Category World News

Israel launched a series of air attacks on central Damascus, hitting a Ministry of Defence compound and areas near the presidential palace.

The attacks on Wednesday killed at least three people and wounded 34, according to Syria’s Ministry of Health, as reported by state media.

Israel also conducted attacks in southern Syria, where violent clashes between Druze groups, Bedouin tribes, and Syrian security forces have persisted for more than four days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that more than 250 people have died in Suwayda province during these confrontations.

Israel, which occupies the Syrian Golan Heights, claims its operations are intended to protect the Druze minority – whom it views as a potential ally – and to target pro-government forces allegedly attacking it.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli attacks on Damascus and Suwayda as “part of a systematic Israeli policy to ignite tension and chaos and undermine security in Syria”, urging the international community to take “urgent action” against Israeli aggression.

The air attacks followed deadly clashes in Suwayda between Syrian government forces and local Druze fighters.

The conflict began with reciprocal kidnappings and attacks between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes. Government troops intervened to restore order but ended up clashing with Druze groups and reportedly targeted civilians in some instances.

The Druze, a minority with significant influence in both Syria and Israel, are regarded by Israel as loyal allies, with many serving in the Israeli military. A Tuesday ceasefire quickly collapsed, with fighting resuming the following day.

On Wednesday,  the Syrian government and Druze leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou announced a new ceasefire in the city, and said the army had begun withdrawing from Suwayda.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the country’s Druze citizens and their rights is a priority, as he announced that local leaders will take control of security in Suwayda in a bid to end the violence.

Suwayda’s Druze community appears divided. Leader Yasser Jarbou announced that a ceasefire had been negotiated with the Syrian government, while another leader, Hikmat al-Hijri, rejected any such agreement. Many Syrian Druze oppose Israeli intervention on their behalf.

The British government has secretly resettled thousands of Afghans in the United Kingdom for fear they might be targeted by the Taliban after their personal details were leaked, Defence Secretary John Healey revealed on Tuesday.

Details about the accidental data breach by a British soldier and the secret relocation programme for Afghans were made public after a rare court order known as a “superinjuction”, which barred the media from even disclosing its existence, was lifted on Tuesday.

Here is what we know about what happened and how the government responded:

Whose data was leaked and how did it happen?

A spreadsheet containing the personal information of about 18,700 Afghans and their relatives – a total of about 33,000 people – was accidentally forwarded to the wrong recipients by email in February 2022, Healey told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

These were people who had applied for relocation to the UK between August 2021 and January 7, 2022. That was the six-month period following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after the US and allied forces withdrew from the country. Most had worked as translators, assistants or in other capacities for the British military in Afghanistan.

They had applied for the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme, which, like its predecessor, the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS), had been set up for Afghans who had worked for the British forces.

The EGS was originally established in 2013 following a long campaign by activists and media in support of people who had assisted the British military in Afghanistan and who were considered likely to face reprisals from the Taliban.

The British soldier at the centre of the leak, who had been tasked with verifying applications for relocation, is understood to have mistakenly believed the database contained the names of 150 applicants, when it actually contained personal information linked to some 18,714 people.

The soldier was under the command of General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, who was director of special forces at the time and now heads the British Navy. His name had also been suppressed by the court order until this week.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) became aware of the leak when someone else posted parts of the data on Facebook on August 14, 2023. The Facebook post was first spotted by an activist who was assisting Afghans who had worked with UK forces.

The activist contacted the MoD, saying: “The Taliban may now have a 33,000-long kill list – essentially provided to them by the British government. If any of these families are murdered, the government will be liable,” The Guardian newspaper reported.

How did the government respond to the leak?

The MoD told Facebook to take down the post with the leaked information, citing security threats from the Taliban. It also warned some 1,800 ARAP applicants who had fled to Pakistan that they or their families could be in danger.

The UK government, led by former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, then sought a court order barring any media disclosure of the data breach.

On September 1, 2023, a High Court judge in London issued a “superinjunction”, which not only prohibits the disclosure of any details but also forbids revealing that the order exists at all. That superinjunction was lifted on Tuesday following a campaign led by The Times newspaper in London.

In April 2024, the government created the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to support Afghans who were not eligible for ARAP but were considered at high risk of reprisals from the Taliban as a result of the data leak.

