Karachi | Pakistan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) officials have requested permission from the city administration to hold a public meeting in Karachi during Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi’s visit.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is scheduled to visit Karachi from January 9 to 11, during which he will tour various parts of Sindh and lead his party’s political activities in the province.

Karachi - The Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Tuesday foiled a major terrorist plot during an intelligence-based operation, with 2,000 kilograms of explosives recovered, according to a press statement.

KARACHI: In another fatal incident involving a heavy vehicle, a water tanker killed a seven-year-old boy in Karachi’s Manghopir area on Monday, police and rescue officials said. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (West) Tariq Illahi Mastoi, the water tanker driver was speeding on a street in Manghopir when he hit the boy. The boy sustained critical injuries and died on the spot, he added. Police apprehended the driver and impounded the vehicle, according to a statement issued by police. The body of the minor was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medicolegal formalities. Last week, a female motorcyclist was killed after being hit by a trailer. Quaidabad’s Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammad Ali Shah told Dawn that the driver of a 10-wheeler hit the 20-year-old female motorcyclist on the main Mehran Highway near MN Textile in Landhi. A total of 803 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Karachi in 2025. The Karachi traffic police, however, maintains that the situation began to improve d...

The Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said on Monday that a major terrorist attack had been averted in Karachi. Addressing a press conference alongside CTD Additional Inspector General (IG) Zulfiqar Ali Larik in Karachi, CTD Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ghulam Azfar Mahesar said that law enforcement agencies and the “premier intelligence agency” received information that terrorists were planning an attack to target the city. Mahesar said that the terrorists were planning to attack specific targets in Karachi to “destabilise” national security. He said that intelligence agencies, the Special Branch, the Intelligence Bureau as well as Sindh and Balochistan CTD designed a strategy to thwart these plans. He said that intelligence officials were deployed in different locations, while focusing on Karachi’s west region. Mahesar said that after several days of robust efforts, officials succeeded in getting information on a terrorist hideout in Raees Goth, Karachi, where terrorists had prepared a large amount...

KARACHI: Police have arrested the prime suspect accused of killing four people whose partially decomposed bodies were found in a pit off Karachi’s Mai Kolachi Road earlier this week, authorities said on Sunday, adding that the suspect had confessed to the crime. According to police, the four bodies — of a woman and her three children — were recovered from a pit off Mai Kolachi Road on Friday night in the limits of the Docks police station. Police said the bodies had marks of torture, and the deceased appeared to have been killed with an axe or another sharp-edged object. A statement by the office of Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said today the prime suspect in the case had been arrested by Kaemari police and had confessed to the crime during interrogation. South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Asad Raza also confirmed the development to Dawn, saying that digital forensics of the mobile of the deceased woman had established that the suspect had been in contact with her. “He wanted to get rid ...

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Saturday clarified that no announcement has been made regarding a complete gas shutdown for residential consumers in Karachi.

KARACHI: To keep slow-moving freight vehicles from mingling with faster passenger traffic, the city commissioner on Monday announced that heavy transport vehicles (HTVs) would be restricted to a dedicated lane with a maximum speed limit of 30km/h. A meeting, chaired by Commissioner Hasan Naqvi, deliberated on various issues, including the parking problem of goods transporters, the issuance of HTV licences and registration for insurance. The meeting was attended, among others, by Karachi police chief Azad Khan, Transport Secretary Asad Zaman and DIG Traffic Peer Mohammad Shah, and representatives of the Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance, United Goods Transport Alliance and Karachi Goods Carrier Association. After the meeting, the commissioner told Dawn that the lane would be marked with clear “HTV” signage and painted lines, and heavy vehicles would be permitted to travel only within this lane once the markings were completed. He said that the meeting focused on the persistent parking problems faced by goods t...

Police and rescue services recovered four decomposed bodies from a ditch on Karachi’s Mai Kolachi Road on Friday night. South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza said four bodies were found in a deep ditch covered with bushes on the “jungle side” of the road in the limits of Docks police station. Police rushed to the scene after receiving information from a scavenger about the presence of the bodies. Upon recovery, it was found that they were 10-15 days old and had decomposed. Two of the bodies were male and the other two female. An Edhi Foundation spokesperson in a statement said one of the deceased appeared to be a boy. “The bodies have been sent to a hospital for legal formalities and the police are investigating the case from all aspects,” DIG Raza added. Earlier this week, the body of an employee of the University of Karachi, stuffed in a gunny bag, was found at a desolate place in Safoora Town. The police said that it appeared that the victim was bludgeoned to death. A police officer elaborated that...

KARACHI: Police on Friday launched an inquiry into the death of a teenage girl in Karachi’s Landhi area, who was struck and killed by a stray bullet while travelling in a rickshaw. Her relatives alleged that she was killed in the crossfire of a gunfight between police and suspected robbers. Landhi Station House Officer (SHO) Salahuddin Qazi told Dawn that a 17-year-old resident of the Lines Area had accompanied her mother to visit a relative in Landhi. She was returning home in a rickshaw when a bullet passed through the vehicle and struck her in the chest. She sustained critical wounds and was transported to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors pronounced her dead. The victim’s uncle told media persons at the hospital that his niece was gunned down during crossfire between police and suspects in the area. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the girl was dead on arrival at the hospital and added that her family did not permit any medico-legal procedures and took the body. Inquir...

