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PESHAWAR: A landslide killed at least two people and injured three others in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, rescue officials said, as authorities warned of continued slope collapses during the monsoon season.

The incident took place in Havelian town in Abbottabad district, according to Rescue 1122, which said emergency teams had transported the victims to a nearby hospital.

“Two people died on the spot and three were injured in the landslide,” the agency said in a statement. “The bodies of the deceased and the injured are being shifted to Civil Hospital Havelian.”

Rescue services said the cause of the landslide had not yet been determined.

Landslides are a recurring hazard in Pakistan’s mountainous regions, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, where heavy monsoon rains, deforestation and fragile soil conditions often trigger slope failures.

In July, more than eight vehicles were swept away when heavy rains caused a landslide on a highway in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, damaging bridges, a hotel and a school and knocking out communications. Tourist buses were stranded on roadsides as families waited for food and evacuation.

This year’s monsoon season has killed at least 1,006 people and injured 1,063 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. 

Pakistan, which produces less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, has suffered disproportionately from extreme weather in recent years. In 2022, torrential monsoon rains killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.
 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday the country’s leadership would decide whether to contribute troops to a special peacekeeping force in Gaza proposed under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, adding that Palestinian law enforcement agencies would operate on the ground alongside the multinational contingent.

Foreign ministers of eight Muslim countries — Pakistan, ��������, the UAE, Indonesia, Turkiye, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan — have backed Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, pledging constructive engagement with Washington and all parties to finalize and implement the agreement. 

The plan calls for a ceasefire, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, a staged Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament and Gaza’s reconstruction with international support.

Trump discussed the proposal with Muslim leaders during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session last week. 

“Gaza peace plan envisaged deploying a peace force in Palestine,” Dar said during a media briefing. 

“Pakistani leadership will decide on sending troops for the special peacekeeping force in Gaza, as Indonesia has announced the deployment of 20,000 troops for the purpose.”

Dar said Pakistan had urged that any such arrangement be documented at the United Nations, clarifying that it would be distinct from a UN peacekeeping mission and would constitute a special force dedicated solely to Gaza.

“The force would ensure external security, while internal law and order would be managed by Palestinian police and agencies,” he added.

The deputy prime minister said Muslim countries, along with the Palestinian Authority, had welcomed the Gaza peace plan, saying it envisioned an independent Palestinian government of technocrats in Gaza.

“It will be overseen by an international body, largely comprising Palestinians,” he added.

Responding to a question about whether Hamas would accept the deal, Dar said five countries believed the group would support the plan, particularly the one hosting its talks.

“We should trust their assurances,” he said.

Dar also emphasized that Pakistan had made no direct deal with Israel.

“We dealt with the United States and the United States dealt with Israel,” he said.

Reading from the joint statement issued by the eight Muslim countries, Dar said they had affirmed their readiness to engage “positively and constructively” with the United States and other parties to finalize the agreement and ensure its implementation in a way that guarantees peace, security and stability for the region’s peoples.

He said that alongside attending the UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s delegation had worked with like-minded nations to end the conflict in Gaza. The meeting with Trump and other Muslim leaders, Dar said, aimed to secure a ceasefire, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid, halt the forced displacement of Palestinians, facilitate the return of displaced persons, plan Gaza’s reconstruction and stop Israel’s attempts to annex the West Bank.

“The US president then proposed his team would work with the foreign ministers of the eight participating Muslim countries to devise a workable solution,” Dar said, adding that after receiving the 20-point plan document from Washington, the foreign ministers held several consultative meetings to provide their input, which was later submitted to the US side.

Dar said the joint statement by the eight countries welcoming the peace plan had been prepared in close consultation, led by the Saudi foreign minister, with Pakistan’s proposed changes incorporated into the final draft.