Death toll from toxic liquor consumption rises to 18

The death toll from the consumption of toxic bootlegged liquor in the southern port city of Karachi rose to 18, as at least nine more people lost their battle for life on Monday, hospital officials said.

At least half a dozen people were still admitted to the hospital in precarious condition, raising fears that the casualties may rise further.

“It is a sorry situation and seven more people passed away one by one during the course of the day,” a senior doctor at the Jinnah Hospital, the city’s biggest state hospital, said.

Three killed in blast inside Karachi-bound Shalimar Express

KARACHI: Three people were reported killed in an explosion that took place inside a bogey of the Shalimar Express near Punjab province's Toba Tek Singh district on Monday.

Fifteen people were also injured in the explosion that occurred inside the Karachi-bound train which had begun its journey from Lahore.

Mobile phone services to be suspended for Yaum-e-Ali

ISLAMABAD: Mobile phone services would remain suspended in most cities of the country on Wednesday as part of security arrangements for Yaum-e-Ali being observed today, DawnNews reported.

Mobile phone services would remain blocked in Karachi from six am till 8pm whereas the services would remain suspended till 6 pm in certain areas of Lahore.

Imran says fall from forklift saved him from dying in a blast

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has confirmed speculations doing the rounds in the country in the run-up to the May 11 elections that there was a plot to assassinate him and that the fall off a forklift at a Lahore rally on May 7 that nearly killed him “had quite possibly saved my life”.

In an article carried by Britain’s MailOnline on Sunday, Mr Khan wrote he had been told he was number one on the terrorist hit-list. There are perhaps 25 militant groups which call themselves ‘Taliban’ and any one of them could have been hired by his political opponents.

MQM, PTI brace for court battle

KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, claiming damages of Rs5 billion for allegedly defaming and maligning MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

The PTI announced that it also would file a defamation suit against the MQM and its leaders.

Protest rallies against attack on Hazrat Zainab’s (RA) shrine

Demonstrators on Sunday took to the streets in Karachi and twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi against a rocket attack on the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (A.S) in Syria.

In Islamabad, hundreds of people marched and presented a memorandum to officials of Foreign Office.

The rally, which was taken out from from Sector G-6/2 Imambargah to Radio Pakistan Intersection, was led by Aleema Amin Shaheedi, Deputy Secretary General of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM).

“It was not attack on the shrine of Bibi Zainab, it was an assault on the unity of Islamic ummah,” one of the protesters remarked.

Nisar plans Karachi visit to assess law & order

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is going on his first visit as federal minister to Karachi on Monday to assess the law and order situation in Sindh, particularly in its capital.

An official of the interior ministry said the minister would meet Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and discuss ways of enhancing coordination between the centre and the province for improving the security situation.

He will preside over a meeting of heads and senior officials of security and law-enforcement agencies in the province.

Musharraf's daughter target for terrorists: Sindh Home Department

KARACHI: Ayla Musharraf, daughter of former dictator on-trial Pervez Musharraf, is reportedly facing threats to her life according to a notification provided by the Home Department to the government of Sindh , reported Express News on Wednesday.

The home department was informed by intelligence agencies that banned terrorist organizations have drafted a plan to target the former dictator’s daughter in Karachi.

Yet another prisoner escapes from Karachi court

KARACHI: Yet another prisoner escaped from Karachi’s city court on Tuesday, Express News reported.

This is the third incident of suspects escaping from the court premises in July.

According to initial details, the prisoner was brought to the court for a hearing.

Earlier on July 13, two terror suspects who were alleged members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) escaped from the same court. They were believed to be involved in bomb attacks on Muttahida Quami Movement’s (MQM) offices during the general elections. After a court hearing was adjourned, the prisoners managed to flee easily while the CID police officials were taking them back to the jail.

Six cops arrested after Pak Taliban militants escape custody

Karachi: The mysterious escape of five undertrials including two militants of the Pakistani Taliban from the courts here this week has led to the suspension and arrest of six police officials of the CID.

The six officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) were sent on a two-day judicial remand by a magistrate today following their arrest after two militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ghulam Ishaq and Nazrab Khan managed to escape from the city courts yesterday.

They escaped soon after a key witness picked them out from an identification parade in a case involving bomb blasts in Karachi's Orangi Town.

Fifteen gunned down in Karachi

KARACHI: As many as 15 more people were killed as firing and violent incidents continued in Karachi, Geo News reported Monday.

A man identified as Zahid was killed in Sector-7 of Surjani Town, while a firing incident gulped down a political activist, Yaseen, near Kali Pahari.