KARACHI: Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has recorded a 43 percent increase in “honor killing” cases, the provincial police department said on Thursday, with the highest number of victims being women.
Honor killings, in which family members kill women or men for actions perceived as bringing shame to the family such as choosing their spouse, have long plagued the South Asian country.
In a report released on Thursday, the Sindh police said 142 people, including 105 women and 37 men, were killed in honor killing cases from Jan. 1 till Aug. 31.
“Sindh witnessed a 43 percent increase in cases of Karo-Kari (honor killing), with 142 people killed this year compared to 2024’s 99,” the report said.
Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honor,” with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry.
The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 405 women were killed in 2024 in such cases, compared with 226 in 2023.
In July, police said they had arrested the father and the ex-husband of an alleged “honor killing” victim among nine people in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Sidra Bibi, 18, was killed on the orders of a local council of elders in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after she married a man of her choice, according to police.
The same month, police in southwestern Balochistan province arrested 11 suspects after a video shared online appeared to show a young couple being fatally shot for marrying without their families’ approval.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will continue to work with China in countering terrorism and extremism, while expanding cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, livestock, industry, mining and new technologies, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday.
The statement came after his meeting with Chen Xiaojiang, the Communist Party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in Urumqi, at which the president reaffirmed Pakistan-China friendship as the cornerstone of Islamabad’s foreign policy.
Pakistan views China as an important strategic ally and investment partner, which has funneled billions of dollars into the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy and infrastructure project for over a decade.
Despite massive investments, Chinese projects and nationals have been hit by militant attacks in recent years, with Beijing pressing Islamabad to step up security of Chinese nationals and initiatives in the South Asian country.
“Pakistan will continue to cooperate with China to eliminate terrorism and extremism,” President Zardari was quoted as saying by his office. “Pakistan and China will increase cooperation in the fields of agriculture, industry, minerals and new technology.”
Beijing is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade topping $25 billion in recent years, while Chinese firms have also invested heavily in Pakistan’s power, transport, infrastructure, telecommunication and other projects.
Highlighting Xinjiang’s pivotal role in CPEC, the President encouraged greater industrial and agricultural collaboration, noting the potential of Special Economic Zones in Gilgit-Baltistan. He invited people from Xinjiang to visit Pakistan’s northern regions, hoping that these visits would further strengthen cultural and economic bonds, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
In his remarks, Chen underlined that Xinjiang has become a hub of prosperity and is advancing in agriculture and livestock, adding that he looked forward to deepening government-to-government and business-to-business cooperation with Pakistan, particularly in agriculture, livestock, mining and industry.
“He reaffirmed the desire to work closely on security and counter-terrorism as well,” the broadcaster said.
The development comes during President Zardari’s ten-day visit to China that began on Sept. 12. The president has since had a number of engagements with Chinese political and business figures, aimed at further strengthening ties between the two countries.
Beijing and Islamabad this week signed multiple memorandums of understanding (MoUs) aimed at strengthening cooperation in agriculture, environmental protection and mass transit, Zardari’s office said.
“These MoUs reflect a practical step toward strengthened cooperation between Pakistan and China in agriculture, technology, and environmental management,” Zardari said at the signing ceremony.
KARACHI: Pakistan’s ITT Foods, known for its sauces and confectionery under the Dipitt brand, is planning to set up a production hub in as part of its strategy to expand its footprint across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the company’s chief executive said, with negotiations also underway on a major collaboration in the UAE.
The Karachi-based food company is already a supplier to leading Saudi retailers and food chains. Now, it is eyeing local production facilities to cut logistics costs, localize key ingredients, and serve regional markets faster.
“ has been a potential hub for us and more so with every day passing,” Syed Zeeshan Haider, CEO of ITT Foods, told Arab News in an interview.
He said the company was in advanced talks to take over a tomato manufacturing facility in Jeddah Industrial Zone 2 that was shut down in 2023 by a Saudi steel company diversifying into food production.
Zeeshan Haider, CEO of ITT Foods, speaks during an interview with Arab News in Karachi on September 16, 2025. (AN Photo)
“There is already a tomato manufacturing facility over there which was closed in 2023,” Haider said. “It’s a joint venture that we are exploring over there with the Saudi partners … I think by next year, by 2026, it will be done.”
ITT Foods has worked with Saudi retailer Hyper Panda since 2019 and also supplies sauces to Herfy, one of the Kingdom’s biggest food chains. The company is in talks with other large retailers to broaden its Saudi base.
“We have been working with one of the biggest Saudi retail chain which is called Hyper Panda. They have about 20 plus percent market share,” Haider said. “Similarly, Tamimi is there. Al Othaim is there. So, we are talking to them on various channels.”
Haider said ITT Foods was also engaging with e-commerce platforms in to boost retail penetration, while developing new products tailored to local demand.
Beyond , ITT Foods is negotiating a deal in the UAE with the country’s largest bottled water company.
“We are working with another partner in UAE which is one of the biggest water brand in UAE. I cannot disclose their name right now, but I am sure you guys will hear it in a few months’ time,” Haider said.
“They want to launch their sauces, so we will be the one manufacturing for them.”
In retail, ITT Foods supplies sauces to Nesto and other major UAE supermarket chains, while also expanding into Qatar and Lebanon.
GCC GROWTH STARTEGY
Haider said Dipitt operates in about 32 countries globally, with GCC markets accounting for some of its strongest revenues. Exports currently make up about 40 percent of the company’s sales.
The Dipitt market is already about $600 million, Haider said, referring to the GCC sauces segment. “That would be around 10 percent that we aim for in the next 5 years. That’s what our objective is.”
Haider said ITT Foods was also exploring joint ventures with Gulf partners to speed up market access, provide fresher products, and reduce delays in project launches.
