KARACHI: Police in Karachi launched a new force on Saturday to curb growing street crime in the Pakistani city.
The Street Watch Force comprises “1,870 attentive, alert, responsive and energetic youths who’ll work to support the existing force, policing in different parts of the city,” Police Chief Dr. Amir Ahmed Shaikh told Arab News.
The new force will be headed by senior superintendents in Karachi’s various districts, according to a police handout.
“We’re going to adopt scientific methods to improve performance, and increase the size of the force,” Shaikh said, adding that Karachi police will soon launch a mobile app through which a person can report street crime.
“Lack of reporting crime is a worldwide issue, but we’re making it easier,” he said, urging citizens to use WhatsApp to tell his office if the force is working properly.
Because the new recruits are young, there are concerns that they may act irresponsibly, but Shaikh said they have been carefully vetted and there will be weekly training sessions.
The new force has raised hopes among victims of street crime. “I’ve been looted twice this year, which has made me cautious, and each day I hear someone has been looted in my neighborhood,” Amir Ashraf, a resident of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, told Arab News. “It’s good to hear that police have started taking measures to tackle street crime.”
Amjad Rizvi, a resident of the Liaquatabad neighborhood, told Arab News: “We hope the force will get rid of street criminals, but how effective they’ll be will show in the coming month.”
New force launched to tackle Karachi street crime
New force launched to tackle Karachi street crime
- Karachi police soon to launch App for completely curbing street crimes, says police chief
- To avoid civilian deaths in police encounters with street criminals, weekly ‘debriefing’ sessions of Street Watch Force will be arranged
Pakistan says record $2.37 billion debt market transaction helps cut power sector circular debt
- Power minister says settlement includes redemption of energy sukuk, bank loans under the debt reduction plan
- Awais Leghari says move strengthens confidence in the government's reform agenda, energy-sector restructuring
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s power minister announced on Wednesday the government has settled Rs 659.6 billion ($2.37 billion) in energy sector debt, calling it the largest-ever debt market transaction carried out in the country as Islamabad pushes ahead with reforms to curb mounting liabilities in its troubled power sector.
Circular debt, the chronic build-up of unpaid bills across the electricity supply chain, has for more than a decade crippled Pakistan’s power system, driven by poor bill recovery, high line losses, tariff shortfalls and expensive financing costs.
Successive governments have struggled to contain the debt pile, which has strained public finances and remained a key point of friction in bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.
“Delighted to announce the successful completion of PKR 659.6 billion PHL settlements ... through capital markets which is Pakistan’s largest-ever debt market transaction,” Power Minister Awais Leghari said on X, referring to the settlement of Power Holding Limited liabilities.
PHL is a government-owned entity that borrowed heavily over the years to finance the power sector.
The minister said part of the settlement involved redeeming Pakistan Energy Sukuk I and II, Islamic bonds raised earlier to plug power sector financing gaps, through an off-market National Debt Market (NDM) transaction.
Leghari said the redemption included Rs 399.6 billion ($1.44 billion) in sukuk-related obligations and Rs 259.7 billion ($935 million) in syndicated bank loans.
“This landmark transaction is a core component of the PKR 1,225 billion [$4.41 billion] Circular Debt Reduction Plan, reflecting strong institutional confidence in Pakistan’s economic reforms,” he said, adding the move demonstrated the capacity of Pakistan’s capital and Islamic finance markets to manage large-scale restructuring operations.
The minister said the government remained committed to long-term structural energy reforms, fiscal stabilization and continued engagement with stakeholders to accelerate “reform-driven growth.”
