Lahore: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Thursday announced that flight operations to Dubai and Sharjah would remain suspended owing to the return of severe weather conditions that lashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month.

According to PIA spokesperson, flight operations for Dubai and Sharjah were severely affected due to the rains and that flights of the national carrier and other airlines would “remain suspended for the time being”. He said that some PIA flights were facing delays and cancellations due to the bad weather.

“PIA is very conscious of its troubling its passengers. PIA will renew its air operations immediately as soon as the situation improves.”

Meanwhile, UAE state carrier Emirates and sister airline flydubai both warned passengers of delays, as schools switched to remote learning and public-sector offices closed.

Schools and many offices were closed across the UAE as heavy rains returned just two weeks after record downpours that experts linked to climate change.

A lightning storm with high winds swept across the oil-rich monarchy overnight, with more than 50 millimetres of rain falling before 8am in some areas, the National Centre of Meteorology said. Flooding was seen in some parts of Dubai and the city’s airport.

The airport, the world’s busiest in terms of international passenger traffic, cancelled 13 flights and diverted five, a spokesperson said.

But the rains were not on the scale of April 16, when a record 259.5 mm of rain left four people dead, blocked major roads for days and forced the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights.

Little traffic was seen on Dubai’s normally heaving, six-lane highways today and cars were abandoned on flooded roads near the sprawling Ibn Battuta Mall.

Trucks pumping water were stationed in several flooded areas, as Dubai’s drainage is unable to cope with large-scale rainfall.

Last month’s downpour, which also killed 21 people in neighbouring Oman, was the heaviest in the UAE since records began in 1949.

Additional input from AFP

Karachi: A 2.3 magnitude earthquake Thursday jolted parts of Karachi including Gadap Town, Katohar and adjoining areas of Malir district.

According to the seismic monitoring centre, the epicentre of the quake was 38 kilometres from the northeast of Malir at a depth of 84km.

The tremors were felt at 5.52pm near Malir district, however, no loss of life or property was reported due to the earthquake.

This is the second time in nearly eight days that a minor earthquake hit Karachi's Malir district.

On April 24, a 3.2 magnitude earthquake struck Karachi's Malir district.

Rawalpindi: The security forces on Thursday killed three terrorists including two ring leaders during a joint intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted in Tank District, the military's media affairs wing said on Thursday.

According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), during the conduct of operation, after intense fire exchange, the three terrorists were successfully neutralised who were identified as terrorist ringleader Azmat alias Azmati, ringleader Karamat alias Hanzla and Rehan.

The killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area including recent abduction of District and Sessions Judge of South Waziristan District. “Security forces remain determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,” the ISPR said.