Karachi | Pakistan

Commuters returning home from work or heading towards the city centre on Wednesday evening suffered a prolonged traffic jam on Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road, according to officials and citizens. People were stuck in traffic jams for hours during the peak evening rush after the main thoroughfare of MA Jinnah road near Numaish Chowrangi was closed by police for security reasons. The city’s traffic police had announced different diversions after the closure of the route, leading to traffic chaos, prompting Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to take notice. Karachi Traffic Police (KTP) Deputy Inspector General Pir Mohammed Shah told Dawn that all traffic officers were present on the roads. He said a portion of the main MA Jinnah road was closed for traffic, which had caused the traffic jam. The city traffic police chief admitted that the citizens were facing immense inconvenience due to gridlocks. He said the roads near Numaish Chowrangi were closed for traffic because of security reasons, and diversions were provide...

After years of captivity at the Karachi Zoo, 24-year-old female brown bear Rano was flown to Islamabad on Wednesday, where she was moved to a sanctuary for a second chance at life. According to Sindh Wildlife Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar, Rano was transported to the capital on a Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft, which took off at 8:30am and landed at the Nur Khan Airbase a little after 11:30am. From the Karachi Zoo, the bear was first taken to Faisal Base in a wooden brown crate on a cargo pickup truck, which Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) officials said she entered willingly and without having to be sedated. “At just three calls, she walked from the sleeping area in her enclosure and into the crate,” said Sana Raja of the IWMB in a video. She added that Rano did not show any signs of distress and was also eating well. The wooden crate in which Rano is being transferred. Meanwhile, Mahar said that the team continuously monitored the bear on the flight, while Rano, despite the roar of the C-130 e...

Karachi police said on Wednesday that a man had been arrested for allegedly firing on citizens who had torched a heavy vehicle that had struck a young man and injured his wife a day earlier. Angered citizens on Tuesday had set a dumper truck on fire in the city’s Garden area after it crashed into a couple on a motorcycle, killing 23-year-old Shahzeb Shahid and injuring his wife Misbah. A case was also registered against Liaquat Mehsud, the Sindh president of the All Dumper Truck Owners Association, and other suspects for firing on the enraged protesters at the scene. South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza on Wednesday said that police had arrested one suspect, identified as one of Mehsud’s gunmen, on charges of firing on the protesters. The weapon used in the incident was also recovered, he said in a statement. “Raids are being conducted to arrest the president of the dumpers association, Liaquat Mehsud,” he added. Ex-MQM-P lawmaker booked under Peca for threatening Mehsud Separately, Garden poli...

As many as 29,609 tickets have been issued for traffic rule violations since the newly implemented e-ticketing system was inaugurated in Karachi, according to data from the police. Sindh Chief Minister inaugurated the Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS), commonly known as the e-ticketing system, at the Central Police Office (CPO) last week. He explained that the new system replaces the outdated manual ticketing process with a fully automated e-ticketing mechanism, utilising advanced AI-integrated CCTV cameras to detect violations such as speeding, red-light jumping, and helmet non-compliance. Of the 29,609 tickets issued, 17,639 of them were issued to drivers not wearing a seatbelt, while 6,362 were issued to motorcyclists not wearing helmets, the data shows. Another 1,967 tickets were issued for speeding, while 1,655 were issued for running through red lights. Meanwhile, 943 tickets were issued for using mobile phones while operating a vehicle and 298 were handed out for having tinted windows and ...

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday termed Pakistan a “natural maritime bridge” between the East and the West as he inaugurated the second edition of Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference (PIMEC) in Karachi. The event is being held from today to November 6 (Thursday) at Karachi’s Expo Centre, and will see the participation of 45 countries, including Pakistan. It has been organised under the overall responsibility of the Pakistan Navy and with the support and patronage of federal and provincial departments. Addressing PIMEC, Iqbal highlighted that Pakistan had a unique geography as the regions of South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa converged here, which positioned the country as a “natural maritime bridge between the East and the West”. However, despite these advantages, the maritime sector contributed less than 1pc to Pakistan’s GDP, compared to 4-7pc in several other maritime nations, he lamented. The planning minister pointed out that Pakistan had a coastline of over 1,000...

Jamaat-i-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday criticised the Sindh government’s e-challan initiative, calling it a “drama” meant to burden citizens instead of improving the city’s transport and road infrastructure. In June, the Sindh government decided that e-challans for traffic violations would be delivered to vehicle owners’ registered home addresses. Vehicles with unpaid fines would not be allowed to be sold or transferred. Last month, the system was officially inaugurated, drawing a mix of praise and criticism from the public. Speaking at an event in Karachi today, the JI chief said, “While the government was issuing challans worth Rs5,000, Rs10,000, and even Rs25,000 to Karachi’s commuters, it had failed to provide the city with a viable transport system.” “When the same challan is Rs200 in Lahore, and Rs5,000 in Karachi, isn’t the criticism on the Pakistan People’s Party valid?” he questioned. Citing World Bank reports, he said Karachi required around 15,000 buses, but the Sindh government had br...

