29/07/2025

TUESDAY | JULY 29, 2025

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Viral honour killing triggers Pakistan outrage KARACHI: A viral video of the “honour killing” of a woman and her lover in a remote part of Pakistan has ignited national outrage, prompting scrutiny of long-standing tribal codes and calls for justice. While hundreds of honour killings are reported in Pakistan each year, often with little public or legal response, the video of a couple being taken to the desert to be killed has struck a nerve. The video shows the woman, Bano Bibi, being handed a Koran by a man identified by police as her brother. “Come walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me,” she says, and she walks forward a few feet and stops with her back to the men. The brother, Jalal Satakzai, then shoots her three times and she collapses. Seconds later he shoots and kills the man, Ehsan Ullah Samalani. Once the video of the killings in Pakistan’s Balochistan province went viral, it brought swift government action and condemnation from politicians, rights groups and clerics. Civil rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said, though, the government’s response was more about performance than justice. “The crime occurred months ago, not in secrecy but near a provincial capital, yet no one acted until 240 million witnessed the killing on camera,” he said. “This isn’t a response to a crime. It’s a response to a viral moment.” Police have arrested 16 people in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district, including a tribal chief and the woman’s mother. The mother, Gul Jan Bibi, said the killings were carried out by family and local elders based on “centuries-old Baloch traditions”, and not on the orders of the tribal chief. “We did not commit any sin,” she said in a video statement that also went viral. “Bano and Ehsan were killed according to our customs.” She said her daughter, who had three sons and two daughters, had run away with Ehsan and returned after 25 days. Police said Bano’s younger brother, who shot the couple, remains at large. – Reuters SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB will implement a safety time-out to review and reinforce safety measures at sewer construction sites, following a sinkhole incident near its worksite on Saturday. The agency said the sinkhole is next to an active PUB construction site on Tanjong Katong Road South, where sewers are being laid. The works involve the construction of a 16m deep shaft to connect three sewer lines. PUB said on Saturday, a caisson ring (a precast, reinforced concrete component used in the construction of shafts) failed. “Around the same time, a sinkhole formed nearby. It is still not clear what contributed to this failure. The sinkhole has been filled with liquefied stabilised soil,” PUB posted on Facebook. – Bernama MEDIUM RISK OF SEVERE HAZE, SAYS REPORT SINGAPORE: Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore face a moderate risk of a severe transboundary haze occurrence for the remainder of the year, according to an assessment by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. The latest report marks an increase from the institute’s assessment last year, which rated the risk as “low” on its three-tier scale of low, medium and high. Hike in agricultural prices and the increased rate of deforestation have heightened the risk of fires and haze, the report stated, which in turn points towards a surge in hotspots and haze across parts of Sumatra. As a consequence, the haze is anticipated to drift from Sumatra to parts of Malaysia. – Bernama SINGAPORE WATER AGENCY ORDERS SAFETY TIME-OUT

India rejects Trump claim of brokering Pakistan truce

Indian opposition groups have questioned what they say is the intelligence failure behind the Kashmir attack and the government’s inability to capture the assailants – issues they are expected to raise during the parliament discussion.

Singh’s comments came as the Indian Army said that it had killed three men in a gun battle in Indian Kashmir yesterday. Indian TV channels said the men were suspected to be behind the April attack. Reuters could not immediately verify the information. The Kashmir attack was the worst assault on civilians in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

o Defence minister denies Delhi bowed to pressure NEW DELHI: India’s defence minister said yesterday that New Delhi had ended its military conflict with Pakistan in May as it had met all its objectives and had not responded to pressure, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s claim that he brokered the truce. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (pic) was speaking at the opening of a discussion in parliament on the April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir in which 26 men were killed. The attack led to a fierce, four-day military conflict with Pakistan in May, the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbours in nearly three decades. “India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved,” Singh said. “To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect,” he said.

They have also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coming under pressure from Trump and agreeing to end the fighting, along with reports that Indian jets were shot down during the fighting. Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in combat, and India’s highest ranking general told Reuters that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details. The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been at the heart of the hostility between old rivals India and Pakistan, both of whom claim the region in full but rule it in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it. India accuses Pakistan of helping separatists in its part of Kashmir, but Pakistan denies this and says it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination. – AFP

New Delhi said Pakistani nationals were involved in the killings and blamed Islamabad for backing them. Pakistan denied involvement and sought an independent investigation. In the latest conflict, the two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and other munitions, killing dozens of people, before Trump announced they had agreed to a ceasefire. Pakistan thanked Trump for brokering the agreement but India said Washington had no hand in it and that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed between themselves to end the fighting.

BR I E F S

SAFE HAVEN... Cambodian migrant workers returning from Thailand through Doung International Gate in Battambang yesterday. – AFPPIC

Six killed in Bangkok market shooting BANGKOK: At least six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a market here yesterday, Thai police said in a statement.

a white hat and a backpack on his chest is seen walking through a parking lot at the market. Gun violence and gun ownership are not uncommon in Thailand. In October 2023, a 14 year-old suspect used a modified handgun to kill two people and injure five others at a luxury mall in central Bangkok. A year earlier, a former police officer killed 36 people, including 22 children, in a gun-and knife attack at a nursery in eastern Thailand. – Reuters

No tourists were killed or injured in the shooting incident, said Sanong Saengmani, a police official in Bangkok’s Bang Sue district, where the market that mainly sells agricultural produce is located. Tourism is a key economic driver in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second largest economy, where growth has been sluggish and such incidents can potentially dampen sentiment. In video footage shared by police, a man in

The fatalities include the gunman who took his own life, said Charin Gopatta, Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau. “Police are investigating the identity of the person and the motive for the incident,” Thai police said. The five people killed by the gunman were security guards at the market.