31 stories found
Steve Smith and David Warner face uncertainty over joining the Pakistan Super League due to rising security concerns. Tensions, travel disruptions, and a “Do Not Travel” alert for Peshawar have raised alarms. While preparations continue, players are weighing safety risks, with contingency plans like emergency evacuation under consideration before final decisions are made.
Section 144 has been imposed in Peshawar, Pakistan, ahead of the Eid festival, with the orders taking immediate effect and remaining in force for 30 days.
The United States has announced that it will permanently close its consulate in Peshawar, The Independent reported on Thursday. According to the British publication, the consulate is the US’ closest diplomatic mission to the Afghan border and was a primary operations and logistics point at the time of its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The US State Department notified Congress of its intent to close the consulate, saying that it would save $7.5 million per year without undermining the advan...
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is mulling a Rs60 billion project for a second ring road in Peshawar, aimed at improving transportation infrastructure in the city's southern areas.
After a 17-year delay, Peshawar's Safe City Project, an AI surveillance network, has gone live, with plans for expansion to three additional districts.
Security alert cites violent protests in Karachi, demonstrations in Lahore, calls for rallies in Islamabad, Peshawar
PESHAWAR: A government high school building in North Waziristan was severely damaged in a suspected drone strike late on Wednesday night, just days before educational institutions were scheduled to re
Over 400 trees and hundreds of shrubs have been relocated from Peshawar Road in Rawalpindi to facilitate the construction of three new underpasses.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Wednesday that 5G spectrum auction would be held on March 10 and no changes were likely to be made in the schedule, saying that the sale was likely to fetch between $300-$700 million. The authority is offering 597 megahertz (MHz) in several bands in the upcoming auction and three existing telecom operators have been mandated to obtain a minimum of 100 MHz in the auction process. “With the prescribed rate, even if 300 MHz is obtained by the telecommunication operators without any competitive bidding, the government will get $300 million,” PTA Director General Licensing retired brigadier Aamir Shahzad told a media briefing. “And if all the 597 MHz is sold at auction at a slightly competitive rate, $700 million will be available for the government, but this scenario is less likely to happen,” he added. Shahzad said that the auction would be conducted using a multi-round electronic clock auction format, with the main allocation stage starting on March 10. He said the 2600 MHz and 3500 MHz bands would be offered during the first round. He added that after the auction process, the rollout of 5G services would take between three and six months as certain infrastructure was needed for the fresh spectrum. Meanwhile, Chairman PTA Hafeezur Rehman said that the auction would lead to improved quality of service and data speed. “Around 50 million new users have been added in the system during the last five years, but only 10MHz was increased in the 2021 spectrum auction,” PTA Chairman said. “Improved data service and enhanced coverage will also increase average revenue per user (ARPU) for telecommunication operators,” he said. The ARPU is a key performance indicator that measures the average revenue generated by a company from each consumer within a specific timeframe, monthly or annually. “We started with $0.7 and now the ARPU has reached $1.3. Therefore, it is likely to increase as more data is consumed by the subscribers,” Rehman said. “The authority expects mobile broadband speeds to improve by around 25 per cent following the auction,” he said. He said that the government had offered many incentives to telecom companies in the new spectrum auction, but obligations to improve the quality of service as well as coverage area had been increased. “This will help the country to embrace further upgradations like 6G and not like 5G, where we have been delayed,” the PTA Chairman said. He added the government had also eliminated the right-of-way fee that used to be around Rs36,000 per kilometre annually; this, he said, would encourage fiberisation projects. The chairman also said that telecom operators had already placed orders for 5G equipment, while local manufacturing of 5G-enabled smartphones had commenced, with 500,000 to 600,000 units produced so far. He said the other measures being taken to facilitate the faster rollout of services after the auction were options for spectrum sharing, relaxation of certain regulatory terms and incentives for network expansion. “Operators have been given one year to make the necessary capital investments without upfront spectrum payments, allowing them to focus on improving service quality,” Rehman added. However, the operators will have to expand 5G coverage to additional cities apart from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, while fiber-to-the-site ratios will increase from 20 per cent to 35pc by 2035. Besides, the minimum download speeds for 4G service have been increased from four megabytes per second (Mbps) to 20Mbps in 2026–27 and to 50Mbps by 2030–35. For 5G, minimum download speeds will rise from 50Mbps initially to 100Mbps by 2030–35, with latency targets reduced to 35 milliseconds. Upload speeds are benchmarked at 20pc of download speeds across both technologies.
