Pakistan–Afghanistan border at Chaman remained closed on Saturday following a night of cross-border firing, leaving hundreds of travellers, traders and families stranded on both sides amid heightened security deployments

The Frontier Corps and other security units in Pakistan reinforced key crossing points after the exchange of fire with Afghan forces late Friday night. Afghan authorities also strengthened positions across the border in Spin Boldak, raising concerns among residents about a possible prolonged standoff.

Dozens of Afghan nationals waiting to return home were stuck at the Friendship Gate for hours, with some stranded for days due to the sudden closure. Many expressed concern over dropping temperatures and limited facilities.

“We were preparing to cross early in the morning, but the gate never opened. Families with children are suffering the most,” said a traveller at the terminal.

A detailed report on the security situation will be forwarded to the Chairman of the Border Management and Master Plan Committee, local sources said.

At least three civilians, including a woman, were injured during Friday night’s clashes that lasted several hours. Medical teams in Chaman have been treating the wounded and monitoring the situation closely.

On the night after the explosions in Kabul, Afghan Taliban forces, allegedly supported by elements of the TTP, launched attacks along multiple border sectors, including Chaman, Angoor Adda, Bajaur, Kurram, Dir, Chitral and Baramcha.

Earlier this year, clashes were reported along the border during a brief period of tension with Afghanistan. On October 8, tensions escalated after explosions in Kabul, reportedly linked to Pakistani airstrikes targeting TTP leaders.

At least 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the clashes, with Pakistan claiming over 200 Afghan fighters also died. The firing damaged the Pak-Afghan Friendship Gate, a key civilian crossing point. In response, Pakistan closed its border crossings, and on October 16 both sides agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government plans to withdraw more than 55 cases filed against PTI workers during protests on May 9 and 10 after a cabinet decision.

Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel said 319 cases were registered during the protests. Most of the accused have been acquitted or discharged due to insufficient evidence. The 55 pending cases will be withdrawn once cabinet meeting minutes are received, and Additional Advocate General Inam Yousafzai has been appointed as special prosecutor to oversee the process.

Some cases did not include anti-terrorism clauses, while others were decided after responses were submitted to court. The 55 cases with no responses filed are the ones that will be withdrawn. Of those with Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) provisions, 29 remain pending, while 23 have concluded with eight acquittals. The remaining cases were transferred to regular courts because ATA provisions could not be applied.

Six cases remain pending, with responses submitted for one and the remaining five still in process. Once cabinet minutes are received, withdrawal applications will be filed and argued in court, leaving no pending cases from the protests.

According to a report on Saturday, 416 terrorism cases are pending across 10 Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Peshawar accounts for 192 of these cases across three courts.

In November 2025, 100 cases were decided across the province. Peshawar resolved 57, Matta 15, and Mardan seven, while Swat and Upper Dir each decided three. Meanwhile, courts in Buner, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan decided none.

The Transport Action Committee has announced a province-wide strike on December 8 in protest against heavy traffic fines. The committee’s Rawalpindi chapter confirmed that transporters will observe a complete strike that day over the widespread issuance of penalties across Punjab.

The committee stated that in the second phase, there will be a complete strike of public and goods transport on December 10.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad Transport Federation has also announced its support for the strike. The federation’s vice president said the heavy penalties were unacceptable and that they would observe a complete strike.

The strikes oppose the Punjab Motor Vehicle Ordinance 2025, enforced by the provincial government in late November. These laws impose significantly higher fines for a wide range of violations, which include speeding, signal violations, and overloading.

They aim to improve road safety and mitigate environmental hazards across the province. However, these laws aren’t necessarily being enacted with the original intent in mind.

The traffic police issued over 76,000 challans in a 48-hour crackdown last week alone. They collected fines exceeding Rs71.2 million across the province as part of a crackdown on traffic violations, a spokesperson said.

The operation was launched under a zero-tolerance policy implemented on orders of DIG Traffic Muhammad Waqas Nazir. Police registered 1,402 FIRs for serious traffic violations and impounded over 13,000 vehicles, while 1,390 violators were imprisoned, the spokesperson said.

