastly diminished his street power, even if his popularity remains high.

Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan's lawyers could not reach him on Sunday after he spent the night in a jail near the capital following his arrest the previous day on a corruption conviction, a spokesperson said.Khan was taken by police from his home in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and transferred to the jail just outside Islamabad, where a court had convicted him of charges arising over the sale of state gifts. The conviction likely means the cricket star-turned-politician will be disqualified from running in a national election."Attock prison is a 'No Go' area for (his) legal team as well as locals in the vicinity," said Naeem Haider Panjotha, Khan's spokesperson for legal affairs, adding they were unable to take him food or arrange the signing of legal documents.Pakistan's information minister referred a request for comment on Khan's access to his lawyers to provincial authorities in Punjab, where the jail is located. Punjab's top information official could not immediately be reached for comment.It was not clear whether Khan would appear in court on Monday, after a trial court's surprise weekend decision sentencing him to three years in prison.The arrest was the latest in a series of blows that have weakened Khan's political standing, after he fell out with Pakistan's powerful military and his party splintered.His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said it had filed appeals in higher courts over the decision.The nationwide reaction was largely quiet, a contrast to widespread violent clashes that plunged the country into turmoil after Khan's several-day arrest in May, despite calls by his party on Saturday for nationwide peaceful protests.Thousands of Khan's aides and supporters have been arrested since May, according to the interior minister. Many pro-Khan parliamentarians were also arrested and have distanced themselves from Khan, with some resigning from politics.His arrest came days before the government was expected to dissolve parliament, which would normally lead to elections by November. But the government decided on Saturday to use the latest census as part of election procedure, potentially delaying the vote.Britain's foreign office said on Saturday it was closely monitoring the situation and supported democratic principles. Pakistan's government denies Khan's arrest was related to the election.Legal experts say the conviction means Khan would likely be disqualified form politics for five years.His vice chairman, former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has taken the helm of PTI in his absence.

Factory worker Lubna Babar was made redundant at the beginning of the year, a victim of a crisis in the Pakistan textile industry that has seen it lose ground to more nimble Asian competitors."When you lose your job, your life comes to a close," the 43-year-old from Lahore told AFP."We've been working in factories for years... the day you get sacked, the story ends there."Pakistan's industrial manufacturing sector -- like elsewhere in the world -- has suffered from the slowdown in global consumption and the rise in energy costs following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.But the difficulties of the textile sector, which accounts for 60 percent of Pakistan's exports, are compounded by the critical state of the economy and months of political chaos.In Pakistan, the industry was buoyed at the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic, when it was freed of restrictions earlier than regional rivals India and Bangladesh and benefited from government financial aid, including slashed energy rates.In 2022-2023, however, textile exports fell by 15 percent to $16.5 billion."Two years ago, we were on a very high growth trajectory... we were confident that our exports this year would go to $25 billion," said Hamid Zaman, managing director of Sarena Textile Industries."Unfortunately, when you have political instability and things are not clear, and the policies of the government are reversed, this whole thing has gone into a tailspin," he told AFP.The political chaos started in April last year, when Imran Khan was dismissed as prime minister by a vote of no-confidence.His attempts to parlay popular public support into a movement to force an early election saw him arrested in May, leading to violence that only ended with a massive crackdown on his party and its supporters.He was convicted of graft on Saturday and sentenced to three years in jail.- Factories shutting down -The textile and clothing sector employs around 40 percent of the country's 20 million-strong industrial workforce.The main export markets are the US, EU, the UK, Turkey, and the UAE, supplying cotton fabrics, knitwear, bed linen, towels, and ready-made garments to global brands such as Zara, H&M, Adidas, John Lewis, Target and Macy's.But many factories have closed in recent months -- at least temporarily -- or are no longer running at full capacity."Perhaps 25 to 30 percent of all textile factories have closed. It is estimated that perhaps 700,000 jobs have been lost in the last year or year and a half," said Zaman.Babar felt this keenly, having looked for work at other factories -- but they were also laying off employees."They said they were no longer receiving orders from abroad," she said. After devastating floods in the summer of 2022, cotton production in Pakistan fell to an all-time low.The textile industry was unable to compensate by buying from abroad because of a freeze on imports imposed by the government to preserve its forex reserves.Thousands of containers filled with raw materials and machinery essential for the country's industries were held up for months in the southern port of Karachi.Textile companies also saw the cost of capital rise significantly, contending with interest rates of more than 20 percent as the central bank sought to curb record-breaking inflation.- 'Not a solution' -Pakistan finally managed to consolidate its foreign exchange reserves with the approval in mid-July of a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and additional assistance from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."But that's not a solution, it's just getting deeper and deeper into debt," said Kamran Arshad, managing director of Ghazi Fabrics International."The only way forward is enhancing Pakistan's exports and creating an environment that is investor-friendly that would incentivise industrial production and activity," he added.One of the conditions of the IMF bailout was an end to subsidies on energy, leading to a sharp rise in the cost of electricity, which affects the competitiveness of textile companies."Our biggest challenge going forward is having energy prices that are substantially higher than those of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China," said Arshad."We're not asking for subsidies. Realistically we are asking for regionally competitive energy prices."In the face of these challenges, the country's textile manufacturers have lost customers globally."Pakistan's overall market share in the textile and garment industry was nearly 2.25 percent about two years ago. Now it's down to around 1.7 percent," said Aamir Fayyaz Sheikh, CEO of Kohinoor Mills.Sheikh sees some hope if the political situation settles following an election due before the end of the year."After the elections there will be more political clarity and that will help bring more economic stability," he said.But for ordinary workers like Babar, there is little light at the end of the tunnel."Life is getting harder every day," said the mother of three."We cook once and make it last for two days. And if we don't have any food, we make do, without complaining."