PESHAWAR: The prolonged closure of the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1) by the PTI activists heaped misery on commuters, transporters and traders. The ruling party’s leaders and workers have closed M-1 at Swabi rest area since last Friday to demand early treatment of their incarcerated leader, Imran Khan, for “vision loss”. The closure of M-1, the main artery connecting Peshawar with the rest of the country, has put the Grand Trunk Road, the other major road, under immense strain as the neglected highway is unable to cater to the traffic diverted from the motorway. Also, the GT Road is facing closures by PTI activists, causing massive inconvenience to people travelling to attend urgent business meetings and exams, take international flights from Islamabad airport and seek treatment. The businessmen, whose supplies have got stuck along the road, are also distressed. Businessmen wonder why PTI govt troubling people of KP Jan Mulk, a businessman, who was travelling from Islamabad to Peshawar on Sunday evening, told Dawn that he left Islamabad at around 4:30pm and reached Attock at around 6:30pm before finding himself caught in a huge traffic jam at Attock crossing. “Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in a long traffic grid lock and there was not even any way to turn back,” he said. The businessman said that the Attock traffic gridlock forced him to return and spend the night in Islamabad before coming to Peshawar next morning. “There were women, children and elderly, with a large number of them being on foot due to road closure and unavailability of public transport,” he said. Mr Mulk said transporters in Attock were charging commuters Rs1,000 for a trip to Rawalpindi. Khan Zaman Afridi, president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Transporters Association, told Dawn that road closures had made life difficult for transports. “Nearly 3,000 vehicles leave Peshawar General Bus Stand on a daily basis but the number has dropped to around 1500 due to road closures,” he said. Mr Afridi said almost all public transport used the M-1 and now its closure has diverted all the traffic to the GT Road and a usual trip of two to three hours on motorway was taking over 10 hours on GT Road. “GT Road is not old GT Road and is full of potholes and full of vans, Qingqi motorcycle-rickshaws and push carts, so it is very difficult to traverse and now, the entire motorway traffic has been diverted to it, causing massive traffic snarl,” he said. Mr Afridi said that due to the road closures, many people had stopped travelling, and commuter arrivals at bus stands had almost halved as only people who had to attend urgent business meetings travelled in compulsion. “It is ironic that the KP government is inflicting pain on its own people,” he said. A representative of Faisal Movers told Dawn that his transport company had stopped its Peshawar-Islamabad operations since the start of the M-1 closure. Junaid Altaf, president of KP Chamber of Commerce and Industry, questioned the rationale for the motorway closure. “Who are they troubling? Is it the people of KP or residents of Punjab and Sindh who are being affected due to the M-1 closure?” Mr Altaf said that KP chief minister and his cabinet had been sitting in Islamabad for the past many days, leaving their offices and official duties unattended. He said that the prolonged closure of Pak-Afghan border points had already ruined the province’s business community and now, the politicians didn’t understand that the trucks stranded on the road to KP carried raw material to factories in the province and prolonged closure was hurting the business community as well as the economy of the province. “If PTI thinks the people of KP deserve this for voting them to the powers, then it is ok and we deserve it,” he said. Malik Sohni, president of All Pakistan Agriculture Produce Traders Federation, told Dawn that road closures had resulted in an over 10pc increase in the vegetable prices in the provincial capital. He said that in the current season, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, okra, garlic, peas and leafy vegetables were transported from Punjab to Peshawar. Mr Sohni said that as vegetables were perishable, prolonged blockages not only caused spoilage but also drove the prices up. “Prices automatically go up when fresh supplies don’t reach on time,” he said. Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2026
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained cut off from rest of the country on Sunday as activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf continued their protest on third consecutive day and blocked all entry and exit points of the province. The PTI activists have blocked Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway at Swabi’s Anbar Interchange, GT Road at Khairabad Bridge, Dera Ismail Khan-Bhakkar Road, Lakki Marwat-Mianwali Road, Hazara Motorway at Abbottabad-Havelian Interchange, Kohat-Pindi Road near Khushal Garh and Upper Kohistan-Gilgit Karakoram Highway. Protesters remained present all the time at exit and entry points and did not allow a single vehicle to enter the province, causing serious problems to passengers and motorists destined to Islamabad and other parts of the country. Former governor Shah Farman, PTI Peshawar district president Irfan Saleem, deputy secretary information Ikram Khattana and other leaders of the party were present at Khairabad Bridge, connecting Attock district of Punjab with KP. Commuters, motorists face hardships Protesters have been demanding of the