This scheme, which was kept secret, has now been closed, Healey told the House of Commons. However, he added that hundreds of invitations were issued to Afghans and their families under the scheme and these invitations “will be honoured”.

The government also launched the secret Operation Rubific to evacuate those Afghans deemed to be at risk directly to the UK.

How many Afghans have been relocated to the UK under the secret scheme?

As a direct result of the leak, the government says 900 people and about 3,000 relatives have already been flown to the UK under the secret relocation scheme and put up in hotels or military bases. In total, about 24,000 Afghans affected by the breach have either been brought to the UK already or will be in the near future, according to UK media reports.

Through broader resettlement schemes, 35,245 Afghans have so far been relocated to the UK, official data suggests.

Why is this information being disclosed now?

The court order barring the details about the leak from being disclosed was lifted at noon (11:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Following several private hearings, a High Court judge ruled in May that the injunction should be lifted, citing, among other reasons, the inability of the public or parliament to scrutinise the government’s decisions.

British news outlet The Times reported it had spearheaded the two-year legal battle which resulted in the injunction being lifted.

That decision was, however, overturned by the Court of Appeal in July 2024, due to concerns about the potential risks to individuals whose information had been leaked.

Then came the “Rimmer review”.

Healey, a member of current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ruling Labour party, said he was briefed about the leak when it happened as he was serving as shadow defence secretary at the time. However, he added that other cabinet members were only informed about the leak when Starmer’s party was elected to power in the general election of July 2024.

“As Parliamentarians – and as Government Ministers – it has been deeply uncomfortable to be constrained in reporting to this House. And I am grateful today to be able to disclose the details to Parliament,” Healey said on Tuesday.

Healey said that at the beginning of this year, he commissioned former senior civil servant and former Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence Paul Rimmer to conduct an independent review.

Quoting the “Rimmer review” in Parliament on Tuesday, Healey said that four years since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, “there is little evidence of intent by the Taleban [sic] to conduct a campaign of retribution against former officials.”

He added that the information the Taliban inherited from the former Afghan government would have already allowed them to target individuals if they had wished. Therefore, Rimmer concluded it was “highly unlikely” that someone’s information being on the leaked spreadsheet would be a key piece of information enabling or prompting the Taliban to take action.

“However, Rimmer is clear – he stresses the uncertainty in any judgements … and he does not rule out any risk,” Healey said.

How safe are the people named in the leak now?

The Times reported that after the superinjunction had been lifted, a new temporary court order was issued, barring the media from publishing specific sensitive details about what exactly was in the database.

The Times said the government cited reasons of confidentiality and national security, arguing that the leaked list still poses a threat to the safety of the Afghans.

In a webpage published on Tuesday, the MoD states: “At present, there is no evidence to suggest that the spreadsheet has been seen or used by others who might seek to exploit the information; however, the UK Government cannot rule out that possibility.”

It now advises those who applied for the ARAP or EGS programmes before January 7, 2022, to exercise caution, avoid phone calls or messages from unknown numbers, limit their social media profiles and use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) where possible.

UK-based media outlets have reported that a law firm is suing the MoD on behalf of at least 1,000 Afghans affected by the data leak.

How much has the leak cost the UK government?

Healey said on Tuesday that it had already cost 400 million pounds ($540m) to bring an initial 900 Afghans and their 3,600 family members to the UK under the ARR.

However, this does not account for the expenditures by other government schemes to relocate Afghans to the UK. Healey estimated that the total cost of relocating Afghans to the UK was between 5.5 billion and 6 billion pounds ($7.4bn to $8bn).

Tensions are palpable in the West African nation of Togo as highly anticipated local government elections are being held following weeks of angry protests calling for leader Faure Gnassingbe to resign.

Although small, Togo commands weight as a developing maritime and transit hub in the region because of an important port in the seaside capital, Lome, which is perched on the edge of the Atlantic. The country serves as a gateway into inland Sahel nations and is also home to a major West African airline, meaning unrest there could reverberate across the region.

Voters heading out to cast their ballots on Thursday, July 17, are expected to elect leaders of the country’s 117 municipalities, amid a heavier-than-usual security presence and shuttered land borders.

At the same time, demonstrators have scheduled protests in the capital, Lome, to intentionally clash with the date of the vote, prompting fears of possible widespread violence.

