Pakistan-Afghanistan Update: PM Shehbaz Appeals for Flood Aid; Afghans in Limbo at UAE Facility Seek Resettlement

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Topline

• In remarks on Tuesday, PM Shehbaz appealed for donations to support flood relief efforts and payments to affected families. At least 830 people have been killed in flooding so far this year. The EU pledged Rs 76 million in aid on Tuesday.
• On Tuesday, the ECP postponed planned local government elections that were scheduled to take place on August 28 in Hyderabad, citing floods and rains; elections in Karachi are also expected to be delayed.
• Islamabad police have filed another charge against Imran Khan and other PTI party leaders for violating restrictions on public gatherings for their rally in Islamabad on Saturday. Elsewhere, the ECP dismissed a petition from a group of government lawmakers seeking Imran’s disqualification in connection to allegations that he had retained gifts received while in office; the ECP has given the PTI two week’s time to respond to a separate hearing in response to findings on its funding sources.
• A group of hundreds of Afghan refugees who have been living at a facility in Abu Dhabi for nearly a year awaiting resettlement to the United States held protests on Tuesday, demanding further action on their cases.
• Six people were injured in a blast in Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday morning; no claim of responsibility was reported.

Pakistan — Security

• India Fires Three Air Force Officers Over Errant Pakistan Missile Launch: On Tuesday, the Indian air force announced that it had fired three air force officers following an inquiry into an incident in March in which an Indian cruise missile was errantly fired into Pakistan; no casualties occurred. [AP]

Pakistan — Politics and Diplomacy

• Crackdown on PTI: Islamabad police have filed another charge against Imran Khan and other PTI party leaders for violating restrictions on public gatherings for their rally in Islamabad on Saturday. PTI sources tell The News that Imran will skip court hearings scheduled for Thursday on charges of threatening court and police officials; in an interview on Tuesday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah dismissed PTI threats of mass protest if Imran is arrested. Imran is scheduled to headline a PTI rally in Haripur on Wednesday. The PTI has petitioned the Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court against the ban on live coverage of Imran’s speeches. An Islamabad district court rejected a police petition on Wednesday to extend the custody of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill; separately, Islamabad police were granted custody of YouTube broadcaster Jameel Farooqui for a two-day period. Elsewhere, the Election Commission dismissed a petition from a group of government lawmakers seeking Imran’s disqualification in connection to allegations that he had retained gifts received while in office; the ECP has given the PTI two week’s time to respond to a separate hearing in response to findings on its funding sources. [ET] [ET] [Dawn]
• Legal Proceedings: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a PTI petition seeking to preserve absentee voting rights for Pakistani expatriates. The Lahore High Court has cleared Imran Khan to contest the NA-108 and NA-118 by-elections, overturning a lower election officer decision.
• Sindh Local Elections: On Tuesday, the Election Commission postponed planned local government elections that were scheduled to take place on August 28 in Hyderabad, citing heavy flooding and rains; while not yet announced, The News reports that elections in Karachi will also be postponed. [Dawn]

Pakistan — Economics and Development

• Flooding: In remarks on Tuesday, PM Shehbaz appealed for donations to support flood relief efforts and payments to affected families. At least 830 people have been killed in flooding so far this year. The EU pledged Rs 76 million in aid on Tuesday. Schools have been closed across Sindh with more rain forecast, and Balochistan has postponed a polio vaccination campaign.
• External Financing: The Express Tribune reports that the ministry of economic affairs is considering options to reschedule its external debt repayments, which will total $66 billion by the end of fiscal year 2026-2027; finance ministry officials have opposed the proposal, however. Pakistan’s current account deficit fell to $1.2 billion in July. [Dawn]

Pakistan — Remainders

• PM Shehbaz Waives Fuel Price Surcharges for 17M Power Consumers [Dawn] [ET]
• Public Accounts Committee Summons Former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar Over Dam Fund Collections [Dawn] [ET]
• Supreme Court Approves Bail for Christian Man Accused of Blasphemy [ET] [Dawn]

Afghanistan — Security

• Attacks and Operations: Six people were injured in a blast in Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday morning; no claim of responsibility was reported, and at least one of the casualties was reported to be the person carrying the explosives. Amu TV reports sweep arrests and the deployment of additional Taliban soldiers in Panjshir. [8AM]

Afghanistan — Politics and Diplomacy

• Refugees and Repatriation: A group of hundreds of Afghan refugees who have been living at a facility in Abu Dhabi for nearly a year awaiting resettlement to the United States held protests on Tuesday, demanding further action on their cases. [Khaama Press]

Afghanistan — Economics and Development

• Flooding: At least eight children have been killed in flooding in central and eastern Afghanistan this week, UNICEF reported on Tuesday; at least nine people were killed in Kandahar and Ghazni. Highways have been closed due to floodwaters in several parts of the country. [Ariana News]

Afghanistan — Remainders

• Kabul Municipality Moves to Retake Government Land [TOLO]
• Commentary: I Wrote NATO’s Lessons from Afghanistan; Now I Wonder: What Have We Learned? – “First, the Alliance fought in a strategically irrelevant place against the wrong enemy. Second, although driven by good intentions, allies expanded the scale and scope of the mission well beyond the strategic level of interest. Third, NATO sought to build security forces that were badly out of step with Afghan culture and technological capacity. Finally, the allies fooled themselves and their publics about the conditions on the ground.” [John Manza, Atlantic Council]
• Commentary: The Afghan Women Left Behind – “After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, a U.S. organization shut down the country’s largest network of women’s shelters. Its founders think that it made a huge mistake.” [Rozina Ali, New Yorker]