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ISLAMABAD: The body of a retired army officer swept away in a flash flood in Rawalpindi earlier this week was recovered on Thursday, as Pakistan continued to battle a deadly monsoon season that has killed at least 260 people and injured 617 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The incident, which occurred during a cloudburst in the upscale Defense Housing Authority (DHA), has drawn widespread public attention. The flood swept away Col. (retd) Qazi Ishaq, 65, and his 35-year-old daughter, Muneeba, as they got caught in a rain-swollen seasonal stream on Tuesday.

Video footage showing their car being carried away by the surging waters quickly went viral on social media, highlighting the vulnerability of even affluent areas to urban flooding.

“Retired Col. Qazi Ishaq’s body was recovered from the bank of the Soan River, between DHA and Bahria Town,” Rawalpindi Assistant Commissioner Sadar Hakim Khan told Independent Urdu. “However, his daughter and the vehicle are still being searched for.”

Tuesday’s incident occurred after intense rainfall triggered flooding in parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

While flash floods are a recurring monsoon phenomenon in Pakistan — especially in vulnerable areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and peri-urban parts of Islamabad — fatalities in upper-income neighborhoods are rare.

Pakistan’s monsoon season began in late June, with torrential rains and glacial melt causing landslides and river flooding.

The NDMA has warned of continued risk in mountainous regions, where several tourists remain stranded in parts of Gilgit-Baltistan due to blocked roads and disrupted communications.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Thursday that “moderate monsoon activity is likely to continue,” with rainfall gradually subsiding over the next three days.

The 2025 season follows years of increasingly erratic weather patterns across Pakistan, which ranks among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.

Three years ago, the country was battered by unprecedented monsoon rains, killing about 1,700 people and destroying farmlands and public infrastructure, with estimated damages totaling $35 billion.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and ������Ƶ on Thursday discussed regional security and agreed to enhance bilateral defense cooperation, with a special focus on maritime security, during a high-level military meeting in Rawalpindi, the Pakistan army said.

General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan’s Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), met Vice Admiral Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Ghuraybi, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Thursday’s meeting comes amid a regional push by both countries to bolster maritime security cooperation, particularly as geopolitical tensions threaten trade routes through the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.

“[They] discussed the evolving regional security dynamics both within Middle East & South Asia with particular focus on maritime security,” Pakistan’s military media wing, ISPR, said in a statement.

General Mirza underscored the “historical brotherly relations between Kingdom of ������Ƶ and Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” and “emphasized mutual resolve for enhancing existing bilateral defense cooperation,” according to the statement.

Pakistan and ������Ƶ have shared close military and strategic relations for decades, including joint training programs, military exercises, and high-level defense consultations. Pakistan has historically provided military assistance and training to Saudi forces, and the two countries routinely hold joint military exercises as well as drills in the Arabian and Red Seas.

In recent years, the relationship has broadened beyond defense. ������Ƶ extended a $3 billion deposit to Pakistan in 2024 to support Islamabad’s balance of payments. It remains Pakistan’s largest source of foreign remittances, with approximately $7.4 billion received in FY2024–25 — about one-quarter of total remittance inflows.

Bilateral trade and investment are also expanding.

In 2023, Pakistan’s exports to ������Ƶ were valued at $640 million, while imports stood at $4.5 billion, highlighting both opportunity and imbalance. Saudi investments in Pakistan spiked following 2024 meetings in Islamabad that produced $2 billion in memorandums of understanding spanning energy, agriculture, tech, and mining.