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Friday expressed concern over the roughing up of YouTuber Rajab Butt during a court appearance in Karachi earlier this week. On Monday, Butt was physically assaulted at the Karachi City Court premises during the hearing of his bail plea in a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Butt’s lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, said on X that “a few lawyers launched a life-threatening attack on him within the court premises” and registered a case against them. A video of the incident in question had showed Butt, clad in a shirt with the neckline torn open, attempting to move through a crowd surrounding him. “The HRCP expresses grave concern over the reported physical assault on YouTuber Rajab Butt within the Karachi city court premises and the alleged involvement of members of the legal fraternity,” the HRCP said in a statement today on social media platform X. “Violence, intimidation and vigilantism — particularly inside courts — undermine the rule o...

Days after concluding a three-day visit to Lahore to launch PTI’s street movement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi announced on Thursday that he will visit Karachi on January 9. “Friday, January 9!” the chief minister said on social media platform X. “Karachi, Sindh, are you ready?” Afridi said he would be coming to Karachi “bearing Imran Khan’s message”, adding that he would be meeting “all friends of the party”. Afridi had previously announced that Karachi was his next destination for galvanising party supporters. During his visit to Lahore, the KP CM had attempted to deliver a speech to supporters at Liberty Chowk but was unable to do so as a heavy contingent of police had blocked all roads leading to the area by setting up pickets. He had also addressed PTI lawmakers at the Punjab Assembly, a visit that was marred by altercations between members of his entourage and security officials, while several heated exchanges between PTI leaders and journalists were also witnessed. He was also barre...

A few days after concluding a three-day visit to Lahore aimed at launching Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) street movement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi announced on Thursday that he will travel to Karachi on January 9.

At least 28 people, including women and children, were injured in incidents of aerial firing across Karachi as New Year 2026 began, according to hospital and rescue officials.

The Sindh government on Wednesday appointed Karachi police chief Javed Akhtar Odho as the acting inspector general of police (IGP) Sindh. The change in command comes after incumbent IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon relinquished charge today after attaining the age of superannuation. According to a notification issued by Chief Secretary Sindh Asif Hyder Shah, “Mr. Allah Bux alias Javed Akhtar Odho, an officer of Police Service of Pakistan (BS-21), Additional Inspector General of Police, Karachi Range, is assigned the additional charge of the post of Inspector General of Police, Sindh, in addition to his own duties, until further orders.” .A snap of the notification issued by the chief secretary of SIndh on Dec 31, 2025. - SGA&D Sindh Karachi police chief Odho, who took charge as additional inspector general of Karachi last year, has assumed the additional charge of IGP Sindh on the same day that his predecessor relinquished his position, said a police spokesperson. Meanwhile, in his farewell message, the outgoing IGP sai...

Authorities have finalised a traffic plan for Karachi for New Year‘s Eve while security arrangements have also been made in different cities, including Sindh’s provincial capital, for 2025’s last night. According to the traffic plan issued by the Karachi Traffic Police, the stretch of Seaview Road between two eateries, McDonald’s and Clock Tower, will be open for only one-way traffic. Vehicles will be barred from moving towards McDonald’s from Clock Tower. Commuters will be diverted towards Khayaban-i-Ittehad Road or Do Darya instead, according to the traffic plan. The traffic police also announced that “heavy vehicles, including water tankers, dumpers, trailers and trucks, will only be allowed to enter the city after 2am”. Traffic managemetn plan issued by the office of DIG Traffic Polcie, Karachi. — Karachi Traffic Police Moreover, heavy vehicles such as water tankers, dumpers and trucks will only be allowed to enter the city after 2am, a statement issued by the Karachi Traffic Police deputy inspector gener...

KARACHI: Double-decker buses were introduced in Karachi on Wednesday, with Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon saying that they would be available to the public from January 1 (Thursday). “Today marks the beginning of double-decker bus [services] in the city. They will be available to the public from tomorrow, and today, they will be tested [on the city’s road],” Memon, who also has the transport portfolio, said while speaking to the media at the inauguration of the bus service in Karachi. Memon inaugurated the bus service along with Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah. View this post on Instagram The development comes more than a year after the Sindh government announced the initiative in October 2024 for the city of over 23 million that has faced mobility issues for long. Memon recalled that the Sindh government had promised to introduce double-decker buses in Karachi by December 2025, pointing out that today was December 31. He further said the Sindh government aimed to provide tr...

Karachi police have announced a zero-tolerance policy against aerial firing on New Year’s Eve, warning that those involved will be arrested.

Karachi is likely to experience a sharp drop in temperatures from January 4 to 5, with the mercury possibly falling to single digits, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Wednesday.

KARACHI: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against several lawyers for allegedly assaulting a station house officer (SHO) after a case was registered against them and others for roughing up YouTuber Rajab Butt during a court appearance in Karachi, it emerged on Wednesday. On Tuesday, it emerged that a case was registered against more than a dozen lawyers after Butt was physically assaulted during a court appearance in Karachi on Monday. The FIR nominated Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah Chandio and “another 15-20 lawyers”. Subsequently, lawyers stormed the City Courts police station demanding a case against the YouTuber and others. They also staged a protest on M.A. Jinnah Road outside the City Courts against the SHO of the City Courts police station for allegedly failing to register their FIR. The fresh FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn and which emerged on Wednesday, was registered on the complaint of City Court SHO Jahangir Bhutto. The FIR was registered under se...