2008 in Pakistan
Encyclopedia
January
- 2 January - PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
announces that elections originally scheduled for the 8th of January will be postponed until the 18 February, following the assassination of Benazir BhuttoAssassination of Benazir BhuttoThe assassination of Benazir Bhutto occurred on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan and then-leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January 2008...
. - 3 January - Benazir Bhutto assassination: President of PakistanPresident of PakistanThe President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Pervez MusharrafPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
denies any role in Benazir BhuttoBenazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
's death. (CNN)
February
- 9 February - 15 People are killed in an election rally in Charsada.
- 11 February - Pakistan's ambassador to AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
is believed to have been kidnapped by suspected pro-Taliban militants. - 12 February - The Government of Pakistan steps up security for "fair, transparent and peaceful" elections scheduled for 18 February.
- 13 February - Pakistan test fires a nuclear capable short range ballistic missile.
- Two suspects confessed to a judge that they helped to arm the suicide bomber who killed Bhutto.
- 14 February - Three soldiers are killed by a bomb explosion near Khair, BajaurBajaurBajaur or Bajur or Bajour is an Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Smallest of the agencies in FATA, it has a hilly terrain. According to the 1998 census, the population was 595,227 but other more recent estimates it has grown to 757,000...
. - 15 February - Pakistan announces the arrest of a fifth man in connection with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
- Pakistan and IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
agree to double the number of flights between the two nations. - 16 February - 37 people are killed in a bombing2008 Parachinar bombingIn the Parachinar bombing of February 16, 2008, a suicide bomber in Parachinar, Pakistan killed 47 people and injured 93 attending a political rally for the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party. The attack occurred on the eve of the 2008 Pakistani general election to be held on February 18. The attack...
in the town of ParachinarParachinarParachinar is the capital of Kurram Agency, FATA of Pakistan. It is about 290 km west of the capital, Islamabad...
at an election rally. - 18 February - Elections take place in Pakistan.
- 19 February - Election results show that President Musharraf'sPervez MusharrafPervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
party Pakistan Muslim League (Q) have received a heavy defeat. - 21 February - Pakistan's two main opposition parties agree to form a coalition following the elections.
- 29 February - At least 45 people died and 82 were wounded in a suicide attack on the funeral February 29, 2008 of a district superintendent of police – killed earlier in the day in a separate attack – in SwatSwat (Pakistan)Swat is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora...
province.
March
- 22 March - The PPP nominate Yousaf Raza GillaniYousaf Raza GillaniYousuf Raza Gilani is the current prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the support of its coalition partners, Pakistan Muslim League , Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, on 22 March 2008...
to become the Prime Minister of PakistanPrime Minister of PakistanThe Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
. - 25 March - Yousaf Raza Gillani is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- 24 March - Prime minister Gillani vows to free judges who were detained during emergency rule.
- 29 March - PM Gillani announces to the National AssemblyNational Assembly of PakistanThe National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...
that the fight against terrorism will be the top priority of the new government.
April
- 1 April - The new government of Pakistan announces that it will rethink the policy on militants.
- 15 April - PresidentPresident of PakistanThe President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
Musharraf announces he is lobbying the ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
government to build gas and oil pipelines. - 16 April - The Olympic torch arrives in Pakistan.
- 19 April - Taliban rebels release a video of Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan who they are holding as a hostage.
May
- 12 May - PML (N) quits the cabinet, following the failure to restore judges.
- 16 May - Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq AzizuddinTariq AzizuddinTariq Azizuddin is Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey. He was ambassador to Afghanistan when he was taken hostage by terrorists from the Tehrik-i-Taliban on Monday February 11, 2008....
was set free by kidnappers. - 17 May - Lawyers announced their plan for Long March to be held on 10 June, for the Restoration of Judges.
June
- 1 June - Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed left Pakistan Muslim League (Q)Pakistan Muslim League (Q)The Pakistan Muslim League or officially Pakistan Muslim League is a centrist, modern political party in Pakistan. The present form of PML-Q was formed prior to 2002 general elections....
and formed his new Party, Awami Muslim LeagueAwami Muslim LeagueAwami Muslim League Pakistan is a Pakistani political party formed in June 2008 by Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad.- NA-55 :This is a national assembly seat fought by Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of the Awami Muslim League Pakistan on February 24, 2010 but lost by a margin of more than 28000 votes...
. - 2 June - Car bomb attack2008 Danish embassy bombingThe 2008 Danish embassy bombing was an attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan on June 2, 2008. The suspected suicide car bombing in the parking lot of the embassy took place at around 12:10 pm , killing at least five and wounding many more. The Danish national security...
near DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Embassy kills 8 people. .
July
- 6 July - A suicide bomber attacked a police station in Islamabad killing 12 policemen and seven civilians in a rally marking the first anniversary of Lal Masjid siege.
- 12 July - Militants ambushed a military convoy killing 17 soldiers.
August
- 23 August - At least 15 people were killed in a suicide attack at a police check post in Char Bagh area of Swat. Also, three persons including two kids were killed in a bomb blast in Abuha.
September
- 20 September - The Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombingIslamabad Marriott Hotel bombingThe Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing occurred during the night of 20 September 2008, when a dump truck filled with explosives detonated in front of the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, killing at least 54 people, injuring at least 266 and leaving a 60 ft wide, 20 ft ...
executed by unidentified terrorists kills 54 people and injures 266.
See also
- 2007 in Pakistan2007 in Pakistan-December:*December 27, 2007:* The former Prime Minister of Pakistan and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is assassinated during an election rally.*December 8, 2007:...
- Other events of 2008
- 2009 in Pakistan2009 in Pakistan-March:* 3 March, The Sri Lankan cricket team are attacked in the city of Lahore.* 6 March, Investigators in Pakistan are tracking down members of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the search for the perpetrators of the Lahore attack....
- Timeline of Pakistani historyTimeline of Pakistani historyAlthough, the land of Indus, as a state gained independence on August 14, 1947, it has a very long history that goes back over thousands of years and it is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited regions. The Indus Valley was known as Meluhha in Mesopotamia when the Harappan civilization...