The convoy of Mirza had left for Karachi from Mirza Farm House in Badin earlier in a day. On his way to Karachi, the defiant PPP leaders was showered rose petals by his supporters who chanted slogans in his favour on Badin road.
He has reached his Defence residence in Karachi and will shortly hold a press conference.
His wife Fehmida Mirza also accompanied him. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Mirza said she was expecting justice from the courts.
President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly raised fears that IS — notorious for their brutal reign of terror in Syria and Iraq — are making steady inroads into Afghanistan, which is already in the grip of a fierce Taliban insurgency.
But the governor of Kunduz, the scene of intense fighting for two weeks that has displaced thousands, has gone further by claiming that the two groups are joining forces in the northern Afghan province.
IS fighters are “supporting the Taliban, training the Taliban, trying to build the capacity of the Taliban for a bigger fight”, provincial governor Mohammed Omar Safi told the BBC.
Local observers have viewed claims of IS’s rise in Afghanistan with caution.
The Middle Eastern group has never formally acknowledged a presence in Afghanistan and most self-styled IS insurgents in the country are thought to be Taliban turncoats rebranding themselves to appear a more lethal force.
The two groups, which espouse different ideological strains of Sunni Islam, are believed to be arrayed against each other in Afghanistan’s restive south, with clashes frequently reported.
But the governor insisted that the fight is different in the once-tranquil north, which has recently seen a huge influx of foreign fighters from countries such as Chechnya, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
“In the worst affected Imam Sahib district, (IS) fighters are training and supporting local Taliban fighters to raise their capacity… in their fight against the Afghan government,” the governor’s spokesman Abdul Wadood Wahidi told AFP.
Last month hundreds of militants came within six kilometres (3.7 miles) of Kunduz city just hours after the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive, in the most serious threat to any provincial capital since the US-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
The insurgents have since been pushed back after Afghan reinforcements were brought in from other frontlines, but the fighting still continues to rage on the fringes of the city.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced due to the clashes, with aid agencies warning of dire living conditions for those who have fled their homes and moved to the city centre.
“Around 14,000 families have been displaced in two weeks of ongoing fighting in Kunduz,” Ghulam Sakhi, an administrator in the Kunduz refugees department, told AFP.
“Our teams have surveyed 600 families and have distributed food items and blankets, mattresses and kitchen kits.”
Afghan government forces are preparing for a fresh offensive to flush out insurgents from the outlying areas of the city, officials said.
Ezatullah, 40, a resident of the Gor Tepa region of Kunduz, said the fighting forced him to flee two weeks ago with 15 members of his family, including children.
“I left my home, my livestock in Gor Tepa. In a few days my wheat and melons will be ready to harvest,” he told AFP. “We left everything behind.”
President Ghani has said that IS poses a serious threat to regional security, warning that the group was more lethal than Al-Qaeda.
“With all apologies to Microsoft, if Al-Qaeda was Windows One, Daesh is Windows Five,” he told reporters recently, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
But some local observers accuse him of grabbing world attention by playing up the IS threat in the face of dwindling foreign aid and as international troops depart.
The Kunduz governor’s claim meanwhile reflected his desire to attract the attention of the central government to the dire security situation in his province, said Kate Clark, of the Afghan Analysts Network.
“Just because they are foreign fighters does not mean they are Daesh,” she told AFP.
“I’m sceptical because I can’t see any reason why the Taliban would want to fight alongside Daesh. We need to see more evidence to support this claim.” -AFP
The claims of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan about hitting the helicopter are false, he told a press conference here.
Mr. Ahmed explained that Pakistan Army had deployed about 1,000 troops for security purpose and all the surrounding mountain tops were covered by these personnel.
He said Pakistan Army had arranged top class security for the visitors to Naltar.
The Foreign Secretary said two of the helicopter landed safely at Naltar and the third one met the accident due to technical fault near the site of landing.
He said the Prime Minister had given permission for trip of about 30 diplomats at the request of Dean of Diplomatic Corps. He said Pakistan Air Force had developed a skiing resort at Naltar and a chair lift there was to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister in the presence of the members of the diplomatic corps.
He said black box of the ill-fated helicopter has been recovered.
Earlier, only prime minister, chief ministers and ministers were now allowed from visiting constituency ahead of the polls.
The ECP amended its code on complaint of candidate Saifullah Khan in connection to NA-108 by-election in Mandi Bahauddin on June 8.
He alleged a female minister of Punjab, Hameeda Wahiduddin, recently announced development package for the constituency, which was an attempt to influence by-polls.
The ECP issued notice to Ms Wahiduddin and sought her reply within a week.
The KSE 100-share index closed 0.63 percent or 212.58 points down at 33,530.30.
Pakistan Petroleum Ltd fell 4.89 rupees to 180.10 rupees, while market heavyweight Oil and Gas Development Co Ltd was down 4.42 rupees to 190.01 rupees.
The rupee ended slightly stronger at 101.68/101.74 against the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 101.72/101.77.
Overnight rates in the money market fell to 7.00 percent from Thursday’s close of to 8.00 percent.
JI organized a program on Islamic Educational System in Shikhupura. JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq was the chief guest of the program.
But the organizers of the program faced strong criticism after the banner placed at the back of the stage had the wrong map of Pakistan on it, in which Kashmir was omitted from country’s map.
