Tuesday, 28 September, 2021 I 20 Safar, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 89 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition
‘CONVENIENT SCAPEGOAT’
PM IMran says PakIstan should not be blaMed for afghan war’s outcoMe
P
rime minister imran Khan has said that Pakistan must not be blamed for the outcome of the war in Afghanistan and for the losses of the United States, stressing on setting eyes on the future to avoid another conflict instead of continuing with a blame game. “Today, with Afghanistan at another crossroads, we must look to the future to prevent another violent conflict in that country rather than perpetuating the blame game of the past,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post on monday. The premier emphasised that Pakistan “surely” could not be blamed for the fact that “300,000-plus well-trained and equipped Afghan security forces saw no reason to fight the lightly armed Taliban”. The underlying problem, he said, was an
Afghan government structure lacking legitimacy in the eyes of the average Afghan. Also read: US spent $290m every day in Afghanistan for 20 years He also expressed “surprise” over the recent Congressional hearings on Afghanistan, where “no mention was made of Pakistan’s sacrifices as a US ally in the war on terror for over two decades”. “instead, we were blamed for America’s loss,” he added. Prime minister imran recalled that since 2001, he had repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was “unwinnable” and pointed out that given their history, the Afghans would never accept a protracted foreign military presence. even an outsider including Pakistan could not change this reality, he said.
coronavIrus In
PakIstan
CONFIRMED CASES:
1,240,425
LAST UPDATED AT 9:22 AM ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
NEW CASES:
31
1,757
RECOVERED:
DEATHS:
1,162,177 27,597 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
455,808
429,081
KPK:
BALOCHISTAN:
173,210 AJK/GB:
32,861 ISLAMABAD:
34,046/10,299
105,120
imran said “unfortunately”, successive governments in Pakistan following 9/11 sought to please the US instead of pointing out the error in a military-dominated approach. “Desperate for global relevance and domestic legitimacy, Pakistan’s military dictator Pervez musharraf agreed to every American demand for military support after 9/11. This cost Pakistan, and the US, dearly,” he said. The premier said the people the US had asked Pakistan to target included the groups trained jointly by the CiA and Pakistan’s interServices intelligence (iSi) to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. “Back then, the Afghans were hailed as freedom fighters performing a sacred duty. President reagan even entertained the mujahideen at the White House,” he wrote. He pointed out that after the Soviets’ defeat, the US abandoned Afghanistan and sanctioned Pakistan, leaving behind more than five million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and a bloody civil war in Afghanistan. “From this security vacuum emerged the Taliban, many born and educated in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan,” he said. news desk
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
ICC seeks to resume war crimes probe with focus on Taliban and IS, but not US STORY ON BACK PAGE
Nation reports surge in dengue fever cases amid outbreak fears ISLAMABAD staff report
A surge in the number of dengue fever cases has been reported in parts of Pakistan over the past 24 hours amid fears that the nation might face an outbreak of the disease in the coming days, health authorities said. A total of 90 new cases of dengue fever — which is spread by mosquitoes that can only survive in warm temperatures — have been reported across Punjab over the past 24 hours, said the provincial health department, adding that most of the cases were recorded in Lahore. The total tally of dengue fever cases this year has surged to 1,082 in the province, said the health department. Similarly, more than 800 dengue fever cases were detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last month as the province added several new cases over the last 24 hours, said the KP health department. Keeping in view of the alarming spike in dengue fever cases, the provincial health department in collaboration with the district administrations has begun fumigation and an awareness campaign in the province. meanwhile, 32 more people
24pc educated people are jobless countrywide, Senate body told ISLAMABAD inp
The Pakistan institute of Development economics on monday painted a grim picture of the rising rate of unemployment across the country, underlining that 24 percent of educated people were jobless at the moment. The PiDe, in its briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development meeting chaired by Saleem mandviwala, said the unemployment rate in the country had reached 16 percent — contrary to the government’s claim of 6.5 percent. The committee was also informed that 40 percent of educated women were also unemployed countrywide. The term ‘educated’ here refers to those people who have acquired an undergraduate or graduate degree, which should enable them to find a job. The PiDe officials pointed out that some educated people get themselves enrolled in m.Phil studies to continue learning as they struggle to fetch a better job. This also skewed the unemployment rate as they
were infected with the dengue virus in islamabad in the past 24 hours, pushing the tally of the cases in the city to 177 this year, islamabad District Health Officer Zaeem Zia told local media. According to government officials, despite various challenges posed by Covid-19, the government has been making all-out efforts and taking adequate measures to stem the further spread of the dengue virus. Only nine countries faced severe dengue outbreaks in 1970. But the disease is now seen in more than 100 countries. There are thought to be 390 million infections each year. in 2011, a major outbreak of dengue fever — potentially lethal disease spread by mosquito bites — infected 20,000 and killed more than 300 people. Subsequently, in 2019, rising temperatures across Asia and the Americas contributed to multiple severe outbreaks of dengue fever globally, making it the worst year on record for the disease. Other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, also had outbreaks, with a particularly severe situation in the Philippines, where 1,000 people died of the disease, including hundreds of children, in 2019.
more inside
Centre-Sindh coordination a must for mega projects’ completion: Imran STORY ON BACK PAGE
weren’t included in the figures. The officials told the Senate committee that at least 1.5 million people applied for a peon’s position in a high court that was advertised recently. “Among those applying for the job included m.Phil degree holders,” officials said. The economic Survey 2020-21 released in June this year had revealed the spread of Covid-19 had severely affected employment conditions in the country and the suspension of economic activities
due to imposition of lockdowns rendered an estimated 20.71m workers jobless. According to the survey, a large population and lack of proper management of human resources have also had a negative impact on the employment rate in the country. “Pakistan being the fifth most populous country with the ninth largest labour force in the world, adds a large number to its workforce every year,” the report had pointed out.
Government committed to extending voting rights to Pakistan nationals abroad: Qureshi STORY ON PAGE 03
Political heavyweights join PTI as PM flexes muscles to win interior Sindh STORY ON PAGE 03