government to shift PTI founder Imran Khan from jail to hospital for treatment of his eye by doctors of his choice. Speaking on the occasion, Shah Farman said that under Article-4 of the Constitution, no authority could deny treatment of his choice to a patient. He said that the people, who were not allowing treatment of Imran Khan through doctors of his choice, would be responsible if his eye was further damaged. PTI workers blocked Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway near Swabi Interchange to all types of traffic, vowing to stay on roads till Imran Khan was shifted to hospital for medical treatment. Vendors were seen selling various eatables while setting up stalls on motorway, converting it into a market. PTI Swabi general secretary Afsar Khan told journalists that they were not ready to go back homes under any circumstances. “We will continue to sit here and if our demand is not accepted. This protest will continue. The federal government is responsible for the prevailing mess in the country,” he said. Stranded commuters said that government should take action against PTI workers to open the motorway to traffic because people, especially patients, were facing difficulties. “Where should we go, who should we beg, who should we ask and who should we request to open the motorway,” questioned Shahzad Khan, a resident of Peshawar. Uzair Khan, a resident of Gundam who was seriously injured in a firing incident on Saturday, was not allowed to reach a hospital in Peshawar through motorway. The circumstances forced his family to pass through Swabi and Mardan but he did not reach hospital and passed away. His relatives said that PTI workers were responsible for his death. During the last three days, it has been observed, that there is no rush at daytime at the venue of protest. In the afternoon youth start to arrive at rest area and in the evening there is a lot of crowd on motorway. PTI workers blocked roads at four key points in Dera Ismail Khan district on Sunday, suspending traffic and causing inconvenience to commuters and motorists. The sit-ins were held on Bhakkar Road, Multan Road, Chashma Road and CPEC route, bringing vehicular movement to a standstill at these locations. As a result, long queues of vehicles were seen on major arteries. Witnesses said that several commuters remained stranded for hours, while alternative routes also experienced heavy congestion due to diverted traffic. The protest is being held on the call of PTI central leaders, who have urged workers to demonstrate over the deteriorating health of Imran Khan and demand his immediate release. The district administration was monitoring the situation while residents called for restoration of traffic flow to ease their hardships. PTI activists continued protest demonstrations in Lakki Marwat and Karak districts on the second consecutive day on Sunday. A good number of party workers led by former district nazim Ishfaq Ahmad Khan Minakhel gathered at Darra Tang Point where they closed Bannu-Mianwali road, linking KP with Punjab and Islamabad via CPEC route. The closure of road on the second consecutive day troubled transporters and commuters as passenger and good transport vehicles queued up on both sides of the main artery. On the occasion, the former district nazim said that denial of access to healthcare and maltreatment by federal government had led to loss of Imran’s vision. He said that PTI activists had come on roads to hold peaceful protests against the PML-N government, which was responsible for the poor health of their party leader. In Karak, the PTI workers gathered outside Nashapa oil and gas field and staged a sit-in there. They stopped supply from the oil and gas field as oil tankers could not enter or come out of the area. An official of district administration confirmed disruption of oil supply from the field. PTI district president Inayat Khattak said that leaders and workers of the party decided in a meeting to shut down oil and gas fields in Makori, Nashapa and Gurguri to record their protest against non-provision of treatment facilities to Imran Khan. Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026
The Commissioner has ordered immediate inspections and enforcement of the new Animal Welfare Act in Peshawar markets to combat animal cruelty.
Norway police on Wednesday said they had arrested three brothers suspected of a "terrorist bombing" outside the US Embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage but no injuries, as investigators probed possible motives including links to Iran.
State Department cites cost savings and operational efficiency; services to be shifted to Islamabad
Sub-Inspector from Peshawar Zone says courage, dedication transcend gender; calls for equal opportunities for women
The tournament will be played from March 7 at the Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar
Violent protests erupted in Pakistan, including Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, following the death of the Iranian leader, resulting in at least 21 fatalities and dozens injured.
WITHIN hours of the bombing of an Islamabad Imambargah on Feb 6, Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement zeroed in on a home in Hakimabad, Nowshera, 49km east of Peshawar. “It was a race against time. Sifting through technical data, establishing coordinates and isolating the target,” a senior security official said. “It didn’t take long before we knew the location.” By late evening, they had already laid siege to the residence, taken up position and called out those inside to come out, han...