Participants described printing of India’s preferred map of Pakistan wasa weird thing as JI always played an active role in the struggle of freedom of Kashmiris.
It is pertinent to mention that Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but both claim the whole of the region and have gone to war twice over its control since partition in 1947.
After being pointed out by ARY News, JI Seikhupura Chief Rana Tauhfa Dastagir accepted the mistake of placing wrong map of Pakistan and vowed to take organizers to task for the negligence.
At least seven people including two foreign ambassadors were killed when a Pakistan Army helicopter attempted a crash landing here in Gilgit. The deceased include the ambassadors of Norway and Philippines and the wives of Indonesian and Malaysian envoys.
The COAS said the Pakistan Army was standing by victims in this difficult time. He also vowed to provide all-possible assistance to victims.
Written off as a political insider lacking charisma just a few months ago, the 45-year-old had won plaudits for his tough campaign style and some observers saw leadership material despite his awkward image.
Centre-left Labour was neck-and-neck with the centre-right Conservatives in opinion poll after opinion poll, helping bolster Miliband against Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron — long seen as the slicker operator.
But results revealed the chasm between himself and Cameron, who won an overall majority.
“Britain needs a strong Labour Party. It’s time for someone else to take leadership of this party,” Miliband told supporters in his resignation speech on Friday.
“I am truly sorry I did not succeed, I have done my best for five years,” he said, adding: “I take absolute and total responsibility for the result”.
‘Moses moment’
Miliband’s gaffe-prone image was summed up in a photograph of him unattractively eating a bacon sandwich — an image much reproduced in Britain’s right-wing press during the campaign.
He stumbled following a televised debate and then unveiled a giant slab of stone etched with his key pledges in what was mocked as his “Moses moment”.
A father of two, married to environmental lawyer Justine Thornton, Miliband put living standards at the heart of his election campaign, insisting that an economic upturn under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has not reached ordinary people.
But he was accused by opponents of leading a party with little economic credibility, and one that was held partly responsible for the pain of austerity inflicted on Britons following the global financial crisis of 2008.
By the early hours of Friday, there was growing pressure from Labour supporters for him to stand down.
“Ed Miliband has to go after general election humiliation — the only question is when,” the Daily Mirror tabloid, which endorsed Miliband in the campaign, said in an editorial.
Brother vs brother
Born to Jewish immigrant parents, a Marxist academic father and a campaigning activist mother, Miliband grew up in a London household where left-wing intellectuals from around the world came to dinner.
He became active in student politics while at Oxford University and after a stint as a journalist quickly rose through the ranks of the Labour party.
Miliband later served as energy minister and Treasury advisor in successive Labour governments.
In 2010 he alarmed many in the ranks of the party by standing against his own brother, David Miliband, in the party’s leadership contest. David, a protege of former prime minister Tony Blair, was seen as less left-wing than Ed.
David left politics and moved to the United States after his surprise defeat to his younger brother, who cast his victory as a break from the market-friendly “New Labour” of Blair and a return to the party’s left-wing roots.
Miliband has since said their relationship is “healing”.
But the challenge, seen by some as “an almost biblical act of fratricide” according to Miliband’s biographers, has not been forgotten.
In an interview during the campaign, Miliband was relentlessly questioned about his character and his ability to withstand the challenges ahead.
“I’ve been underestimated at every turn. People said I wouldn’t become leader and I did. People said four years ago he can’t become prime minister,” he said.
On Friday, the naysayers proved right after all. – AFP
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the press release issued on Thursday informed the depositors of KASB Bank Limited that in terms of the amalgamation scheme, KASB Bank Limited has been merged with and into BankIslami Pakistan Limited.
The moratorium placed on former KASB Bank Limited has been lifted with immediate effect, said SBP.
It further stated that depositors of the former KASB Bank Limited are now depositors of Bank Islami Pakistan Limited and are free to operate their accounts maintained at the respective branches of the former KASB Bank Limited as per their convenience.
Lifting of Moratorium on KASB Bank Limited, State Bank of Pakistan acknowledges the patience shown by the depositors of the former KASB Bank Limited as well as their confidence on the regulator during moratorium period.
State Bank of Pakistan reiterates its commitment to safeguard the interests of depositors and to ensure safety and soundness of the banking system of the country.
Theron said she was outraged when leaked Sony emails showed a gap in what male and female actors were paid for the film “American Hustle” and she insisted on being paid on par with co-star Chris Hemsworth for the Snow White sequel “The Huntsman”.
“I have to give them credit, because once I asked, they said yes,” Theron said in an interview with British magazine Elle UK.
“They did not fight it. And maybe that’s the message: that we just need to put our foot down.”
Her call for equal pay echoes Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, who has also lamented the pay gap between men and women.
A report by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) this year warned that the income of women workers globally will lag behind men for another 70 years if the gender pay gap continues to narrow at the present rate.
Women globally earn 77 percent of the amount paid to men, a figure that has improved by only three percentage points in the past 20 years, the ILO said.
South African-born Theron, 39, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of a serial killer in the 2003 film “Monster”, said women needed to stand up for equality and be proud to be feminists.
“This is a good time for us to bring this to a place of fairness, and girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing,” said Theron, who will be on the big screen in this month’s action movie “Mad Max: Fury Road”.
“It doesn’t mean that you hate men. It means equal rights.” -Reuters