Pakistan: Karachi rings in New Year with celebratory aerial firing, 11 injured

Karachi [Pakistan]: Karachi celebrates the start of 2024 with celebratory aerial gunfire, leaving 11 people injured in several parts of the city, according to ARY News. 

Following the nation’s New Year’s festivities, Karachi police issued a warning to those celebrating by threatening to prosecute them for acts of terrorism, including aerial fire. 
According to police officials, s seven-year-old child was injured in the aerial firing in Bahadurabad, which is one of the neighbourhoods of Gulshan Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. 

Meanwhile, three people sustained injuries at Five Star Chowrangi, two others at Seaview and one each in Liaquat Abad and North Nazimabad, ARY News reported. 

The charges of attempted murder and terrorism will be included in the cases filed against individuals responsible for the New Year’s Eve aerial firing, Karachi Police Chief Khadim Hussain Rind said, according to ARY News. 

To prevent aerial firing, he also emphasised the need for search operations, notifications at marketplaces and mosques, and the promotion of constructive police acts on social media to offset any bad effects. 

In addition, the police commander gave his subordinates orders to arrest drivers who had consumed alcohol, particularly DIG Iqbal Dara, the chief of traffic police.

Meanwhile, Karachi has implemented a two-day total prohibition on the use of pyrotechnics, aerial gunfire, and the carrying or displaying of firearms.