The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has registered a revenue shortfall of Rs868 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2025-26.

The tax office collected Rs11.227 trillion for July to May against a revised target of Rs12.095 trillion leaving a huge gap.

The expanding difference is attributed to two key issues, according to the reports: slower economic activity due to the ongoing Gulf conflict and the impact of the longer Eid festivities. Revenue shortfall reached Rs 184 billion in only May alone.

The FBR has collected Rs966 billion in May on a provisional basis against the monthly target of Rs1.15 trillion. Officials are still hopeful that once changes are made, the final tally for the month could be a little better.

To fulfil the revised yearly income target of Rs13.979 trillion by June 30, the FBR will have to collect almost Rs2.752 trillion in June – a daunting undertaking considering the current trend.

The tax collection target was originally set at Rs14.13 trillion by the Parliament but was then cut down to Rs13.979 trillion after an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As the fiscal year comes to a finish, the FBR appears to be on track for a total shortfall around Rs1 trillion. Crossing the Rs13 trillion collection mark would be a significant achievement in the current economic scenario, officials feel.

A young boy died in Tanda dam here Saturday.

The youngster identified as Rizwan drowned while bathing with his buddies in the dam, sources said quoting rescue sources. His friends were rescued.

Rizwan was 16 years old. He was a resident of Kohat and went to Tanda Dam for a picnic along with his pals. They had meant to bathe in the dam, which was disastrous for Riwan.

The cops reached the spot after being told and began investigation after moving the body to hospital for appropriate procedure.

As mercury rises around the country, people, especially adolescents, resort to canals, dams, lakes and water reservoirs to beat the heat but sometimes their bath becomes tragic over failure to adopt safeguards.

The proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has links to al-Qaeda and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which is still promoting terrorism, sabotage and destabilisation of the society in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan.

The nexus offers finance, training, weaponry and logistical assistance, enabling the group to use vulnerable local women and youth as instruments for suicide bombings and other anti-state actions.

Senior security officials have repeatedly said that this support from al-Qaeda and TTP has drastically improved the operational capacities of BLA to sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other national development projects, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti told the Senate.

The government has said repeatedly that the main backers of the BLA-TTP nexus are al-Qaeda and TTP and that they do this through Afghan territory by attacking people, infrastructure and security forces.

Afghanistan continues to be a crucial refuge for BLA operatives where they train and plan before infiltrating into Pakistan across the border. This cross-border infrastructure allows the movement of facilitators, recruits and suicide bombers.

The foreign-orchestrated network depends mainly on the systematic exploitation of Baloch women and girls. Security operations have regularly caught instances when vulnerable girls were being radicalised, trained and deployed for suicide attacks.

In one case, security authorities in Khuzdar held Laiba (also known as Farzana), a would-be suicide bomber indoctrinated through a network linked to BLA-affiliated commanders and people such as Dr Sabiha, who target financially weak girls through psychological manipulation and pressure. Laiba had been requested to recruit other young women for similar missions.

In a further case, the confessional testimony of Raheema Bibi showed how her husband aided a BLF-linked female suicide bomber Zarina Rafiq. The woman was held at their home before being taken to Afghanistan for training and later carried out an attack on a Frontier Corps camp.

Sindh authorities also thwarted a scheme involving a minor Baloch girl who was groomed through social media by BLA handlers for a suicide strike in Karachi. The teenager later issued a public warning that such acts are against Baloch cultural values that safeguard women’s dignity.

A methodology has been discovered that marks the ideological radicalisation through certain activist platforms followed by recruiting, training in Afghanistan and operational deployment by BLA. Connected networks sometimes turn to “missing persons” narratives to hide militant links when plans go awry.

The BLA has conducted out multiple operations against security forces, Chinese workers, schools, and industrial infrastructure in cooperation with TTP elements and Al-Qaeda.

Security forces have intelligence based operations with backing from local populations. Zero tolerance for terrorism but at the same time rehabilitation and de-radicalization processes for misinformed persons, particularly women and youth.

The government has been consistently asking the parents to keep a check on the internet activities as social media is a huge channel for radicalisation besides the officials pushing for an international action against states utilising proxies for destabilising Pakistan.