Jamaat-e-Islami registration reinstated in Bangladesh
DHAKA, June 25: The Bangladesh Election Commission has reinstated the registration and symbol of the rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami party, following a Supreme Court order to do so. The decision follows the interim government lifting a ban on the party in December 2018, which was opposed to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence from Pakistan. The party was previously banned by the Bangladesh Supreme Court in 2013 for being unfit to contest national elections. The party was banned by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024, following a violent mass movement led by Students against Discrimination (SAD). The party appealed for a review of the 2013 court order banning it after Hasina’s ouster. (PTI)
Six arrested in Punjab for terror plot
Lahore, June 25: Pakistan’s Punjab Police on Wednesday claimed to have arrested six suspects for allegedly plotting terror attacks in the province. The suspects were arrested from the district of Toba Tek Singh, some 200 kms from Lahore, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police said in a statement. A cache of sensitive materials, including maps of strategic locations, detonators, and high-grade explosives have been recovered from them, it said. “The suspects were actively plotting attacks on a mosque and the local railway station. Had they succeeded, the consequences would have been catastrophic,” it said. In its statement, the CTD claimed that the suspects were working under the aegis of Indian intelligence. However, it did not provide any evidence to support its claim. Cases have been registered against the arrested suspects and further investigation is underway, the CTD said. (PTI)
Border blast in KP kills four
Peshawar, June 25: At least four persons were killed and as many injured in a blast near Afghan border in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, police said. The blast took place when one of the victims stepped on the explosive device in a forest near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Kurram district’s Parachinar, a police source said. The police said the injured and those killed were moved to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. The police said an investigation has been launched into the incident and security tightened in the region. (PTI)
Pakistan: 500k Afghans returned since April
PESHAWAR, June 25: Pakistan has seen over 500,000 refugees return to Afghanistan since April 1, according to a Pakistan Interior Ministry report. The government implemented a phased plan for the return of undocumented and temporarily staying Afghan nationals, with 562,659 refugees, including 40,221 with Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), returning to Afghanistan. The repatriation process has been accelerated, with facilities at border points to assist refugees. The first phase focused on Proof of Registration (POR) and ACC holders, with the stay period set for June 30. (PTI)