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was found guilty of graft Saturday and sentenced to three years in jail, state TV said, in a case involving gifts he received while premier."Judge Humayun Dilawar announced that involvement in corrupt practices has been proven," Pakistan TV said.Khan was not present for the hearing at the Islamabad High Court, and the judge ordered his arrest.Khan is facing over 150 cases brought against him since being ousted in April last year -- charges he says are politically motivated.Khan's legal team said they would be filing an immediate appeal."It's important to mention there was no chance given to present witnesses, neither was time allotted to round up arguments," a member of the team said.

More than 130 injured in blast, police sayPakistan PM calls bombing an attack on democratic systemPakistani Taliban condemn bombing in statementAt least 42 people were killed and over 130 injured when a suicide bomber set off explosives at a political rally in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, police and rescue officials said.The blast took place at a gathering of the conservative Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, known for its links to hardline political Islam, in the former tribal area of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan.An emergency has been declared in the hospitals of Bajaur and adjoining areas where most of the injured were taken, said district police officer Nazir Khan. The critically injured were transported from Bajaur to hospitals in the provincial capital Peshawar by military helicopters.A statement from Rescue 1122, a first-responder service, put the death toll at 42.Khan said the explosion, at a JUI-F workers convention in Khar town of Bajaur, had left more than 130 injured, many seriously.The provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat told Reuters the explosion was caused by a suicide bomb.Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad broke down. A mosque bombing in Peshawar killed over 100 people earlier this year.While the TTP and its associated groups have been behind a majority of attacks in Pakistan in recent months, the group distanced itself from Sunday's attack, which its spokesman condemned.The TTP pledges allegiance to, but is not directly a part of, the Taliban in western neighbour Afghanistan. Pakistan's security forces say the TTP have sanctuaries in Afghanistan, which the Taliban run-administration there denies.Afghanistan's administration condemned the explosion in a statement by their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.The TTP are not the only militant group to carry out attacks in the area, which has also been hit by a local chapter of the Islamic State.The targeted party, the JUI-F, is a major ally of the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is preparing for national elections to be held by November.Sharif condemned the blast, calling it an attack on the democratic process of Pakistan. He vowed that those responsible would be punished.The US Embassy in Islamabad and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the explosion in posts on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Teenager Amanullah Khan teeters on his tiptoes, daubing towering camels with festive henna patterns to entice Eid al-Adha customers at a market near the Pakistan capital.Hundreds of farmers have camped at livestock markets between Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi for two weeks, hoping to sell animals ahead of the annual holy festival starting Thursday in Pakistan.But with rampant inflation -- reaching a record 38 percent in May -- markets are attracting smaller crowds.Khan's cousin Zakaria brought 18 camels to market after good profits last year but has sold only one so far."People's purchasing power is over. Customers are not coming to the market, and those who come prefer to return empty-handed due to the high prices of the animals," Zakaria, 21, told AFP.During the festival, Muslims around the world will slaughter an animal -- a goat, sheep, bull or camel -- keeping a third for themselves before giving a third to friends and relatives, and a third to charity.The ritual commemorates the readiness of Ibrahim -- Abraham in the Christian and Jewish faiths -- to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah.The centuries-old festival is guided by tradition, but this year many middle-class Pakistanis will not be able to perform a sacrifice."Our income is the same but the prices are sky-high. From where would we get that much money?" buyer Ali Akbar, a 46-year-old builder, asked.Another customer, Zerak Ali, had come to enquire about the price of a camel, which can cost up to one million rupees ($3,500)."It is worth 700,000 for you," Zakaria barters. But 56-year-old shopkeeper Ali leaves, leading his two grandsons towards the enclosure housing cheaper bulls.Camel sacrifice is not common in Pakistan, but some wealthier buyers prefer the animal because 11 families can share its meat, according to Islamic rules.More than 250 camels have been brought to the Islamabad market, along with thousands of bulls, cows, goats and sheep.Bulls cost up to 500,000 rupees, while the price of goats ranges from 50,000 to 150,000.Eating into Zakaria's profits are market taxes, rising fodder and truck rental prices, as well as staff wages."I will lose millions of rupees this year," he glumly predicts.Bakht Zaman, a farmer from Mardan district in Pakistan's northwest, brought 10 camels to market and has so far sold only one for 500,000 rupees."The value of the Pakistani rupee has fallen," says buyer Haq Nawaz. "Who will buy such expensive animals?"

