ISLAMABAD: The Interior Minister Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan announced in the National Assembly today [June 23] that the Government had received reliable information that Mr. Ajmal Khattak was in Kabul and engaged in anti-Pakistan activities. ... He said that Mr. Ajmal Khattak was present at a ... reception held recently at the Bangladesh Embassy in Kabul and had also secretly visited some countries. Mr. Khattak was proposing to set up a government in exile, he said.

Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan said that there were elements which were intent on toppling the government by force and extra-constitutional methods. … He maintained that these elements wanted to incite large-scale demonstrations and riots in the country… . The Fed­eral Security Force was, therefore, nee­ded to meet the threat… . Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan said that the fear of the Opposition that the Federal Security Force would be used to suppress their legitimate activities was entirely unfounded. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, according to our staff correspondent in Karachi,] Smuggled goods worth Rs. One lakh were seized in different raids … in Karachi. … The goods seized included exp­ensive perfumery, cosmetics, cigarette lighters, ladies and gents apparel and other goods.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2023