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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Poland on Thursday agreed to expand their $1 billion bilateral trade while signing two memorandums of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation between their foreign ministries and research institutes.

The agreements were signed during the visit of Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who is in Islamabad for talks focused on broadening collaboration in trade, energy, defense and education.

One MoU was inked between the foreign ministries of both countries, and another between Pakistan’s Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and Poland’s Polish Institute of International Affairs.

“We have over a billion dollars in bilateral trade and both sides agreed that there remains immense untapped potential to further expand trade and economic cooperation,” Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said at a joint news conference. “We agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, infrastructure, defense, counterterrorism, science, technology and education.”

Addressing the gathering, Sikorski said Warsaw sought to deepen ties in public finance, fintech, mining, water management and energy, noting that a Polish state-owned company was already investing in Pakistan’s gas exploration sector.

“We also discussed further cooperation in mining and the energy sector, building on the success of such engagements as the Polish oil and gas company exploring natural gas in Pakistan. This, I believe, has huge potential for the future,” he said.

The Polish minister highlighted educational and people-to-people exchanges, saying some 2,000 Pakistanis now live in Poland, including hundreds of students.

“Poland remains open to legal migration and real studies for real students,” he added, while reiterating Warsaw’s zero tolerance for illegal migration.

Both sides also discussed regional and global developments.

Dar raised Pakistan’s concerns over Indian actions in Kashmir and cross-border attacks from Afghan soil, while Sikorski underlined Poland’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and a two-state solution in the Middle East.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s counterterrorism police said on Thursday they had arrested two suspected militants linked to the Zainabiyoun Brigade, a group Islamabad banned last year for alleged involvement in sectarian and other activities “prejudicial to national security.”

Pakistan banned the Zainabiyoun Brigade in March 2024, designating it a ‘terrorist’ outfit after intelligence assessments found it posed a threat to national security. Islamabad says the group, composed mainly of Pakistani Shia fighters, is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

According to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the group became the 79th entity on Pakistan’s list of proscribed organizations. The US Treasury Department sanctioned the Zainabiyoun Brigade in January 2019, citing its role in “recruiting and deploying Pakistani fighters to Syria” under IRGC direction.

Ghulam Azfar Mahesar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), said the two arrested suspects, identified as Israr Hussain Gilgiti and Masoom Raza, also known as Amirullah and Imran Mota, were detained during an intelligence-based operation in Karachi. 

“Two terrorists have been arrested and primarily they belong to the Zainabiyoun Brigade, and they are involved in the sectarian killing of members of a religious party,” Mahesar told Arab News after a press conference in Karachi.

When asked if the militants had received training abroad, the CTD official confirmed they had been trained in a “neighboring country,” without naming the nation.

“They are active members of that organization, and we have proof that they have been trained and have been visiting a neighboring country,” he said, adding that the main shooter, Masoom, traveled there about 20 days ago.

“This is a network which was being run by the neighboring country.”

Mahesar said two 9mm pistols and two hand grenades were recovered from the suspects, who are currently under interrogation.

“We have identified their facilitators and other gang members who are present in Karachi,” he added, noting that the department had conducted 32 intelligence-based operations in recent weeks, with more arrests expected.

The DIG said the Zainabiyoun network continued to operate in Karachi but was being systematically dismantled.

“We now have their names and addresses. Raids are under way in coordination with other agencies to arrest remaining members,” he said, confirming that Pakistan would also raise the matter through official diplomatic and security channels.

“Whenever we have some network which is operated across [the border], there is a standard procedure that we put across our demands and wanted list. That will be done,” he said.

Security agencies have previously arrested several militants associated with the outfit, particularly in Karachi, Parachinar, Quetta, and Gilgit-Baltistan, regions identified as key recruitment hubs for the group.

In January 2024, Sindh CTD officials apprehended Syed Muhammad Mehdi, another suspected Zainabiyoun member allegedly involved in the 2019 assassination attempt on top cleric Mufti Taqi Usmani.

Earlier, in July 2022, then-interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told the Senate that Zainabiyoun members were “actively involved in terrorist activities” between 2019 and 2021.