Pakistan

GWADAR, Pakistan, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China-donated seawater desalination plant will resolve the water shortage in Gwadar district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, which has been the biggest problem in the area for many years, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has said.

The water shortage has been the largest hurdle in the development of Gwadar district, the prime minister said on Monday while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the China-aided desalination project and upgrade of the Pak-China Friendship Hospital in Gwadar.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 26 others injured in shooting at a passenger bus on Saturday evening in the Diamir district of Gilgit-Baltistan region in northern Pakistan, an official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Diamir Arif Ahmed said in a video statement that some unknown gunmen opened fire at a passenger bus in the Hudar Pari point of the Chilas area in Diamir, leaving eight people dead on the spot.

Two soldiers are also among the killed, who were going to their hometowns on vacations, said the official.

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A policeman and a terrorist were killed in an attack on a polio-eradication team in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, police said.

The incident happened in the Khyber district of the province, where the terrorists targeted the team when it was on its way back after taking part in a door-to-door campaign to administer polio drops to kids, the district's police said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has confiscated over 420 kg drugs and arrested five suspects, said an official on Monday.

The ANF spokesperson, in a statement, detailed the successful interdiction of seven drug smuggling attempts across various regions of the country. The recovered narcotics include heroin, hashish, ice, and intoxicated tablets, which were intended for distribution across Pakistan.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A fire tore through a shopping mall in the southwestern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least 10 people and injuring 22 others, police and local officials said Saturday.

The multi-story RJ Mall is in a commercial high-rise that also houses call centers and software firms.

The fire department dispatched eight fire trucks to the scene after being alerted at 6:30 a.m, local time. Chief fire officer, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, said the fourth floor of the building was the most affected.

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Pakistan has made a formal request to join BRICS, saying it is an important group of developing countries.

"We have taken this decision after having noted the BRICS proclaimed openness to inclusive multilateralism," the ministry's spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a weekly media briefing on Thursday.

By joining the group, Pakistan can play an important role in furthering international cooperation and revitalization of inclusive multilateralism, she said.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court accepted on Wednesday a bail application from detained former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his lawyer said, a day after another court declared illegal his trial on charges of leaking state secrets.

The former cricket star is fighting various legal battles in the hope of securing release from jail and leading his party in a campaign for a Feb. 8 general election, which his arch rival, another former prime minister, is hoping to win.

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A soldier and three terrorists were killed in two separate operations against the militants and an attack on security forces in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.

One of the operations was conducted in Dera Ismail Khan district, where security forces launched an intelligence-based operation, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Arm, said in a statement.

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and 12 others were injured when an oil drilling company's convoy was attacked in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, police said.

The incident happened in the Drazanda area of Dera Ismail Khan district, where a number of well-equipped militants ambushed the convoy, escorted by paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (FC), and fled the scene, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Drazanda Sher Ullah told Xinhua.

Karachi, Nov 13 (PTI) The Chinese and Pakistani navies are holding week-long drills in the Arabian Sea during which the two all-weather allies will also conduct joint maritime patrols for the first time, a media report said on Monday.

The Chinese and Pakistani navies at a naval base in Karachi on Saturday kicked off the 'Sea Guardians-3' exercise in the waters and airspace of the northern Arabian Sea in drills that include anti-submarine operations, Dawn News reported on the exercises which will end on Friday.