With results now in from Pakistan’s general election, where voting began last Thursday, many have been surprised by the strong showing of supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan. Pakistan’s general elections were plagued by terrorist violence and overshadowed by the absence of the country’s most popular politician, former prime minister Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned and disqualified from […]

It was a shock to the system. Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was barred from formally running nominees under its own name, but PTI-aligned independent candidates nonetheless massively outperformed expectations in national elections on February 8, leading in a plurality, but not a majority, of seats in the National Assembly. Independent candidates representing PTI, the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister […]

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s election results saying they were “rigged”. The JUI-F, which suffered a huge defeat in the recent elections, has meanwhile called for nationwide protests against the alleged electoral manipulation by “anti-Islamic forces”. Fazl on Wednesday however called for Nawaz Sharif to join him on the opposition benches rather than form a government. […]

As polls closed following Pakistan’s parliamentary election on February 8, major media networks began election-night coverage with prominent TV anchors and pundits discussing voter turnout and the timeline for expected results. When it came time to offer his analysis, one of Pakistan’s most popular TV hosts, Hamid Mir, launched an unexpected tirade against the entire electoral process. He refused to […]

At the time of writing, Pakistan’s political landscape is full of chaos. The General Election 2024 results have not only thrown up a hung National Assembly, but have done so after a pre-election scenario ‘fixed’ to produce a ‘selected’ and not elected, government, and an electoral process riddled with irregularities. The meme currently doing the rounds in Pakistan is that […]

Pakistan’s national elections on February 8 failed to produce a clear winner, triggering intense political jockeying among rival parties to form a coalition government. Candidates allied with jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan won the most seats — 93 out of the 265 available — in the National Assembly. But they were forced to run as independents after Khan’s Pakistan […]

Pakistan confirmed Monday that separate counterterrorism raids near the Afghan border within the past week had killed two senior leaders of a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K). Military officials identified the slain militant commanders as Surat Gul and Abdul Shakoor, also known as Abu Hamza. Both were targeted in intelligence-driven security operations in northwestern Khyber and […]

Established In: November 1990; Key Members: Syed Salahuddin; Operational Area: Pakistan, India; Involved In: Armed Attacks, Assasinations, Bomb Attacks, Kidnapping; The Muttahida Jehad Council (MJC), a conglomerate of Pakistan-based Jehadi outfits, was formed in November 1990 to bring under a single platform all the outfits involved in the terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The MJC, for long an […]

Pakistani security forces on Sunday killed a “high-profile” member of the Daesh militant group in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said. The militant, Surat Gul, was killed in an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of a high-value target in the Khyber district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing. “Weapons, […]

In Pakistan, the Army is often placed on the pedestal since it is the unifying factor in a fractious landscape. Politicians like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif—the three-time Prime Minister—who tried to roll over the behemoth either paid a dear price or made a compromise. However, Imran Khan thought he was different and could turn the sails […]