KARACHI: Since the Election Commission’s announcement to hold Senate elections for Faisal Abidi’s vacant seat, a race between the senior leaders of Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for the seat has begun.
Senior party leaders Taj Haider, Qadir Patel, Qayyum Soomro and Iftikhar Hussain are among the likely candidates to get the ticket, party sources here say. Someone has also challenged Senator Soomro’s technocrat seat in court on the ground that he is not a “technocrat”. The case is currently pending in court.
Sharif to visit Iran on Sunday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to Iran on Sunday in a visit seen as an attempt to improve relations frayed by the kidnapping of Iranian border guards.
The conflict in Syria will also be on the agenda, along with other regional issues.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will pay a two-day official visit to Iran from May 11 to 12,” a foreign office official said yesterday.
He said Sharif would hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani on May 11 this year and was also expected to pay a call on spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the following day.
Seven killed in Afghan attack
MAZAR-I-SHARIF: Militants attacked a police checkpoint in northern Afghanistan yesterday, killing five policemen and two civilians during a two-hour-long shoot out with security forces, officials said.
The brazen assault took place in Gorzaiwan district near Maimana -- the capital city of Faryab province -- early in the morning, Mohammad Nahim deputy provincial police chief said.
“Five police and two civilians were killed in the attack,” he added.
No one claimed immediate responsibility but such attacks are often carried out by the Taliban.
Taliban militants have intensified attacks on Afghan security forces in this election year, aiming to undermine the government in the run-up to the withdrawal of foreign forces by the end of 2014.
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