Led largely by the country’s youth population, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in June after a controversial constitutional change. Protests have been met with brute force from Togolese security forces; at least seven people have died, local rights groups say. The protests are only the latest in the restive country, where more frequent demonstrations in recent years are pressuring the decades-long dynastic government.

Here’s what to know about the current political situation in Togo:

Why are Togolese protesting?

Large demonstrations have been held in Lome in recent years, with Togolese calling for Gnassingbe, who has led the country since 2005, to step down.

Between 2017 and 2018, thousands of protesters took to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up”. The uprising rocked the nation of four million and resulted in violent crackdowns from security officials. The government thereafter banned public demonstrations for “security reasons”.

Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics. The capital is crawling with stern-faced, armed gendarmes who are often accused of arresting and torturing dissidents.

This year’s bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president’s June 6 birthday.

However, anger had been simmering over the high costs of living in the country, and particularly, over new constitutional reforms that opposition leaders and civil society organisations say could see Gnassingbe rule for life. Thursday’s municipal elections will be the first polls held under the new reforms.

First approved in April 2024 by a parliament dominated by the governing Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, the constitutional amendment swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one.

Controversially, though, it also introduced a new all-powerful position: President of the Council of Ministers. The role essentially regains all the powers of a president and is without clear official limits. Opposition leaders argued at the time that it would allow Gnassingbe to appoint a dummy president and remain the de facto leader until at least 2030. They called it a “constitutional coup”.

On May 3 this year, Gnassingbe was sworn into the new executive role, as critics predicted. Politician Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, 86, is now president, and is the oldest in Togo’s history.

In late June, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Lome in anger, calling for Gnassingbe to step down from office after rapper Aamron’s arrest and alleged torture. Protesters set up barricades and hurled stones at security forces, who responded with force, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd, according to reporting by the Reuters news agency.

Le Front Citoyen Togo Debout, a coalition of 12 civil society and human rights groups, accused security officials of arbitrarily arresting civilians, beating them with batons and ropes, and stealing and destroying private property.

At least seven people were discovered dead in the aftermath of the protests, according to the coalition, including two minors. Their bodies were discovered days after the demonstrations in various lagoons and lakes around Lome.

Meanwhile, a Togolese government statement said the deaths were caused by drowning and cautioned residents living near water bodies to be extra careful in the current rainy season.

The ‘Don’t Touch My Constitution’ movement demanded an international investigation into the claims, while Togo’s Catholic Bishops said the levels of violence were “unacceptable and unjustified”.

Who is Faure Gnassingbe?

Just days after his father died in 2005, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe was hurriedly installed as the country’s president by the army, extending decades of his family’s rule over Togo.

Despite outrage in the country, which led to widespread protests in which at least 500 people were killed, the younger Gnassingbe did not relinquish power and went on to organise and win elections that year, which many critics called a ruse.

His father, the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a military coup and ruled the country with a tight fist for 38 years (1967-2005), making him the longest-serving African ruler at the time he died. His “rule of terror” was characterised by a one-party system and deadly repression of dissent, according to Amnesty International. The younger Gnassingbe, while having fostered multi-party rule and infrastructural development in the country, appears to be angling for his father’s record, critics say.

Combined, the father-son duo has commandeered Togo for 58 years. With 60 percent of the population under 35, most Togolese have never experienced life under a different political administration.

Gnassingbe has won every election since 2005. In 2019, in an attempt to circumvent demonstrations calling for his resignation, parliament ushered in constitutional amendments that, the government argued, automatically reset Gnassingbe’s terms. That allowed him to run for the 2020 and 2025 presidential elections.

At first glance, the latest reforms from 2024 appear to acquiesce to what some critics have been demanding: A weakened president elected by the parliament for a single six-year term, rather than an all-powerful leader.

However, what most did not see coming was that Gnassingbe would be appointed to a more powerful position.

Are protesters being targeted? And what is the M66 Movement?

As tensions simmer, demonstrators and civil society accuse Togolese officials of targeting protest leaders, many of whom are living in exile in neighbouring countries, as well as France and the United States.

Last week, the government issued international arrest warrants targeting those believed to be leading organisers, especially members of the M66 Citizens’ Movement – a political collective of bloggers and activists, named after Gnassingbe’s June 6 birthday date. Officials say the group is “inciting unrest and terrorism” in the country.