Pakistan's national assembly has passed legislation limiting how long lawmakers can be disqualified from office, a state spokesman said on Tuesday, paving the way for exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's return to politics.Sharif served as Pakistan's prime minister three times – the last before being ousted over graft allegations in 2017.The Supreme Court barred him from politics for life and he was later sentenced to seven years in jail.In 2019 he was granted medical bail and flew to Britain, where he has remained ever since, continuing to steer the family-run Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) party from behind the scenes.His brother Shehbaz Sharif became prime minister last year, and the country is due to hold fresh general elections no later than October.Yesterday a government spokesman said that the acting president had signed into law an amendment which says courts can only disqualify parliamentarians "for a period not exceeding five years".The spokesman said Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani served as acting president in signing the bill on Monday, in the absence of President Arif Alvi, who is abroad on the Hajj pilgrimage."The ruling PML-N and its coalition partners want to bring Nawaz Sharif back," political analyst Hasan Askari told AFP. "The bill has been passed to achieve this objective.""Nawaz Sharif will be the main campaigner for the PML-N in the next election," he added. "His return will be very helpful for the party politically, but it's not clear whether he himself will contest the election."Sharif still faces the graft case which saw him sentenced during the tenure of his successor, Imran Khan, who won power pledging to undo the corruption which has historically plagued the country.However, in Pakistan, legal cases which tangle politicians in opposition are regularly wound back once their party regains office.Shehbaz Sharif ousted Khan last April via a no-confidence vote.However, he is at the head of a shaky coalition of parties, while Khan remains widely popular in the countdown to polling.Khan has been calling for snap elections, but his campaign has become bogged down in dozens of legal cases.Last month he was briefly arrested on graft charges in Islamabad, sparking deadly unrest during which supporters of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party poured onto the streets and clashed with police.In the aftermath of his release following three days in custody, the PTI has been targeted by a crackdown with thousands of arrests, reports of intimidation and muzzling of the press.Khan says his party is being suppressed by the government, led by the PML-N, and the powerful military establishment.

At least 350 Pakistanis were on an overloaded boat that capsized and sank in open seas off Greece last week, Pakistan's Interior Minister said on Friday, promising to arrest and prosecute the human smugglers responsible.The fishing boat with a capacity of 400 people had over 700 people on board when it sank on June 14, Rana Sanaullah told the country's parliament, adding that a total of 281 Pakistani families had contacted the government to seek help. Another 193 Pakistani families have taken DNA tests to try to identify those who died in one of Europe's deadliest shipping disasters in recent years, he said.Hundreds of people from countries including Egypt, Syria and Pakistan were crammed on the 20- to 30-metre-long fishing boat when it sank about 80km from the southern Greek town of Pylos. Pakistan's economic meltdown in recent months has spurred more people to risk their lives to reach Europe in search of a better future.Pakistan said it has arrested several human traffickers and their agents who told authorities that their ring leader was based in Libya.These human smugglers had charged around $8,000 a person to take them to Europe illegally through the sea route after flying legally to Dubai, Egypt and Libya, authorities said.A high level inquiry is underway to identify and arrest those involved in the human smuggling, Sanaullah said, adding that Pakistan is also working to recommend amendments to the law to plug loopholes and ensure conviction in such cases.Not a single human trafficker has been convicted for over five years, he said, citing data, adding that this was mostly due to victims' families agreeing pardons in exchange for money.

