Celebratory firing kills elderly man, injures 30 other people

Despite the fact that the Government of Sindh had ordered a complete ban on aerial firing, the entire Karachi reverberated with celebratory gunshots on the eve of the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan.

The majority of the incidents of aerial firing were reported in the localities of Lyari, Liaquatabad, Paposh Nagar, Saddar, Burns Road, Malir, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Super Highway, Baldia Town, Tariq Road, SITE Area, Bilal Colony, Shahrah-e-Noorjahan, Kalri, Baghdadi and Shah Faisal Colony.

The casualties were taken to different public and private hospitals of the city. Yameen, son of Dost Muhammad, a 68-year-old resident of Natha Khan Goth, was killed by a stray bullet in Shah Faisal Colony.

Police said that women and children were also among 30 other people who were wounded by firing. Majority of them were those who were on the roofs of their houses when the nation was celebrating Independence Day, they added.

On occasions like Independence Day and New Year’s Eve, the practice of celebratory firing is common in Karachi, the country’s largest city that has thousands of licensed and unlicensed weapons.

These people usually use their guns to celebrate happy occasions, leaving several people dead and injured each year despite a complete ban on the practice, with the government and law enforcement agencies apparently helpless when it comes to enforcing the ban.