KARACHI: At least 33 people were injured in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on New Year’s Eve in multiple incidents of aerial firing, the city’s top police surgeon Dr. Sumaiya Syed Tariq said on Monday.
Aerial firing is not uncommon in Pakistan on joyous occasions where the practice has claimed lives on several occasions in the past. Celebratory gunfire is unlawful, though it is not always possible for the police and other state institutions to implement the rule across the country.
As the world geared up to welcome 2024 on Sunday night, Karachi police warned citizens against resorting to aerial gunfire, hooliganism, and driving under the influence. However, many parts of the city witnessed fireworks and celebratory gunfire when the clock struck midnight on Sunday.
“We have received 33 injured persons across three hospitals in Karachi, and among them, a three-year-old baby is in critical condition,” Tariq told Arab News.
She said 15 of the 33 injured were brought to the city’s Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center, 11 to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, and seven to the Civil Hospital Karachi.
Separately, Karachi police wrote on social media platform X that over 20 people who had resorted to aerial firing on Sunday night were arrested from different districts in the city.
“District Central Police arrested 21 suspects involved in aerial firing in just two hours,” police wrote on the social media platform. “Twelve pistols, one rifle, fireworks, 32 empties and 30 rounds were recovered from the arrested suspects.”
In another post on X, police said six suspects were arrest from Karachi’s Keamari District on Sunday night for resorting to aerial firing.
“A case has been registered against the suspects and further investigation is underway,” it said.
Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Thursday that the government was banning new year celebrations on account of Israel’s war in Gaza, and the massacre of innocent Palestinians in the Middle East.
He urged Pakistanis to welcome the new year with simplicity and keep the people of Gaza in their thoughts.