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of KP on Friday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said. The earthquake struck at 6:09pm at a depth of 101 kilometres, with its epicentre located in the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan, the department said. According to DawnNewsTV, tremors were felt in Shangla, Swat, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera. In Shangla, tremors were felt at the time of iftar, prompting people to rush out of their homes. No casualties or damages have been reported from the district. Pakistan falls on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Euro-Asian and Indian — which create five seismic zones under the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines means that tectonic movements remain a frequent occurrence in the region. Earlier this week, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake was recorded 86km northeast of Balochistan’s Khuzdar. Last month, an earthquake of magnitude 5.8 jolted parts of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Peshawar and adjacent areas of KP. The same month, another 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of the country. Tremors were felt in Islamabad and parts of KP. Additional input by Umar Bacha.
The Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee will meet today (Wednesday) in Peshawar to sight the Ramazan moon. The committee chairman, Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad, will preside over the meeting. The zonal and district Ruet-i-Hilal Committees in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and other cities will also gather to sight the new moon. Earlier this month, based on the moon’s expected age, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) predicted that the first day of Ramazan was “likely to fall” on February 19. However, Suparco said the final announcement regarding the beginning of the holy month would be made by the Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, “which is the sole competent authority, based on credible witness testimonies from across the country”. Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan observed their first day of fasting on Wednesday after the Ramazan moon was sighted on Tuesday night. It is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a Rs38 billion Ramazan Relief Package for 12.1 million deserving families across the four provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). “Every deserving family will receive Rs13,000 through a digital wallet or bank transfer, without discrimination based on party affiliation or point of view,” he said.
Far from home comforts and craving Afghan food, Afghanistan’s cricketers are learning to cope with emotional and on-field pressure. A team dinner of Peshawari food helped them process the heartbreak of a double Super Over loss against South Africa, while growing resilience in crunch moments powered them over the line vs UAE, keeping their slim T20 World Cup Super Eight hopes alive.
PESHAWAR: The armed forces have destroyed Afghan Taliban posts across the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur sector as part of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq, security sources said on Monday. Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched in late February following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border. Security sources said that in the operation against the Afghan Taliban and the Fitna al-Khawarij, armed forces also targeted Afghan Taliban posts with “guided missiles”...
PESHAWAR: An attack on a police vehicle martyred seven policemen, including an officer, in the Bettani subdivision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Friday. The spokesman of the district police officer, Qudratullah, said that a squad of the Shadikhel police station was on routine patrol duty in the area when the terrorist attack occurred. The vehicle was targeted with an improvised explosive device (IED). The official said that terrorists had planted an IED along the Shahdikhel...
US will permanently close the consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, its closest mission to Afghanistan AP News
PESHAWAR: A senior security official has said that the Afghan Taliban were well aware of Pakistan’s concerns and demands, adding that the regime needed to take “verifiable steps” if it wanted a ceasefire or a dialogue. Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban are at their lowest point in the four years since the group came to power. On Feb 22, Pakistan targeted terrorist camps and hideouts overnight in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan, which led to the Afghan Taliba...
Protest fears seal US Consulate routes; key roads blocked, traffic diverted
The question comes up periodically on online forums. What happened to Muhammad Rehan Azhar? The Peshawar boxer compiled a 1-2 professional record before vanishing from public view.
PESHAWAR: Unidentified attackers blew up a school in the Birmal tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan in the late hours of Monday, the police said on Tuesday. According to District Police Officer (DPO) South Waziristan Lower Muhammad Tahir Shah Wazir, the explosion destroyed parts of the Government Middle School (GMS) Boys’ Sharif Khan Kot, including two classrooms, bathrooms, the main gate, and one side of the boundary wall. Initial reports confirmed no casualties were reported. Th...
Afridi has inaugurated 96 new flats in Peshawar, stating that the project aims to uplift the living standards of civil servants.
The Peshawar High Court has ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and police to ensure the reopening of roads that were blocked by supporters of the PTI.
PESHAWAR: At least two people were killed and 14 others injured after a powerful explosion near Miryan Police Station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu on Monday. According to a statement by the police, the blast occurred when explosive material planted in a motorcycle was detonated. A child was among those killed in the explosion. According to Rescue 1122 officials, emergency teams promptly reached the scene and moved the bodies and injured parties to nearby hospitals. More to follow