Two Pakistani army soldiers were killed Monday during an exchange of fire with gunmen northwest Pakistan.The Army said in a statement that its forces clashed with militants in the Waziristan area. As a result, two soldiers and three militants were killed and two other militants were wounded, Radio Pakistan reported.Two Pakistani army personnel were killed yesterday during an exchange of fire with militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province northwest Pakistan.Pakistani forces have been working for years to eliminate armed groups in mountainous borders who occasionally launch attacks against security and civilians.

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan will appear in a special court at the capital's police headquarters to answer graft charges on Wednesday, a day after his shock arrest prompted violent nationwide protests.Khan's detention follows months of political crisis and came hours after the powerful military rebuked the former international cricketer for alleging that a senior officer had been involved in a plot to kill him.Some protesters took out their wrath on the military, torching the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and laying siege at the entrance to the army's general headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.Pakistan politicians have frequently been arrested and jailed since the country's founding in 1947, but few have so directly challenged a military that has staged at least three coups and had ruled for more than three decades.In Peshawar, a mob razed the Chaghi monument -- a mountain-shaped sculpture honouring the location of Pakistan's first nuclear test.Several memorials to service members killed on active duty were also vandalised.Police fought pitched battles with supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in cities across the country for hours on Tuesday night.Local media reported two deaths in those clashes, while police said at least 150 people had been arrested.Tempers appeared to have cooled on Wednesday morning but there was a huge security presence across the capital, particularly outside the so-called police lines where the special court will convene.Authorities also ordered schools closed across the country and continued restricting access to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook."At a time we are already struggling to feed our children, further uncertainty has been created," Farooq Bhatti, a van driver, told AFP in Rawalpindi Wednesday morning."The violence will not serve anyone... everyone will be affected... but I doubt the decision makers care."Shah Mehmood Qureshi, vice chairman of the PTI, urged supporters to keep protesting in a "lawful and peaceful manner", adding party lawyers would file multiple appeals and petitions against Khan's arrest.Khan's lawyers were told on Wednesday to wait outside the police HQ compound from where they would be escorted to the makeshift court."No PTI senior leader or lawyer knows about Khan's conditions. We are denied access to him," lawyer Faisal Hussain Chaudhry told AFP."Will there be any justice under the shadow of guns?"- Military rebuke -The case that led to Khan's arrest on Tuesday was brought by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's top anti-corruption body, which said he had ignored repeated summons to appear in court.Khan has faced dozens of charges since being ousted in April, a tactic analysts say successive Pakistan governments have used to silence their opponents.He could be barred from holding public office if convicted, which would exclude him from elections scheduled for later this year.Khan's arrest came a day after the military warned him against making "baseless allegations" after he again accused a senior officer of plotting to kill him.The rebuke late Monday underscored how far Khan's relations have deteriorated with the military, which backed his rise to power in 2018 but withdrew its support ahead of a parliamentary vote of no confidence that ousted him last year."The senior army leadership is uninterested in repairing the rift between itself and Khan," said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center."So with this arrest it's likely sending a message that the gloves are very much off."Reaction from abroad was swift.The United States wants to "make sure that whatever happens in Pakistan is consistent with the rule of law, with the constitution," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday during a news conference with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in Washington."We want to see peaceful democracy in that country," Cleverly added.Pakistan is deeply mired in an economic and political crisis, with Khan pressuring the struggling coalition government for early elections.He has been increasingly outspoken against the establishment, relying on near-fanatical support from the huge crowds that accompany his public appearances to protect him from arrest.But authorities pounced during what was supposed to be a routine court appearance Tuesday.Khan, who has a pronounced limp since being shot during an assassination attempt last year, was manhandled by dozens of paramilitary rangers into an armoured car inside the Islamabad High Court premises.At a weekend rally in Lahore, Khan repeated claims that senior intelligence officer Major-General Faisal Naseer was involved in an assassination attempt last year during which he was shot in the leg.The military's Inter-Services Public Relations wing said in a statement that "this fabricated and malicious allegation is extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable".The government says the assassination attempt was the work of a lone gunman, who is in custody and who confessed in a video controversially leaked to media.

Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency arrested former prime minister Imran Khan at Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, threatening fresh turmoil in the nuclear-armed country as clashes erupted between Khan supporters and police, killing at least one protester.Khan’s arrest comes a day after the powerful military rebuked him for repeatedly accusing a senior military officer of trying to engineer his assassination and the former armed forces chief of being behind his removal from power last year.Dozens of paramilitary troops in riot-control gear surrounded Khan — Pakistan’s most popular leader according to opinion polls — and led him into a black van by his arm.Authorities in three of Pakistan’s four provinces imposed an emergency order banning all gatherings after Khan’s supporters clashed with police, blocked major roads in a string of cities and stormed military buildings in Lahore and Rawalpindi, according to witnesses and videos shared by his party.Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. The military’s public relations wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The clashes killed one of the protesters and injured 12 people, including six police officers in the southern city of Quetta, provincial home minister Ziaullah Langove said.Pakistan’s telecommunications watchdog told Reuters that mobile data services were being suspended on interior ministry orders, while Netblocks, a global Internet monitor, said access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube had been restricted.Khan, 70, a cricket hero-turned-politician, has showed no sign of slowing down since being ousted in April 2022 as prime minister in a parliamentary no-confidence vote — even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he led a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections.His arrest came at a time when Pakistanis are reeling from the worst economic crisis in decades, with record high inflation and anaemic growth. An International Monetary Fund bailout package has been delayed for months even though foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to cover a month’s imports.Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that Khan had been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he ignored notices to turn himself in.He said Khan and his wife were accused of having received, when he was still prime minister, land worth up to Rs7bn ($24.7mn) from a property developer who had been charged in Britain with money laundering.Sanaullah added that British authorities had returned £190mn to Pakistan in connection with money laundering, but that Khan had returned the money to the developer instead of keeping it in the national exchequer.“Khan is accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices,” NAB said in a statement.Khan has denied any wrongdoing.Geo TV said he would be brought before an anti-corruption court today.The graft case is one of more than 100 registered against Khan since his ouster after four years in power. In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted, with a national election scheduled for November.Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called on supporters to “shut down Pakistan” over his arrest. PTI wrote on Twitter: “It’s your time, people of Pakistan. Khan has always stood for you, now it’s time to stand for him.”Hundreds of Khan supporters blocked streets in cities and major highways across the country, including in his home town of Lahore and in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where police went on high alert and banned public gatherings.Protesters also blocked major roads in the port city of Karachi and police fired tear gas at protesters in the capital Islamabad, according to Reuters witnesses.Previous attempts to arrest Khan from his Lahore home resulted in heavy clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.Political infighting is common in Pakistan, where no prime minister has yet fulfilled a full term and where the military has ruled for nearly half of the country’s history. Khan repeated his accusations against the military yesterday, adding that the same senior officer, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Major-General Faisal Naseer, was behind the murder of Arshad Sharif, a renowned Pakistani journalist, in Kenya in October.The military has denied Khan’s allegations. Despite its major influence, it recently said it was no longer interfering in politics.