The Sindh High Court (SHC) court on Friday ordered a committee formed by the Sindh chief minister to visit the Karachi Zoo on November 2 and prepare a report on the condition of the animals there, including Rano, the brown bear. The case of Rano, a female Himalayan brown bear who stirred public outcry over her ailing health in the zoo, has brought into sharp focus the neglect of animals kept in captivity in Karachi. She will be relocated to a bear rehabilitation centre under the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, before being moved to Gilgit-Baltistan on the SHC’s directives. In a previous order dated October 17 — available with Dawn.com — SHC Justice Iqbal Kalhoro ordered the committee to visit the Karachi Zoo in the company of petitioner Jude Allen Pereira, Dr Nazeer Hussain Kalhoro from the Sindh Institute of Animal Health, Advocate Jibran Nasir and wildlife photographer Zafeer Ahmed Shaikh and prepare a detailed report highlighting the “number of animals, their physical and mental condition and the circ...

The Sindh government has introduced a new e-challan system that aims to improve the city’s traffic while minimising the traffic police’s interaction with the public. Under the new system inaugurated recently, at least 5,500 challans have already been issued to traffic rule violators throughout the city. Here is what you need to know about the system. What is the e-challan system? Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Admin Karachi Traffic Police Kashif explained that the system has been introduced as part of the Karachi Safe City Project. A total of 1,076 cameras have been installed on main thoroughfares in the first phase. When phase 2 and 3 of the initiative are completed, up to 12,000 cameras will have been installed in all areas of Karachi as well as on toll plazas. Once a challan is initiated, it will be sent via Pakistan Post to an address linked to the number plate issued by the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department. While the total time to pay off the challan is 21 days, if it is paid within 14 days, t...

Within just six hours of launching the new e-challan system, Karachi traffic police issued fines exceeding Rs12 million to citizens for various traffic violations.

On October 23, the red walls of the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), a private varsity in Karachi, reverberated with chants and slogans. “We want justice,” roared hundreds of students gathered at the entrance of the varsity’s main administration block. “We came here to study, not to fight for basic justice,” read a yellow placard, the only one visible in the sea of protesters, all of whom were students. The demonstration, touted as one of its kind in the university’s three-decade-long history, created a storm on social media, with some terming it the ‘power of Gen Z’. The phrase, which echoed across the world a couple of times this year, soon manifested: days after the protest, the university reinstated the female student, who had been expelled after she attempted to file a harassment complaint against a staff member. The reinstatement was announced minutes before a larger protest was scheduled to take place outside the varsity today, in anticipation of which the institution had been shut for a week —...

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar on Sunday ordered a judicial inquiry into the custodial death of a teenager in Karachi due to alleged torture. The teenager, 18-year-old Muhammad Irfan, was arrested by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of police along with three of his friends on October 22. SIU Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Ahmed Shaikh told Dawn that they were taken to the SIU/ CIA Centre in Saddar at around 5:30pm the same day, and 15 minutes later, the health condition of Irfan deteriorated. He was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival, he said. The police claimed that the boy died of a heart attack, while his relatives allege that he was tortured to death. Preliminary findings from his post-mortem examination — conducted in the presence of a judicial magistrate at JPMC — suggested the presence of multiple injuries on the teenager’s body, according to doctors and the police. In a statement issued today, the spokesperson for ...

The Sindh Health Department has released its latest report on confirmed dengue cases across the province, revealing that 439 new cases have been reported so far in October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in 2025 to 1,083. Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, remains a recurring health concern in Sindh — particularly during the monsoon season when stagnant water and poor sanitation accelerate its spread. The illness causes high fever and, in severe cases, can lead to life-threatening complications. While the provincial health department puts the total number of dengue cases in Sindh this year at 1,083, figures from Oct 1 to 16 obtained from three major Karachi hospitals and a public sector laboratory with branches in Hyderabad suggested an outbreak-like situation, with the actual number exceeding 12,000 in just six weeks. A statement issued by the Health Department, quoting Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, said,...

The Karachi police arrested two of the seven cops who were booked after a “teenage boy” died under controversial circumstances in the Special Investigation Unit’s (SIU) custody, while the victim’s relatives held a sit-in at Sohrab Goth on Saturday to demand justice. The seven cops were suspended a day ago after the incident came to light. While the police claimed that Muhammad Irfan died of heart attack, his relatives alleged that he was tortured to death. A first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered the same day at the Saddar Police Station on the complaint of SIU and Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Station House Officer (SHO) Mumtaz Ahmed under Sections 34 (common intention) and 319 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code against seven nominated SIU/CIA officers. “The SIU/CIA police have handed over custody of two suspects nominated in FIR … who have been arrested. If need be, we shall convert the case to 302 (premeditated murder) and arrest more SIU officials if they were found involv...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) on Saturday announced changes in certain routes for the Karachi and Lahore flight regions for the upcoming week to ensure “continued safety and effective management of air traffic”. “​The restrictions are effective from Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 5:01am Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) and will remain in place until Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 9am PKT,” said a NOTAM (notice to airmen) issued by the PAA today. ​ “This is a routine operational safety matter. The measure is being implemented for ‘operational reasons’ to ensure the continued safety and effective management of air traffic.” In a separate development, open source tracker Damien Symon, also quoted by Reuters in earlier news reports, said Indian aviation authorities issued a NOTAM a day earlier “possibly for a military exercise/weapons test as India prepares for its Tri-Services Exercise across the border”. The open source tracker stated that India had also issued a NOTAM for a tri-services exercise along its ...

The Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Thursday claimed to have arrested two suspects — linked to the outlawed Zainebiyoun Brigade — in connection with the killing of an Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) worker, as well as another sectarian killing in Karachi. The militant group Zainebiyoun Brigade was added to the list of proscribed organisations in June of last year. It has also been designated by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation since 2019. ASWJ, also an outlawed group, has seen a spate of attacks in recent times in Karachi. On October 20, an ASWJ worker was shot dead in the city’s Nangan Chowrangi area. Earlier this month, another worker was killed in a suspected targeted attack on main University Road. Speaking at a press conference today, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) CTD Azfar Mahesar said that the “counter-terror force of police and a federal intelligence agency jointly carried out an intelligence-based operation (IBO) and arrested two suspects linked with the Zaineb...

The PTI announced on Wednesday that a “massive public rally” would be held in Karachi during the month of November to kick off a nationwide public engagement campaign. A press release issued today said the decision was taken during PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja’s visit to Karachi. During his visit, he met party leaders, including PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, PTI Parliamentary Leader Shabbir Qureshi and Jamal Siddiqui. Raja held detailed discussions on the prevailing political situation, strategy for party founder Imran Khan’s release and organisational matters. Addressing the media after the meetings, Raja announced that a “massive public rally will be held in Karachi” in November, followed by similar gatherings in Hyderabad and other major cities as part of a nationwide public engagement campaign. The senior PTI leader added that the party was united and mobilised for Imran’s release. He informed those present that Mahmood Khan Achakzai had been nominated as opposition leader i...

Lahore and Karachi were among the top five most polluted cities in terms of air quality on Tuesday, according to monitoring platform IQAir. In past few years, air pollution has become one of the most pressing public health and environmental crises facing Pakistan. Various cities of the country, most notably Lahore, deal with smog especially in the winter months. The phenomenon is attributed mainly to industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, stubble burning and air movement. Ranked the world’s third most polluted city yesterday, Lahore rose to the second spot today with an air quality index (AQI) reading of 234 at 11am, categorised as “very unhealthy”. The provincial capital trailed just behind New Delhi, which had an “hazardous” AQI of 489. Karachi recorded an AQI of 182 at 11am, falling in the “unhealthy” range and just barely behind Kuwait’s capital at 183. India’s Mumbai came in at fifth with an AQI of 169. World’s 10 most polluted cities as ranked by IQAir, as of 11am on Oct 21, 2025. — screngrab via IQ...

At least two people, both workers of the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), were shot dead in a suspected targeted attack in the Nagan Chowrangi area of Karachi on Monday. The attack comes over a week after another worker of the ASWJ was shot dead on the main University Road in Karachi, while in a separate attack in March, a local leader of the party was shot. “A religious scholar-cum-shopkeeper and his employee were shot dead in a suspected targeted attack at Nagan Chowrangi on Monday evening,” SSP Central Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi told Dawn.com. The incident occurred near an ASWJ office, he said. “Armed pillion riders resorted to direct fire on the shopkeeper and his employee and fled,” said Siddiqi, adding that the incident “appeared to be a targeted killing” but the exact motive has not yet been ascertained. “They sustained critical bullet injuries and were transported to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival,” added the police official. “The deceased have been identifie...

SBCA official says more than 500 buildings across Karachi declared dangerous, including 106 in District South alone

• Health dept data suggests all is well on dengue front in Sindh with just 819 confirmed cases • Figures obtained from four Karachi hospital show 2,972 positive cases reported from Sept 1 to Oct 16 • One public sector Hyderabad lab confirms 9,075 dengue cases between Sept 1 and Oct 14 • Govt says 215,270 malaria cases also reported this year in province KARACHI / HYDERABAD: While the provincial health department puts the total number of dengue cases in Sindh this year at 819, figures obtained by three major Karachi hospitals and one public sector laboratory and its branches in Hyderabad suggest an outbreak-like situation, with the actual number exceeding 12,000 in a short span of just six weeks. The government had confirmed one dengue-related death in July, but independent figures suggest four dengue patients in Hyderabad —a young girl and two men and an elderly woman — and two in Karachi had lost their lives after testing positive to the mosquito-borne disease. As the government remained tight-lipped over th...