Shehbaz Sharif

Force in Play

Leading coalition government

Pakistan's former cricket star turned prime minister has been behind bars since August 2023, facing more than 200 criminal cases. In January 2025, a court sentenced him to 14 years for the Al-Qadir Trust case—bringing his total prison time to over 30 years across multiple convictions. On December 21, 2024, he received 17 years for selling state gifts including Saudi jewelry far below market value. His wife, a spiritual healer who influenced his government from behind closed doors, faces concurrent sentences totaling 24 years. Both have been blocked from meeting lawyers to sign appeals, and the UN has condemned Khan's detention conditions as torture.

Updated 15 hours ago

Force in Play

Leading peace talks delegation in China, demanding TTP crackdown

Pakistan and Afghanistan are locked in their most intense military confrontation since the Taliban's 2021 takeover, with escalating cross-border strikes claiming hundreds of lives. On March 17, 2026, a Pakistani airstrike devastated a 2,000-bed hospital in Kabul, killing approximately 400 people and injuring nearly 250 others according to Afghan officials, marking the deadliest single incident. Pakistan denied responsibility. The conflict stems from Pakistan's demands that the Taliban crack down on Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants sheltering on Afghan soil. A five-day Eid al-Fitr ceasefire mediated by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar held from March 19-24, 2026, preventing immediate resumption of hostilities.

Updated Apr 2

Force in Play

Managing domestic unrest while balancing ties with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States

Pakistan has the second-largest Shia Muslim population on earth, roughly 30 million people. When joint United States-Israeli airstrikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, the grief and fury of that community spilled into the streets of every major Pakistani city within hours. In Karachi, hundreds of protesters tried to breach the perimeter of the US consulate; security forces opened fire, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 50. In the northern Shia-majority region of Gilgit-Baltistan, crowds torched a United Nations office, a police station, and several government buildings in Skardu, prompting the army's deployment under emergency constitutional authority.

Updated Mar 1

Force in Play

Serving as Prime Minister; condemned attack as 'cowardly act of terrorism'

Pakistan has not seen a suicide bombing in its capital since 2016. That changed in November 2025, when an attacker killed 12 outside an Islamabad court. Two days ago, on February 6, 2026, a suicide bomber walked into a Shia mosque during Friday prayers and killed 31 worshippers, wounding 169 more. The attack on Khadija Tul Kubra mosque was the deadliest in Islamabad since the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing that killed 63.

Updated Feb 8

Force in Play

In office

Pakistan has fought five insurgencies in Balochistan since 1948. The fifth, triggered by the 2006 killing of tribal leader Akbar Bugti, has become the deadliest—and on January 31, 2026, the Balochistan Liberation Army launched simultaneous attacks across 14 cities, killing at least 21 people, freeing 30 prisoners, and abducting a deputy commissioner. The operation demonstrated coordination and lethality that caught Islamabad off guard.

Updated Jan 31

Rule Changes

Approved high-level organizing committee for 2026 Games

Pakistan last hosted a major regional sporting event in 2004. Twenty-two years later, Lahore opened the 14th South Asian Games on January 23, 2026, welcoming over 3,500 athletes from eight nations to compete across 27 sports through February 6. The Games mark Pakistan's first hosting outside Islamabad and its third overall, following the 1989 and 2004 editions.

Updated Jan 23