The fines have placed a heavy burden on drivers without significantly improving road safety. Restrictions on the movement of goods could slow the flow of essential products, creating supply bottlenecks that reduce demand and raise costs. Transport associations are calling for revised penalties to ensure smoother logistics.

1. The planned public transport strike underscores a widening gap between traffic enforcement and drivers’ ability to keep up with rising fines. Whether authorities address these concerns or wait out the disruption will determine how the standoff unfolds.

KARACHI:

Rising temperatures driven by climate change are pushing thousands of Karachi’s textile and garment workers into dangerous heat exposure, where employees describe fainting, dehydration, headaches and physical collapse inside factories that lack basic cooling, ventilation or medical support.

A new investigative report by Climate Rights International (CRI) – “They Don’t See What Heat Does to Our Bodies”: Climate Change, Labour Rights, and the Cost of Fashion in Karachi, Pakistan – warns that many workplaces grow hotter than the temperature outside, especially during peak summer months, when machinery, fabric and body heat compound to create suffocating indoor conditions.

Factories interviewed for the study continue to maintain full production shifts even when temperatures reach extreme levels, and the workers most affected are often the ones least equipped to lose wages to illness or recovery time. “Inside, it feels like my body is melting and my heartbeat is running too fast, slowing down is not allowed, so we just push through until we can’t stand anymore,” Muhammad Hunain, a textile mill labourer described his condition on work. His statement captures what many others referenced as a constant physical negotiation: continue working despite dizziness, or stop for a moment and risk wage deduction, supervisor reprimand or unpaid time away from the machine.

The report paints a troubling picture of long hours, sometimes 10 to 12 hours per day, spent standing at machines while the air remains still and dense. Industrial units often keep windows shut to limit dust exposure, but the sealed environment traps heat and humidity. Hydration is not discouraged in policy, but in practice, many employees said water access is limited, monitored or simply too unclean to drink safely.

Heat stress symptoms described in the document include dizziness, blurred vision, nausea and swelling of legs, all medically consistent with prolonged exposure to high temperature. Researchers warn that Karachi’s labour force is already working on the frontlines of climate change, and without intervention, the human cost may escalate in the coming years.

According to the report, fainting incidents are not isolated, and recovery is typically unpaid, with workers sent home without treatment or complaint documentation. For those earning between Rs32,000 and Rs40,000 a month, even one missed shift destabilises an already fragile household budget. Researchers linked several facilities where these accounts emerged to major global clothing brands, including H&M, Zara (Inditex), GAP, Mango, ASOS, C&A, NA-KD, NEXT and IKEA, using public sourcing disclosures. All except IKEA are official signatories to the International Accord, a safety framework designed after the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, yet only NEXT currently issues supplier guidelines explicitly addressing heat risk.

H&M has signalled that heat-safety policy updates may be introduced in 2026, but for now, most factories continue under general compliance codes that do not directly recognise extreme heat as a workplace hazard. Interviews suggest many factories present better conditions during audits, temporarily increasing fans or circulating clean water shortly before inspections, masking what workers say is their daily reality.

Shaista, a garment worker in a packing department, explained how dehydration becomes a survival strategy, not a choice. “Supervisors don’t like workers going again and again. So people avoid drinking water.” The consequences extend beyond heat exhaustion: reduced water intake increases the risk of kidney complications, muscle fatigue and slowed cognitive capacity. The report notes that real-time temperature monitoring is absent in most industrial spaces, and workers have limited ways to track how much heat their bodies absorb over hours of repetitive motion. Medical rooms, where they exist, often lack trained staff, and no structured emergency response plan is documented for heatstroke-like symptoms.

Pakistan’s labour laws technically guarantee a safe indoor environment, clean drinking water and protection from occupational harm, but enforcement remains inconsistent. Karachi’s urban heat island, concrete density and population load mean the city absorbs and radiates heat longer than surrounding regions.

With Pakistan warming faster than the global average, experts warn that industrial labour will become one of the country’s most exposed people. The report argues that climate-driven heat is no longer a temporary seasonal threat; it is a structural condition reshaping factory floors, productivity and human wellbeing.

A third worker summarised the urgency with blunt honesty: “We are not asking for luxury… just air to breathe, water to drink, and a break when our bodies cannot take more.”