Paramilitary troops whisk away former premier from courtOne dead, 12 injured as Khan supporters clash with policeArrest linked to land fraud, UK money laundering -ministerSecurity forces on high alert in Pakistani citiesPakistan's anti-corruption agency arrested former prime minister Imran Khan at Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, threatening fresh turmoil in the nuclear-armed country as clashes erupted between Khan supporters and police, killing at least one protester.Khan's arrest comes a day after the powerful military rebuked him for repeatedly accusing a senior military officer of trying to engineer his assassination and the former armed forces chief of being behind his removal from power last year.Dozens of paramilitary troops in riot-control gear surrounded Khan - Pakistan's most popular leader according to opinion polls - and led him into a black van by his arm.Authorities in three of Pakistan's four provinces imposed an emergency order banning all gatherings after Khan's supporters clashed with police, blocked major roads in a string of cities and stormed military buildings in Lahore and Rawalpindi, according to witnesses and videos shared by his party.Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. The military's public relations wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The clashes killed one of the protesters and injured 12 people, including six police officers in the southern city of Quetta, provincial home minister Ziaullah Langove said.Pakistan's telecommunications watchdog told Reuters that mobile data services were being suspended on interior ministry orders, while Netblocks, a global internet monitor, said access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube had been restricted.Khan, 70, a cricket hero-turned-politician, has showed no sign of slowing down since being ousted in April 2022 as prime minister in a parliamentary no-confidence vote - even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he led a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections.His arrest came at a time when Pakistanis are reeling from the worst economic crisis in decades, with record high inflation and anaemic growth. An International Monetary Fund bailout package has been delayed for months even though foreign exchange reserves are barely enough to cover a month's imports.Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters that Khan had been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after he ignored notices to turn himself in.He said Khan and his wife were accused of having received, when he was still prime minister, land worth up to 7 billion rupees ($24.7 million) from a property developer who had been charged in Britain with money laundering.Sanaullah added that British authorities had returned 190 million pounds ($240 million) to Pakistan in connection with money laundering, but that Khan had returned the money to the developer instead of keeping it in the national exchequer."Khan is accused of commission of the offence of corruption and corrupt practices," NAB said in a statement.Khan has denied any wrongdoing.GEO TV said he would be brought before an anti-corruption court on Wednesday.The graft case is one of more than 100 registered against Khan since his ouster after four years in power. In most of the cases, Khan faces being barred from holding public office if convicted, with a national election scheduled for November.Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called on supporters to "shut down Pakistan" over his arrest. PTI wrote on Twitter: "It's your time, people of Pakistan. Khan has always stood for you, now its time to stand for him."Hundreds of Khan supporters blocked streets in cities and major highways across the country, including in Khan's home town of Lahore and in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where police went on high alert and banned public gatherings.Protesters also blocked major roads in the port city of Karachi and police fired tear gas at protesters in the capital Islamabad, according to Reuters witnesses.Previous attempts to arrest Khan from his Lahore home resulted in heavy clashes between his supporters and law enforcement personnel.Political infighting is common in Pakistan, where no prime minister has yet fulfilled a full term and where the military has ruled for nearly half of the country's history.Khan repeated his accusations against the military on Tuesday, adding that the same senior officer, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Major-General Faisal Naseer, was behind the murder of a renowned Pakistani journalist in Kenya in October.The military has denied Khan's allegations.The armed forces remain Pakistan's most powerful institution, having ruled the South Asian nation directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups. Despite its major influence, it recently said it was no longer interfering in politics.

Pakistan's military warned former prime minister Imran Khan against making "baseless allegations" after he again accused a senior officer of plotting to kill him.The rebuke late Monday underscored how far Khan's relations have deteriorated with the powerful military, which backed his rise to power in 2018 but withdrew its support ahead of a parliamentary vote of no confidence that ousted him last year.Pakistan is deeply mired in an economic and political crisis, with Khan pressuring the struggling coalition government for early elections.At a weekend rally in Lahore, Khan repeated claims that a senior intelligence officer Major-General Faisal Naseer was involved in an assassination attempt last year during which he was shot in the leg.The military's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) wing said in a statement that "this fabricated and malicious allegation is extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable"."This has been a consistent pattern for the last year wherein military and intelligence agencies officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives," it said.Criticism of the military establishment is rare in Pakistan, where army chiefs hold significant influence over domestic politics and foreign policy and have long been accused of interfering in the rise and fall of governments.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif -- whom Khan also alleged was involved in the assassination plot -- weighed in on Twitter."His levelling of allegations without any proof against Gen Faisal Naseer and officers of our Intelligence Agency cannot be allowed and will not be tolerated," he said.- Rejects findings -Pakistan's government has said the assassination attempt was the work of a lone gunman, who is now in custody and who confessed in a video controversially leaked to media.Khan rejects those findings and insists authorities have refused to accept his attempts to file a so-called first information report (FIR) with police identifying the real culprits.Khan repeated his allegations in a video statement released Tuesday, saying that "there is no reason for me to fabricate the facts".ISPR said it reserved the right to "take legal course of action against patently false and malafide statements and propaganda".Khan faces dozens of charges that were brought against him since he was ousted -- a tactic analysts say successive Pakistan governments have used to silence their opponents.He is due in court again on Tuesday.Pakistan's military, the world's sixth largest, holds undue influence over the nation.It staged at least three coups since the country gained independence in 1947 and ruled for more than three decades.Ahead of general elections in October, a myriad of petitions and appeals are pending before the courts for an earlier vote for some provincial assemblies, which are usually held at the same time.Pakistan's economy has also been pushed to the brink of collapse by years of financial mismanagement, exacerbated by a global energy crisis and devastating floods that submerged a third of the country in 2022.The government is battling to revive the next tranche of a $6.5 billion loan deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund in 2019.The IMF is demanding more stringent reforms, including tax rises and subsidy cuts, likely to rile voters ahead of an election.Pakistan must also win guarantees of bilateral support from friendly nations to unlock the tranche, with China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already pledging loans.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif categorically denied any possibility of his country establishing relations with the Israeli entity, stressing that such a hypothesis may be realized in the event that the Palestinians obtain their right to self-determination and declare their independent state.In Tuesday’s remarks, Sharif described the allegations circulating on social media about the start of trade relations between Pakistan and the Israeli entity as misleading and false, explaining that it is unfounded news.He also indicated that political motives are behind these allegations, without specifying their source, or who is behind them, reaffirming that Islamabad is not going to have relations with the Israeli occupation as long as it continues to oppress the Palestinian people.Numerous media reports said the trade relations between Pakistan and the Israeli entity kicked off as a first step towards normalisation.

