A powerful blast struck a train carrying military personnel in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Balochistan, killing at least 24 people, according to a senior official. Among the dead were army servicemen in the provincial capital of Quetta, where the attack also left more than 50 people wounded, the official told AFP. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing, which Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced as a "cowardly" act of terrorism. Images from the scene…

Shuttling between regional capitals in a last-ditch diplomatic push, Iran's foreign minister returned to Islamabad on Sunday as mediators tried to prevent peace contacts between Tehran and the United States from collapsing altogether. After departing Pakistan, Abbas Araghchi travelled on to Muscat in Oman and is due in Moscow on Monday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though there was still no sign that direct negotiations between Iran and the US were about to restart. On Saturday, US President Donald Trump…

Riyaz ul KhaliqSaturday April 25, 2026 Pakistan said Friday that it has fully repaid $3.45 billion in debt to the United Arab Emirates, marking the clearing of a major external obligation for the cash-strapped economy. In a statement, the State Bank of Pakistan said it had returned a $1 billion deposit to the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), UAE. “Deposits of $2.45 billion were repaid last week. This completes the repayment of total deposits of $3.45 billion to the UAE,” the central bank said. The repayment comes at a…

A fragile ceasefire and a fresh burst of diplomacy brought the Middle East conflict to another pivotal moment as Iran's foreign minister arrived in Pakistan and US envoys traveled to Islamabad in hopes of reviving stalled peace negotiations. The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would hold an "in-person conversation" with Iranian representatives, though Iranian state media insisted direct talks were not on the agenda. Even after US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the ceasefire in…

A fresh diplomatic push is taking shape as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner prepare to fly to Pakistan tomorrow morning for talks involving Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News this evening. "I can confirm Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks ... with representatives from the Iranian delegation," Ms Leavitt said. Vice President JD Vance is not expected to…

Sunday April 12, 2026 Pakistan has made its first public military gesture under a newly signed defence pact with Saudi Arabia, sending fighter jets to the kingdom while it simultaneously helps broker ceasefire talks meant to halt weeks of regional conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran. The aircraft, a mix of fighter and support jets, arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on Saturday, according to the Saudi Ministry of Defence. The deployment took place under a collective defence agreement…

With oil markets rattled and the Strait of Hormuz still at the center of the crisis, US and Iranian negotiators met in Pakistan for their most senior talks in half a century, seeking a way to end a war that has already redrawn the region’s fault lines. At the same time, US President Donald Trump said American forces had sunk Tehran's mine-layers and begun reopening the strategic waterway. "We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favour to Countries all over the World," Mr Trump posted, saying…

Saturday April 11, 2026 Police officers walk towards bus for their deployment in Islamabad, Pakistan before planned US-Iran ceasefire talks With negotiators already on the move, the next round of US-Iran ceasefire talks has been plunged into fresh uncertainty. The United States delegation has left for Saturday’s planned discussions in Islamabad, Pakistan, while Iran’s government says its representatives have already landed. Yet even before the two sides sit down, Friday brought a new burst of friction that cast a shadow…

Hours before a self-imposed evening deadline, US President Donald Trump warned that "a whole civilization will die tonight" unless Iran moves to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, as Pakistan mounted a last-minute push for a two-week ceasefire to keep diplomacy alive. With only a short window remaining before the US president's 8pm (1am Irish time) cutoff, Tehran was giving Pakistan's appeal a positive review in an effort to buy more time for talks, according to a senior Iranian official. The White House said Mr Trump had…

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said Iran has agreed to let 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a move Islamabad quickly framed as a significant breakthrough in one of the gravest energy crises in recent memory.