Nawaz Sharif wants diplomatic channel to be used to ease tensions between India, Pak: Report
Lahore, Apr 28 (PTI): As Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has not yet condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, local media says he wants diplomatic channel to be used to deescalate tensions between Pakistan and India.
The 75-year-old three-time former premier is the chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). His younger brother Shehbaz Sharif is prime minister while his daughter Maryam Nawaz is chief minister of Punjab province.
Neither Nawaz and Maryam have condemned the Pahalgam terror attack nor issued any statement over the incident so far.
However, The Express Tribune newspaper quoting sources in the PML-N said: “Nawaz Sharif wants his government to utilise all the available diplomatic resources to restore peace between the two nuclear armed states. Nawaz is not keen on taking an aggressive position.”
It said that Shehbaz Sharif briefed Nawaz during a meeting in Lahore on Sunday on the decisions taken by the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting in the wake of the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by India following the Pahalgam terror attack.
“India’s unilateral decision to suspend the water treaty has heightened the risk of a war in the region,” Shehbaz said.
Earlier on his return to Lahore from London, journalists sought Nawaz’s comment on the Pahalgam attack, but he refused.
Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former foreign minister Moonis Elahi lambasted the elder Sharif to keep mum over the Pahalgam incident.
“There has been a mysterious silence of Nawaz Sharif after India suspended the IWT and took other extreme measures against Pakistan. Is Nawaz-Modi interests being above Pakistan’s interests,” he said in a post on X.
On April 22, terrorists opened fire in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam killing 26 people, in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Israel's military says it has fully disabled Yemen's main airport with airstrikes
Jerusalem, May 6 (AP): Israel's military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, fully disabling the country's international airport in the capital, Sanaa, and striking several power plants.
The strikes, the second in two days, came after Israel launched airstrikes in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike the previous day on Israel's international airport.
The Houthis' satellite news channel al-Masirah reported the strikes, confirming the airport had been hit.
Footage aired on Israeli television showed thick black plumes of smoke rising above the skyline of Sanaa. Social media video purported to show multiple strikes around Sanaa, with black smoke rising as the thumps of the blast echoed against the surrounding mountains.
There was no immediate information on any casualties.
Tuesday's strike came shortly after the military issued a warning on social media for people to evacuate the area of Yemen's international airport.
“We urge you to immediately evacuate the area of the airport and to warn anyone nearby to distance themselves immediately,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media, attaching a map of Sanaa International Airport. “Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives.”
On Monday night, Israel targeted the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing at least one person and wounding 35.
The rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port. Others hit a cement factory in the district of Bajil, 55 kilometres northeast of Hodeida, the rebels said. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least four people and wounded 39 others.
The Houthis on Sunday launched a missile that struck an access road near Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were lightly injured.
It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Israel's main airport, Ben Gurion, since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. It prompted a flurry of flight cancellations. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some have penetrated Israel's missile defence systems, causing damage.
The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, raising their profile as the last member of Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.
The US military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.
Israel has repeatedly struck against the rebels in Yemen. It struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv.
In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a missile targeted Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida.