Five people were killed and two others were injured after a truck crashed into a container in Dera Ismail Khan district, northwestern Pakistan.Pakistani media reported that the accident occurred when a truck crashed into a container near the town of Drazanda in Dera Ismail Khan district, killing five people, including two children, and wounding two others.Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to lack of infrastructure, poor vehicle maintenance and reckless driving.

Veteran Pakistani actor Zia Mohyeddin passed away today in Karachi at the age of 91. The legendary actor, author, broadcaster, and showman passed away Monday morning in Karachi in a hospital where he had been on life support.Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted a tribute to Zia Mohyeddin on Twitter and offered his condolences.The Embassy of Pakistan in Qatar also mourned his loss and tweeted "@PakinQatarjoins Pakistanis and literary aficionados across the world to mourn the loss of maestro #ZiaMohyeddin. The late actor, poet, narrator, was a cultural icon whose contributions to the #Urdu language are immense."Born in Faisalabad on June 20, 1931, Mohyeddin was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and on his return to Pakistan, he produced, directed, and acted in numerous plays.Mohyeddin delivered some of his most memorable performances throughout his lifetime in the Hollywood epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Behold the Pale Horse (1964) and Bombay Talkie (1970).Owing to his countless contributions to the field of theatre, he was awarded with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2003 and the Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2012.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf died at the age of 79 following a prolonged illness, media wings of the Pakistani President Secretariat and Prime minister announced Sunday.Pakistani President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed their condolences over the death of Musharraf, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.Musharraf served as president of Pakistan from 2001 and 2008.

Pakistan is gripped by a major economic crisis, with the rupee plummeting, inflation soaring and energy in short supply as IMF officials visit to discuss a vital cash injection.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for months held out against the tax rises and subsidy slashing demanded by the International Monetary Fund, fearful of backlash ahead of elections due in October.But in recent days, with the prospect of national bankruptcy looming and no friendly countries willing to offer less painful bailouts, Islamabad has started to bow to pressure.The government loosened controls on the rupee to rein in a rampant black market in US dollars, a step that caused the currency to plunge to a record low. Artificially cheap petrol prices have also been hiked."We're at the end of the road. The government has to make the political case to the public for meeting these (IMF) demands," former World Bank economist Abid Hasan told AFP."If they don't, the country will certainly default and we'll end up like Sri Lanka, which will be even worse."Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt last year and endured months of food and fuel shortages that sparked protests, ultimately forcing the country's leader to flee overseas and resign.In Pakistan, time is of the essence, with Nasir Iqbal from the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics warning the economy had already "virtually collapsed" due to mismanagement and political turmoil.- Cost-of-living crisis -The IMF delegation will arrive on Tuesday to a nation in panic, still reeling from unprecedented floods that submerged a third of its territory.The world's fifth-biggest population has less than $3.7 billion in the state bank -- enough to cover just three weeks of imports.It is no longer issuing letters of credit, except for essential food and medicines, causing a backlog of thousands of shipping containers at Karachi port stuffed with stock the country can no longer afford.Industry has been hammered by the imports block and massive rupee devaluation. Public construction projects have halted, textiles factories have partially shut down and domestic investment has slowed.In downtown Karachi, dozens of day labourers including carpenters and painters wait with their tools on display for work that never comes."The number of beggars has increased and the number of labourers has decreased," said 55-year-old mason Zafar Iqbal, who was eating biriyani from a plastic bag donated by a passerby."Inflation is so high that one cannot earn enough."At the petrol pump, a widow with her son said every few hundred rupees (75 cents) of fuel for their motorcycle was precious, with the pair only eating two meals a day."The cost is so high that we eat our breakfast late and the second meal at around seven, with nothing in between," said Ulfat, who declined to give her second name.- Political mayhem -Pakistan is locked in an endless cycle of servicing external debt.State Bank governor Jamil Ahmed last month said the country owed $33 billion in loans and other foreign payments before the end of the fiscal year in June.A diplomatic offensive has seen $4 billion rolled over by lending nations, with $8.3 billion still on the negotiating table.Meanwhile, Pakistan is battling severe energy shortages -- with capacity drained by poor infrastructure and mismanagement -- compounding the misery of businesses and citizens.Last week the whole country was plunged into a day-long blackout because of a fault in the national grid that followed a cost-cutting measure.State petroleum minister Musadik Malik told reporters in Islamabad that imports of Russian oil would start in April, paid for in currencies of "friendly countries" in a mutually beneficial deal.The tumbling economy mirrors the country's political chaos, with former prime minister Imran Khan heaping pressure on the ruling coalition in his bid for early elections while his popularity remains high.Khan, who was ousted last year in a no-confidence motion, negotiated a multi-billion-dollar loan package from the IMF in 2019.But he reneged on promises to cut subsidies and market interventions that had cushioned the cost-of-living crisis, causing the programme to stall.It is a common pattern in Pakistan, where most people live in rural poverty, with more than two dozen IMF deals brokered and then broken over the decades."Even if Pakistan avoids default, the underlying structural factors that triggered the current crisis -- one exacerbated by poor leadership and external global shocks -- will still be in place," tweeted political analyst Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington."Barring difficult, large-scale reforms, the next crisis could be just around the corner."

