KARACHI: More than two dozen people, including children, were injured in incidents of aerial firing on New Year’s Eve, officials and rescuers said on Thursday.

Incidents of aerial firing are a routine occurrence on occasions such as Independence Day and New Year’s Eve. On the last day of 2024, over two dozen citizens were wounded in celebratory aerial firing.

This time, a total of 28 people were brought to hospitals across the city after suffering injuries from stray bullets, with the youngest victim being 11 years old and eldest one is a septuagenarian.

Sixteen people were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), six brought to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, four to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, and one each to the Liaquat National Hospital and the Sindh Government Hospital Korangi.

Police arrest 80 suspects

A police spokesperson told Dawn that total 80 suspects were arrested for resorting to aerial firing on New Year’s Eve across the metropolis.

Attempted murder cases have been registered against most suspects. Some of them were also booked over possessing unlicensed weapons.

Meanwhile, a suspected robber was shot dead in an alleged encounter in the Landhi area.

The Model Colony police said they indicated some bike riders to stop. However, they resorted to firing in their attempt to flee. The police retaliated and killed one suspect, later identified as Mohammed Rizwan.

They said that he was involved in the murder of a 12-year-old boy, Ameen alias Shanu, and injuries to his mother during a robbery in the Landhi area on May 15, 2025.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026