Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik passes away

Senior politician and former interior minister Rehman Malik passed away at the age of 70 on Wednesday morning. The PPP senator had been hospitalised in Islamabad as he had developed COVID-19-related complications and his lungs had been severely affected, his spokesperson, Riaz Ahmad Turi, confirmed.

He is survived by his widow and two sons. On February 1, PPP Senator Sehar Kamran had announced on Twitter that Malik's condition had deteriorated because of which he was put on a ventilator.

Malik, who had received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Karachi, served as the interior minister of the country from 2008 to 2013. He was one of the closest aides of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

PPP's Rehman Malik on ventilator due to COVID complications
Owing to his services, the government of Pakistan had awarded him with one of the highest civilian awards in the country — Sitara-e-Shujat (the Star of Bravery). He also received one of the most prestigious civil decorations — the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (the Order of Excellence) — from the state.