“So, that’s one way that we are looking at right now because there is lot of markets that we are unable to export from Pakistan,” he said. “So, we are exploring those options also to increase our export markets and also to service them at a much faster pace.”
Looking ahead, Haider said ITT Foods aimed to turn into its GCC hub, while also expanding further into Europe and North America:
“I think our first step is to see on the production facility on how we can start moving our products to one of the GCC regions and start serving that region from that specific area and then see what we can do further. That’s pretty much the goal in the first 5 years or 10 years from now on.”
Haider said ITT Foods was actively innovating to match Gulf food trends, particularly in the sauces category.
“In GCC what we are doing now is that we are developing a specific range of Arabic sauces,” he said. “For example, dates. Date syrups are very much used in GCC. So, we are working on those. We are working on new flavors for the GCC market specifically.”
He added that rising tourism in , along with increased numbers of pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah, was also boosting demand while recent regulatory reforms in had also made it easier to do business.
“For example, Saudi Food and Drug Authority which is SFDA is all online. So, we can access it from anywhere,” he said.
He acknowledged that sugar taxes on ketchup, syrups and mayonnaise remained a challenge but said ITT Foods was adapting like other exporters.
“The food trend is also changing a lot in GCC with each day passing,” Haider said. “So, we are trying to work on those and innovate and bring those things.”
Pair of bombings hours apart kill 8, wound 23 in southwest Pakistan
Two security personnel were killed, 23 injured in first attack in southwestern Turbat district, say police
Hours later, another car bomb exploded near Afghan border in southwestern city of Chaman, killing six
Updated 18 September 2025
AP
QUETTA, Pakistan: A pair of car bombings hours apart in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit southwest killed at least eight people and wounded about two dozen others on Thursday, officials said.
The first attack occurred in Turbat, a district in Balochistan province, when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a security convoy, police official Elahi Bakhsh said. Two security personnel were killed, and 23 others were wounded in the attack, he said.
Hours later, another car bomb exploded near the Afghan border in the southwestern city of Chaman, killing six people, said government administrator Imtiaz Ali.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The latest attack came two weeks after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a stadium as supporters of a nationalist party were leaving a rally near Quetta city, killing 13 people.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in recent years, with most attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and other separatist groups also often stage attacks in Balochistan. The province has long been the scene of a insurgency, with separatists demanding independence from the central government.
ISLAMABAD: Sound engineer Taurees Habib recently announced he became the second Pakistani to ever clinch a Grammy award for his work in the Hollywood film “Dune: Part Two,” making him the only sound engineer from the country to win the prestigious trophy.
Though the award was announced earlier this year in February, Habib, who hails from Karachi, had not revealed it publicly. He shared the news via a post on Facebook on Tuesday, saying he was excited to see the golden gramophone award finally arrive at his residence.
Dune: Part Two is a science fiction film that features a stellar Hollywood cast starring Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler and Christopher Walken. Habib’s trophy bears the engraving: “Taurees Habib, Engineer. Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media — 2024, Dune: Part Two (Hans Zimmer).”
“I’m so incredibly honored to have received this for my work on Dune: Part 2, and to be the first Pakistani to receive this for engineering and only the second Pakistani ever to win a Grammy,” Habib wrote on Facebook, sharing a picture of his with the award.
“It’s crazy to walk into my living room and see this thing just sitting there.”
Habib paid tribute to other members on the team for Dune, crediting their hard work for bringing German composer Hans Zimmer’s vision to life.
He also uploaded a separate video on Instagram, sharing with his followers the moment he unboxed the award at home.
“So something happened this February, and I haven’t really talked about it,” Habib says in the video. “It felt like one of those things that’d be better to show than tell about.”
Habib can be seen pulling the award out of the box in the video and setting it down on the table, simply pointing to it.
This makes him the second Pakistani to win a Grammy award. Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab scored her first Grammy in 2022 when she won the prestigious trophy for her song “Mohabbat” in the Best Global Performance category.
However, no other sound engineer from Pakistan has ever won a Grammy.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb hoped the removal of US sanctions on Syria would help open bilateral trade and investment opportunities in the country, the Finance Division said on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June to dismantle a web of sanctions against Syria more than six months after the overthrow of Bashar Assad. Syria welcomed the move, saying it would likely unlock investments for the conflict-hit country. The Syrian government had been under heavy US financial penalties that predated the outbreak of a civil war in the country in 2011.
Dr. Ramez Alraee, Syria’s ambassador to Pakistan, called on Aurangzeb at the Finance Division to discuss matters of mutual interest, the finance ministry said. Talks focused on further strengthening longstanding fraternal ties between Pakistan and Syria and exploring avenues for enhanced bilateral cooperation.
“Welcoming the Ambassador, the Finance Minister appreciated the improving situation in Syria and the gradual return to normalcy,” the Finance Division said. “He expressed the hope that the removal of sanctions by the United States would help Syria reintegrate into the international system and open up opportunities for investment and bilateral trade.”
The Pakistani minister assured Dr. Alraee of Islamabad’s “full support” in every way, noting that the people of both countries share bonds of affection and empathy.
The Syrian ambassador thanked Pakistan for extending diplomatic support following Israel’s airstrikes targeting the Middle Eastern country in June, the Finance Division said. He thanked Islamabad for sending humanitarian aid for Syria following the 2023 earthquake which wreaked havoc in the Middle Eastern country and Turkiye.
“Ambassador Alraee reaffirmed his commitment to promoting bilateral trade and commerce between the two countries and emphasized the importance of facilitating exchanges of official and business delegations to further strengthen economic and people-to-people ties,” the Finance Division said.
Like it does with most Middle Eastern countries, Pakistan enjoys close relations with Syria rooted in shared faith and culture. Pakistan and Syria formally established bilateral relations in December 1949.