“The countries where these individuals reside are urged to cooperate,” Security Minister Calixte Madjoulba said at a news briefing. “Wherever they are, we will pursue them.”

M66 members called for renewed protests on July 16 and 17 in a bid to boycott the municipal elections, which form part of a wider push by the government to devolve power at the centre and attempt to improve local governance. Local elections were not held between 1986 and 2020, as the government kept postponing them. Instead, the central authorities designated special administrators who critics say served the government’s interests.

Some opposition leaders have also called for boycotts, although Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the main opposition National Alliance for Change, told reporters this week that taking part in the vote was necessary to show Togolese what’s possible.

“The elections will not change anything in this country and we know it very well,” Zaga Bambo, a France-based music artist who claims to be a member of the group, said in a Facebook post. Bambo also dismissed the arrest warrants, telling French media channel RFI that he was unfazed by it.

In his first speech since Israel attacked Damascus, Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to turn Syria into a ‘theatre of endless chaos’. He also emphasised that protecting Druze citizens is a top priority, after clashes between troops and Druze fighters in Suwayda.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that protecting the country’s Druze citizens and their rights is a priority, as he announced that local leaders will take control of security in the city of Suwayda in a bid to end sectarian violence in the south and in the wake of deadly Israeli strikes in Damascus.

The Syrian leader made the statements in a televised speech on Thursday, addressing days of fierce clashes between Druze armed groups, Bedouin tribes and government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda that have killed more than 360 people, according to UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Israel, which sees the Druze as an ally, launched a series of powerful strikes near Syria’s presidential palace and on the military headquarters in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday, warning Syria it would escalate further if it did not withdraw from the south and halt attacks against the Druze community.

“We are keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people, as they are under the protection and responsibility of the state,” Sharaa said in the speech, describing the minority as “a fundamental part of the fabric of this nation.”

“We affirm to you that the protection of your rights and freedoms is among our top priorities, and we reject any attempt aimed at pulling you toward an external party.”

Al-Sharaa said that “responsibility” for security in the violence plagued would be handed to religious elders and some local factions “based on the supreme national interest”.

Troops withdraw

The remarks came after the Syrian government and Druze leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou announced a new ceasefire in the city, and said the army had begun withdrawing from Suwayda.

But there does not appear to be consensus in Suwayda among the Druze, a small but influential minority in both Syria and Israel.

While Sheikh Jarbou said he agreed to the ceasefire deal and spoke out against the Israeli strikes on Syria, telling Al Jazeera Arabic that “any attack on the Syrian state is an attack on the Druze community”, another influential Druze leader in the city said he rejected the ceasefire.

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari promised to continue fighting until Suwayda was “entirely liberated”.

‘Unknown fate’ avoided

In the speech, al-Sharaa called for national unity, saying that “the building of a new Syria requires all of us to stand united behind our state, to commit to its principles, and to place the interest of the nation above any personal or limited interest.”

Addressing the Druze community, he said the government rejected “any attempt to drag you into the hands of an external party”, in a reference to Israel’s intervention in the conflict.

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he said.

He added that Israel’s extensive strikes, including those that killed three people and injured 34 in Damascus on Wednesday, could have pushed “matters to a large-scale escalation, if it were not for the intervention of US, Turkish and Arab mediators “which saved the region from an unknown fate”.

The US, which has softened its stance towards Syria and is attempting to re-engage and support the country’s reconstruction after more than a decade of conflict, has been eager to de-escalate the conflict, which State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called “a misunderstanding between new neighbours”.

Actions ‘louder than words’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said al-Sharaa’s speech contained encouraging messages about the place of the Druze minority in Syrian society.

“He said that the Druze are an essential component,” said Elmasry. “He said it’s the Syrian government’s responsibility to protect them and to hold to account those who have transgressed against them in recent days.”

But, he said, it would all come down to how his government behaved in the aftermath of the speech.

“II think their actions will speak louder than words for those minority groups in Syria.”

He said the speech also contained a note of warning to Israel that it did not fear war and that “anyone who starts a war with Syria … would regret it”.

“These were messages directed at Israel, and it marked a very significant departure from what we’ve heard from him and at times not heard from him when Israel has attacked Syria,” Elmasry said.

