Karachi | Pakistan

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...

Winter’s first spell of rain drenched parts of Karachi late on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, bringing a dip in temperature. Light to moderate rain was reported in Old City area, Lyari, Keamari, Mauripur, DHA, Clifton, Saddar, North Nazimabad, Malir, Mehmoodabad and Akhtar Colony. According to data released by the Pakistan Meteorological Department at 8am on Wednesday, Keamari received the highest level (6mm) of rain. Masroor Base received 5mm while Orangi Town, DHA and Saddar received 3mm of rainfall. Korangi and Faisal Base received 2mm, and 1mm was recorded across Old Area Airport, Jinnah Terminal, University Road, Gulshan-i-Hadeed and Surjani Town. Rainfall was also reported in parts of Sindh. PMD data showed that Rohri recorded the highest rainfall at 32mm, followed by Sukkur at 24mm. A total of 19mm was recorded in Hyderabad (13mm in the city and 6mm in the airport area), 11mm in Tando Jam, 10mm in Mohenjo Daro, 8mm in Khairpur, 6mm in Larkana, 5mm in Jacobabad, 4mm in Mirpur Khas and 3mm in ...

KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the provincial government has connected the Bus Rapid Transit Orange Line with BRT Green Line, providing travel ease to citizens from Orangi Town to Numaish. The Orange Line runs from Orangi Town to North Nazimabad while Green Line connects Surjani Town with Numaish via North Nazimabad. “Citizens used to complain that they had to pay fare twice by accessing the Green Line. However, now the entire journey will be possible on a single ticket, which will provide travel convenience to 100,000 people daily,” he said while speaking at the inauguration ceremony held at the Orange Line depot. Talking to the media, Mr Memon said it will now be possible to travel on the Orange Line and the Green Line at the same fare. Sharjeel says commuters can now travel from Orangi to Numaish in one fare; double-deckers to hit Karachi roads today During the tenure of the federal government, the ridership of the Green Line was up to 55,000 per day, whereas it has now in...

Karachi - Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit, Sharjeel Inam Memon, has said that the Sindh government has launched a plan to connect the Orange Line BRT with the Green Line, through the route established from Orangi to Numaish.

The Sindh government has announced the launch of double-decker bus services in Karachi starting tomorrow, describing the initiative as a New Year’s gift for the city’s residents.

A western weather system hovering over western Balochistan is bringing cloudy conditions to Karachi, with chances of light rain and drizzle from Tuesday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Early Warning Center has reported.

A day after an eight-year-old boy drowned in an uncovered manhole in Karachi’s Mehran town, Mayor Murtaza Wahab urged people not to politicise the issue, saying that the child fell because the manhole cover “had been removed and put on the side”. According to the Edhi Foundation, the number of people who died after falling into open manholes and drains across the metropolis rose to 27 in the outgoing year of 2025. Eight of them are children, the data says. The child, identified as Dilbar, was playing outside his residence with other area children when the tragedy occurred, Korangi Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Fida Husain Janwari told Dawn. Speaking to the media today, Mayor Wahab, in response to a fiery question about the issue of missing manhole covers, particularly the death of a child a day earlier and reports of missing covers on II Chundrigar Road, said: “The reports I have so far received from locals, I am in touch with the child’s family, indicate that it was not that there was no cover at all, b...

KARACHI: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against more than a dozen lawyers after YouTuber Rajab Butt was physically assaulted during a court appearance in Karachi on Monday, it emerged on Tuesday. On Monday, Butt was physically assaulted, allegedly by some lawyers, 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”. A video of the incident showed Butt, clad in a shirt torn from places, moving through a crowd surrounding him. The FIR of the incident, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was subsequently registered on the complaint of Butt’s lawyer, Ashfaq. It named Advocate Riaz Ali Solangi, Advocate Abdul Fatah and “another 15-20 lawyers”. It should be mentioned that Solangi is also the complainant in the case registered against Butt for allegedly hurting religi...

KARACHI: A major terror plot was thwarted by law enforcers in the city on Monday as they rescued a school-going teenage girl who had been radicalised through social media by an outlawed militant group and was being prepared for a suicide attack in Karachi. This was shared by Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar during a press conference at the Central Police Office. The minister said that the girl was detained during routine checking by police on the outskirts of Karachi and during the investigation, she revealed the details of the potential terror attack. Mr Lanjar said that the girl belonged to an ordinary family in Balochistan and had been radicalised by anti-state elements through social media before being recruited by a banned group. She was shown fictitious heroic stories of past suicide bombers and was trained through WhatsApp groups to carry out a suicide attack in Karachi. However, law enforcers “foiled the terrorists’ nefarious designs by rescuing her in time,” he added. He also said that the girl...

KARACHI: An eight-year-old child died on Monday after he fell into an uncovered manhole while playing outside his house in Karachi’s Korangi area, said police. Earlier this month, the body of a three-year-old boy, Ibrahim, who fell into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal was recovered on December 1, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported. Following the tragedy, many political parties held protests against the provincial administration and demanded that the Karachi mayor resign, while pleas were also filed in courts demanding action against city officials. The incident also prompted the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to increase the budget of 246 union committees (UCs) to exclusively maintain manhole covers and streetlights. The latest victim, identified as Dilbar, was playing outside his residence with other area children when the tragedy occurred, Korangi Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Fida Husain Janwari told Dawn. The child’s relatives rushed to the spot, but were un...

KARACHI: YouTuber Rajab Butt was physically assaulted at a sessions court in Karachi on Monday during the hearing of a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Butt appeared before the sessions court (Central) upon the expiry of his interim bail, which was granted to him on December 20. The hearing, however, was marred by violence and chaos as Butt was attacked. Butt‘s counsel, Mian Ali Ashfaq, alleged in a post on social media platform X that his client had been attacked by “some lawyers” at Karachi City Courts’ premises during the hearing of a case. He said the attack was carried out in his presence, in which Butt was injured. “[They] continued to beat him despite being repeatedly asked to stop,” Ashfaq said, terming “such conduct by the lawyers unprofessional”. He added, “Taking the law into their hands is weakening the reputation of lawyers in the country.” Ashfaq further stated that if “lawyers will become a party [in cases] every other day and continue to attack private li...