Islamabad, April 14: Thousands of Pakistani pilgrims will be unable to perform Haj this year, primarily due to delays in agreements and payments, despite Saudi Arabia allotting an additional quota of 10,000 people from the country.

The issue is being attributed to the failure of the private quota even as the Haj organisers point the rejection to late bookings and payments.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken note of the issue and ordered an immediate inquiry into the failure of the private quota by forming a three-member committee which will submit its report within three days. The premier also inquired why the government missed Saudi deadlines.

Saudi Arabia allocated Pakistan 179,210 Haj slots, evenly divided between government and private schemes. However, only 14,000 private applications were successful, leaving thousands unable to complete their spiritual journey this year.

The organisers, meanwhile, stated that they had secured 67,000 pilgrims and had also released 7 million Saudi Riyal (SAR) to Saudi Arabia, adding that delays in finalising the agreements resulted in rejection of applications by the Saudi authorities.

Islamabad took note of the issue and requested Saudi authorities for additional slots, a request which was considered with approval of another 10,000 slots. But, the additional quota was still insufficient in accommodating the high demand, leaving at least 67,000 pilgrims short of spots.

Haj organisers have called on Prime Minister Sharif to intervene into the issue to prevent further disruptions, insisting that there is a need for improved coordination with the Saudi authorities to secure quotas in time.

New Delhi, April 11: Tahawwur Rana had aspired for Pakistan’s highest award for gallantry in battle ‘Nishan-e-Haider’ for the nine Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who carried out the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008 and were gunned down by Indian security forces.

The US Department of Justice, in a statement, has released a bit of intercepted conversation between Tahawwur Rana and Headley after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The statement says, “After the attacks were complete, Rana allegedly told Headley that the Indians ‘deserved it’. In an intercepted conversation with Headley, Rana allegedly commended the nine LeT terrorists who had been killed committing the attacks, saying that ‘[t]hey should be given Nishan-e-Haider’- Pakistan’s ‘highest award for gallantry in battle’, which is reserved for fallen soldiers.”

The statement said that Rana is to stand trial in India on “10 criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai”.

Rana is described as a convicted terrorist, a Canadian citizen and a native of Pakistan by the US.

The US on Wednesday extradited Rana to India, which it said was a critical step toward seeking justice for the six Americans and scores of other victims who were killed in the heinous attacks.

In a detailed statement, the US has said that Rana, 64, is charged in India with numerous offences, including conspiracy, murder, commission of a terrorist act, and forgery, related to his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks committed by LeT, a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

Describing the terror attacks, the US statement reads: Between November 26 and 29, 2008, ten LeT terrorists carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks in Mumbai. They infiltrated the city by sea and then broke into teams, dispersing to multiple locations. Attackers at a train station fired guns and threw grenades into crowds. Attackers at two restaurants shot indiscriminately at patrons. Attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel gunned people down and detonated explosives. Attackers also shot and killed people at a Jewish community center.

When the terror finally subsided, 166 victims, including six Americans, were dead, along with all but one of the LeT terrorists. Hundreds more were injured, and Mumbai sustained more than $1.5 billion in property damage.

The US said the attacks “were among the most horrific and catastrophic in India’s history”.

Ahead of the extradition, India had handed over detailed investigation reports, documents and evidence to prove Rana’s involvement in the 2008 terror attack.

The US statement says that “India alleges that Rana facilitated a fraudulent cover so that his childhood friend David Coleman Headley (Headley), a U.S. citizen born Daood Gilani, could freely travel to Mumbai for the purpose of conducting surveillance of potential attack sites for LeT. As India alleges, Headley had received training from LeT members in Pakistan and was in direct communication with LeT about plans to attack Mumbai.”

Among other things, Rana allegedly agreed to open a Mumbai branch of his immigration business and appoint Headley as the manager of the office, despite Headley’s having no immigration experience. On two separate occasions, Rana allegedly helped Headley prepare and submit visa applications to Indian authorities that contained information Rana knew to be false, the statement mentions.

Rana also allegedly supplied, through his unsuspecting business partner, documentation in support of Headley’s attempt to secure formal approval from Indian authorities to open a branch office of Rana’s business. “Over the course of more than two years, Headley allegedly repeatedly met with Rana in Chicago and described his surveillance activities on behalf of LeT, LeT’s responses to Headley’s activities, and LeT’s potential plans for attacking Mumbai”, the statement further adds.

US Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce has said that on April 9, the United States extradited Rana, 64, to India “to face justice for his role in planning the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.”

She said, “The United States has long supported India’s efforts to ensure those responsible for these attacks are brought to justice, and as President Trump has said, the United States and India will continue to work together to combat the global scourge of terrorism.”

Sanaa, April 10: The death toll from fresh US airstrikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa rose to three, with several others wounded, medics and health authorities told Xinhua.

The airstrikes targeted the Al-Nahdayn area which is surrounded by densely residential neighbourhoods on Wednesday late night.

Shrapnel hit many houses and shattered windows, causing damage and killing three residents. Several wounded civilians have been rushed to hospital.

This was the latest wave of US airstrikes on northern Yemen since the US military resumed airstrikes on the Houthi group on March 15 to deter the group from targeting Israel and US warships in the northern Red Sea.

The airstrikes also targeted several locations across other northern areas late on Wednesday, including the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the Island of Kamaran, where no casualties have been reported so far.

The US military has yet to comment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on April 9, Yemen’s Houthis said that they had shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 18th since the start of the war in Gaza, the military group said.

“Our air defences shot down a US MQ-9 drone in the airspace of Al-Jawf province, using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile,” the group’s spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a televised statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

“This is the 18th US drone shot down by our air defences since October 2023,” Sarea said, referring to the timeframe when his group began launching attacks against Israeli targets to show solidarity with Palestinians a few days after the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

The last MQ-9 was reportedly shot down by the Houthi forces on Thursday over the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

This type of drone has become well-known to Yemenis because it has been hovering overhead across northern Yemeni provinces almost daily since October 2023.

The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, have been launching regular rocket and drone attacks against Israel and disrupting “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid their conflict with Israelis.