“I think we’re at a potentially dangerous tipping point and it really will come down to, I think, the extent to which Donald Trump and the United States are willing to kind of rein in Israel,” he said.

“It’s a very difficult situation in Syria. You are talking about a very multiethnic society. You have outside forces, starting with Israel, trying to basically fragment the country and establish a separatist system, if you will, in Syria,” Elmasry said.

Cycle of violence

The escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze armed factions and local Sunni Bedouin tribes in Suwayda province.

Government forces that intervened to restore order clashed with the Druze, with reports of Syrian troops committing abuses, according to local monitors and analysts.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Rozi Khan, a 29-year-old bird seller from Karachi, was on a business trip to Islamabad in April when he discovered he could not access his bank account.

After completing a sale with a customer, he tried to withdraw money from an ATM, only to be met with the message: “Invalid bank account”. Alarmed, Khan took the next available flight back home and rushed to speak to his bank manager.

He was shocked to discover that the account, which he had been using for his bird-selling business for 10 years, had been shut down on April 10 on the orders of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), without any explanation.

Khan managed to speak to an FIA official on the phone after being given a number to call by his bank manager. After asking about Khan’s recent business transactions, the official posed a puzzling question: What was his relationship with Asad Ali Toor, a journalist and avid collector of rare parrots?

“I did not understand the question at first. I sell birds to people from every walk of life – lawyers, military officers, anyone,” Khan told Al Jazeera. “I sold parrots to Asad as well. Why would they suspend my account for dealing with a customer who just happens to be a journalist?”

A ripple effect across cities

In Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Sargodha and other cities, the same question has been echoing in the minds of other people, particularly bird sellers, who have conducted business with Toor and then found themselves locked out of their bank accounts.

Nadeem Nasir, a 60-year-old businessman in Lahore who has sold birds in the past, including to Toor, discovered his account had been closed on April 10 when a cheque he wrote to an associate bounced.

“I have known Asad for the last five years and have developed good relations with him. But the last time he purchased parrots from me was in 2023 and early 2024. Since then, there has been no business transaction between us,” Nasir told Al Jazeera.

Like Khan, Nasir said he received no notification that his account had been closed from either the FIA or the bank. When he finally spoke to someone at the FIA, he, too, was questioned about his connection to Toor.

“It was only after I managed to get in touch with some FIA officials through my contacts that they asked me about my relationship with Toor. That’s when I realised what had happened,” he said.

Toor, 40, is an Islamabad-based independent journalist and vlogger, who has earned a reputation for his outspoken opinions. He runs a popular YouTube channel and is well known for his critical analysis of the government, judiciary and Pakistan’s powerful military establishment, which has ruled the country directly for more than three decades and continues to wield enormous influence.

He also collects birds.

A journalist with a passion for parrots

Among the many bank accounts blocked by the FIA were those of Toor himself as well as of his father, mother, brother and a cousin who helped him run his YouTube channel.

This wasn’t Toor’s first run-in with the authorities. He has been running his YouTube channel for the past five years, attracting 335,000 subscribers while more than 355,000 people follow him on X.

In 2021 while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was in power, Toor was attacked by unknown people at his home in Islamabad. He said he believed his assailants were members of the military intelligence service, which has been accused by rights groups of involvement in disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the past. At the time, the military’s media wing did not comment after questions about the allegation.

In February 2024, Toor was arrested on charges of orchestrating a “malicious campaign” against the state through social media. He was released after 18 days in custody.

Then last week, Toor’s YouTube channel was among 27 Pakistani channels that authorities sought to suspend for “anti-state” content. Although a magistrate initially approved the suspension, a sessions court reversed the order two days later.

Toor’s passion for rare parrots is well known. He owns several dozen birds and spends more than 50,000 rupees ($175) each month on their care, a hobby he funds through his online earnings.

“I only found out about the account suspension after my cousin told me his account had been frozen due to transactions with me,” Toor told Al Jazeera.

“As I looked into it, I discovered that my own account along with those of my family and even my bird sellers had been locked without any prior warning or notification from the bank or the FIA.”

Legal fight for access

For more than a month, Toor had no access to his funds and has been forced to rely on friends for financial support. Finally in May, the Islamabad High Court issued an order in response to a petition he had lodged, ordering that his bank account be restored.