Lehaz Ali Police officers were among at least 47 killed and 150 wounded in a blast at a mosque inside a highly sensitive Pakistan police headquarters on Monday, prompting the government to put the country on high alert.The attack happened during afternoon worship in the provincial capital of Peshawar, close to former tribal areas along the Afghan border where militancy has been steadily rising.A frantic rescue mission was underway at the mosque, which had an entire wall and some of its roof blown out by the force of the blast."Many policemen are buried under the rubble," said Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan, who estimated between 300 and 400 officers usually attended prayers at the mosque."Efforts are being made to get them out safely," he added. Bloodied survivors emerged limping from the wreckage, while bodies were ferried away in ambulances as the rescue operation continued."It's an emergency situation," Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for the main hospital in Peshawar, told AFP, adding that at least 47 had been killed and 150 wounded.As darkness fell, at least four men were still trapped in the wreckage, visible through cracks in the concrete, alongside bodies yet to be recovered."We have given them oxygen so that they don't have problems in breathing," said Bilal Ahmad Faizi, a spokesperson for the rescue organisation 1122.The police headquarters in Peshawar is in one of the most tightly controlled areas of the city, housing intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus, and is next door to the regional secretariat.Provinces around the country announced they were on high alert after the blast, with checkpoints ramped up and extra security forces deployed, while in the capital Islamabad snipers were deployed on buildings and at city entrance points."Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan," said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement."Those fighting against Pakistan will be wiped out from the face of earth."Officers said the blast came from the second row of worshippers, with bomb disposal teams probing the possibility of a suicide attack.Shahid Ali, a policeman who survived, said the explosion took place seconds after the imam started prayers."I saw black smoke rising to the sky. I ran out to save my life," the 47-year-old told AFP."The screams of the people are still echoing in my mind," he added. "People were screaming for help."The drastic security breach came on the day United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had been due to visit Islamabad, although the trip was cancelled at the last minute due to bad weather.Pakistan is also preparing to host an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation on Tuesday as it works towards unlocking a vital bailout loan to prevent a looming default.The security situation in Pakistan -- once plagued by bombings until a major military crackdown that began in 2014 largely restored order -- has deteriorated since the return of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul.Islamabad has accused the new rulers of failing to secure their mountainous border, allowing militants to travel back and forth without being detected.The biggest threat comes from a resurgent Pakistani Taliban, a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar ideology, which has sharply increased low casualty attacks on police and security forces.Meanwhile, the regional chapter of the Islamic State -- whose numbers were bolstered by prison breaks in Afghanistan in 2021 -- claimed an attack on a minority Shiite mosque in Peshawar that killed 64, Pakistan's deadliest terror attack since 2018.Detectives said the bomber was an Afghan exile who had returned home to train for the attack.In the south of the country, authorities say the porous border with Afghanistan has helped aid a separatist movement in Balochistan.

The death toll from a blast at a mosque inside a police headquarters in northwest Pakistan on Monday has risen to at least 47, a hospital spokesman said.Muhammad Asim Khan from Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital said more than 150 people had also been wounded, while senior government official Shafiullah Khan told AFP the death toll was expected to rise even further as bodies were still being pulled from the rubble.la-sjd-ecl/jts/smw