KP CM Sohail Afridi lands in Karachi for brief 1-day visit

Published January 15, 2026
PTI leaders and workers welcome KP CM Sohail Afridi at the Karachi airport on Jan 15, 2026. — screengrab from video via Imran Ayub
PTI leaders and workers welcome KP CM Sohail Afridi at the Karachi airport on Jan 15, 2026. — screengrab from video via Imran Ayub
KP CM Sohail Afridi lands at the Karachi airport on Jan 15, 2026. — screengrab via X/PTIKPOfficial
KP CM Sohail Afridi lands at the Karachi airport on Jan 15, 2026. — screengrab via X/PTIKPOfficial
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and party members arrive at the airport to depart on a “brief visit” to Karachi on January 15. — KPChiefMinister via X
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and party members arrive at the airport to depart on a “brief visit” to Karachi on January 15. — KPChiefMinister via X

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi landed in Karachi on Thursday for a brief visit, just days after concluding his mobilisation drive in the city.

CM Afridi boarded a flight from Islamabad to Karachi earlier in the day, according to his focal person for digital media Yar Muhammad Khan Niazi.

Late in the afternoon, the PTI said on X that the KP CM had arrived in Karachi to offer condolences to the family of Bilal Mehsud, a party worker who the PTI said died in a “tragic accident that took place during the rally in Karachi”.

It said CM Afridi would directly head to Mehsud’s family residence in Sohrab Goth from the Karachi airport, where he would meet the worker’s relatives and convey his sympathies.

The PTI said party leaders and workers accorded a warm welcome to the KP chief minister, and raised slogans in favour of ex-premier Imran Khan.

Shortly after 11am, the chief minister’s X account said he had departed for Karachi on a one-day visit.

An accompanying video showed Afridi arriving at the airport in KP, flanked by party members, including his aide Shafiullah Jan.

Afridi had already visited Karachi over the weekend, where he rallied PTI’s support base to support the party’s upcoming nationwide street movement.

During the visit, the Sindh government had permitted the PTI to hold a rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah. However, the PTI, citing a delay in receiving the permit, announced a change in venue, saying it would stage the gathering at one of the gates of Mazar-i-Quaid.

The confusion led to unrest and police shelling of supporters who gathered at Bagh-i-Jinnah.

Afridi, addressing Karachi crowds, had lauded the Sindh public’s warm welcome of him, but lashed out against the provincial government’s treatment of its “guests”, alleging that they had impeded his travelling party on the road from Hyderabad to Karachi.

Opinion

Editorial

More stabilisation
Updated 23 May, 2026

More stabilisation

The stabilisation achieved through painful growth compression steps could have been used as a platform for structural reforms.
Appalling tactics
23 May, 2026

Appalling tactics

IN Punjab, an encounter with the law can quickly turn deadly. Encouraged by a culture of ‘shoot first, ask...
Failed experiment
23 May, 2026

Failed experiment

IT is going from bad to worse for Shan Masood and Pakistan. It is now seven successive Test defeats away from home;...
Hardening lines
Updated 22 May, 2026

Hardening lines

Iranian suspicions about Pakistan’s close ties with Washington and Gulf states persist, while Pakistan remains uneasy over Tehran’s growing engagement with India.
Unliveable city
22 May, 2026

Unliveable city

IN Karachi, when it comes to water, it is every man and woman for themselves. A persistent shortage in available...
Glof alert
22 May, 2026

Glof alert

FOR many communities in northern Pakistan, the sound of heavy rain now carries a different meaning. It is no longer...