When Judge Khadim Hussain Soomro asked the FIA to justify the freeze, the agency submitted a one-page reply stating it needed to investigate Toor’s income, allegedly earned through “anti-state, anti-government posts” on social media.

The statement further claimed that the agency was examining potential “traces of money laundering and terror funding” through “various bank channels”.

But the court ruled Toor had been denied due process, the action, therefore, was unlawful and ordered the FIA to restore the journalist’s account. The bank accounts of Toor’s family members, however, remain blocked.

Zainab Janjua, Toor’s lawyer, said it took her more than a week to get her client’s account unblocked after the ruling.

“The court order clearly stated that the accounts should be unblocked immediately, but the banks refused to comply until they had received written confirmation from the FIA,” she told Al Jazeera.

Eventually, Janjua’s colleague and Toor went to the bank and threatened contempt proceedings, after which the account was unlocked.

“The bank manager was named in our petition. We warned them that if the account wasn’t restored, they’d face contempt of court charges. Only then did they comply,” she said.

The FIA did not respond formally to questions from Al Jazeera, but an FIA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that the investigation into Toor was necessary due to what he called “unusual” financial activity.

“Asad Toor has spent millions of rupees on parrots, and his only income appears to be from YouTube. Is that not strange?” the official said.

He added that under antimoney-laundering laws, the FIA is authorised to investigate any financial dealings that appear suspicious.

“Our goal was to question these individuals, including Toor and his associates, and understand what’s happening. That’s why we froze the accounts,” he said.

However, the official declined to explain why no prior notice was issued to any of the affected individuals. He said those affected should write to the FIA after court orders to unblock their accounts if they want them reopened.

Journalists in the line of fire

Another journalist known for his critical stance towards the state is Matiullah Jan, who is in his 50s and also lives in Islamabad, where he hosts a show on the news channel Neo News and also runs his own YouTube channel, MJTv. He underwent a similar ordeal in April when the accounts of his wife and sister as well as his own were frozen.

Jan has previously been harassed and arrested on various charges. Last year, he was detained by the police on drug charges, which he denied, before eventually being cleared by a court. His YouTube channel was one of the 27 flagged by authorities last week along with Toor’s.

Jan said he also received no formal notice from the FIA that his account was being frozen. He only learned about the account closures through a verbal message from his bank.

“My sister’s account was restored after my lawyer brother intervened. My wife’s account was unblocked a month later only after the bank couldn’t produce any written suspension order,” Jan told Al Jazeera.

Waiting for justice

Nasir and Khan, the bird sellers, took their case to court in Islamabad as well. On July 3, a court ruled in favour of both of them and ordered their bank accounts to be reopened. Nasir finally managed to get access to his account on July 5, more than two months after it had been suspended.

“Thankfully, I could still rely on my children for help. But my main concern was paying for my wife’s cancer medication. It’s deeply frustrating how easily the state can punish someone without explanation or apology,” Nasir said.

In Karachi, Khan hasn’t been as fortunate. Despite the court order, he said he still cannot access his account.

He said the suspension is hurting his business because he now has to rely on his brothers to facilitate transactions. His customers, he said, often seem suspicious about why he can’t provide details of a personal bank account.

“The government wants us to go cashless, to operate digitally and then shuts our accounts without explanation. What do I tell my customers? That doing business with another customer got my account frozen?” a frustrated Khan asked.

Pakistan remains one of the most restrictive countries in terms of news media freedom as journalists face constant threats to their security and livelihoods.

In its latest report, Human Rights Watch said journalists in Pakistan “faced intimidation, harassment, and digital and physical surveillance for perceived criticism of the government”. In the news media freedom rankings compiled by Reporters Without Borders in May, Pakistan dropped by five levels from number 152 to 158 out of 180 countries.

Farieha Aziz, a rights activist, said journalists are increasingly being targeted via legal tools and state agencies like the FIA.

“This is about using the legal system to wear people down, dragging them into courts, forcing them to hire lawyers. It’s nothing short of legal harassment and a culture of collective punishment,” she told Al Jazeera.

Khan, who is still awaiting restoration of his account, said he holds no grudge against Toor but wants to know what crime he’s being punished for.

“Does this mean if I talk to someone the state doesn’t like, they can freeze my account? At least tell me what I did wrong. Issue a notice to me if you want. But you can’t punish me silently when I’ve done nothing,” he said.