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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week met Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, condemning Israel’s airstrikes in Doha and calling for unity among Muslim nations in the face of increasing tensions in the Middle East. 

Sharif arrived in Doha on Monday to attend the emergency Arab-Islamic summit organized after Israel targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Sept. 9. The strike, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, prompted Arab Gulf states to forge a united front against the Israeli attack at the summit. 

The Pakistani prime minister met Al-Thani on the sidelines of the summit on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement. He was accompanied by Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.

“The Prime Minister stressed that Israel’s aggression in the Middle East must be stopped immediately, and unity within the Ummah was vitally important, in the face of repeated Israeli provocations,” the PMO said.

Sharif expressed solidarity with Qatar, describing Israel’s attack as a “flagrant violation” of the Gulf nation’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. 

“His Highness the Emir expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s participation in the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit as well as for his visit to Doha on September 12 to express solidarity with Qatar at this difficult time,” Sharif’s office said. 

It added that both leaders agreed to remain in close contact in view of the unfolding situation in the region.

ARAB-ISLAMIC TASK FORCE

At the summit, Sharif called for the creation of an Arab-Islamic task force to keep Israel’s “expansionist designs” in the Middle East in check, demanding the United Nations suspend the Jewish state’s membership of the global body.

“Pakistan reiterates following essential and urgent steps that Israel must be held accountable for its war crimes against humanity, creation of an Arab Islamic task force to adopt effective measures toward Israeli expansionist designs,” Sharif said.

“We reiterate the OIC’s call to suspend Israel’s membership of the United Nations,” he said, adding that member states should actively consider implementing other appropriate measures against Israel.

Sharif also criticized Israel for its military offensives in Gaza. Since the start of the war in October 2023, Pakistan has repeatedly condemned the offensive that has killed nearly 65,000 people, mostly women and children, and called for accountability of Israel’s “war crimes.”

KARACHI: The government in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province announced on Tuesday it had initiated a survey to assess damages caused by devastating floods, as the death toll from deluges since late August rose to 112. 

Heavy monsoon rains and excess water released by Indian dams caused rivers flowing through Punjab to swell last month. Floodwaters inundated over 4,700 villages in Pakistan’s breadbasket Punjab province, destroying large swathes of standing crops, homes and forcing millions to shift to safer locations. 

Water levels in Punjab’s Ravi, Chenab and Sutlej rivers are on the decline now, as floodwaters head toward the southern Sindh province. The Punjab government says it has launched the largest rescue and relief operation in the province to save stranded citizens and livestock. 

“The recent floods have resulted in 112 civilian deaths in various incidents,” the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said in a report. 

Meanwhile, Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said citizens’ losses will be compensated.

“A survey has been initiated to assess the damages caused by the floods,” Javed said. 

Giving a breakdown of the losses inflicted by the floods so far, the relief commissioner said over 4.72 million people have been affected by the deluges. He said in severely flood-affected districts, 363 relief camps and 446 medical camps have been set up.

“A total of 2.608 million people trapped in the floods have been relocated to safe places,” Javed said. 

INDUS RIVER AT ‘HIGH FLOOD LEVEL’

Meanwhile, the PDMA Sindh warned on Monday that River Indus at Sukkur will remain in “high flood” for the next few days. Sindh has been bracing for floods as water levels continue to rise at the Guddu and Sukkur barrages in southern Pakistan. 

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported on Monday that the water inflow at Guddu Barrage in Kashmore district was recorded at 624,456 cusecs while the outflow was recorded at 594,936 cusecs. The NDMA said the water inflow at Sukkur Barrage was recorded at 556,217 cusecs while the outflow was recorded at 502,667 cusecs. 

Separately, the NDMA said in its latest situation report on Sept. 15 that the death toll from rain-related incidents since Jun. 26 had surged to 992, with the highest deaths reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 504, followed by Punjab with 290, Sindh with 80, northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) with 41, Azad Kashmir with 38, Balochistan with 30 and Islamabad with nine casualties. 

DENGUE OUTBREAKS

As Punjab’s swollen rivers inundate thousands of villages and settlements in the province, Pakistani authorities have warned of dengue outbreaks in the country’s major cities and other flood-affected areas. 

Dengue is a viral infection caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. While many dengue infections are asymptomatic or produce only mild illness, the virus can occasionally cause more severe cases, and even death.

In an alert issued on Sept. 15, the meteorological department warned that floods have left behind stagnant water and poor drainage, creating conducive environmental conditions for mosquito breeding and transmission of dengue.

“The combined impact of favorable weather thresholds and flood-related waterlogging has made condition conducive from 20th September 2025 for the dengue onset,” the Met Department said. “It is predicted that this season poses an unprecedentedly high-risk of a severe dengue outbreak, particularly in ten major cities of Pakistan i.e., Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Multan as well as in flood affected areas across the country.”

Despite contributing only 1 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is consistently ranked among countries affected the most by climate change. Devastating floods in 2022 left nearly 1,700 people dead, one-third of the country submerged at one point in time and inflicted damages of over $30 billion, Pakistan estimated.