Ramadan street cricket lights up Karachi after dark 

People play street cricket after iftar in Karachi, Pakistan on March 28, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 29 March 2024
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Ramadan street cricket lights up Karachi after dark 

  • Late night street cricket during Muslim holy month is a tradition that dates back several decades
  • Players say night cricket helps them stay awake until pre-dawn Suhoor meal which helps them with day’s fast after

KARACHI: It’s close to midnight but the floodlights are turned on in a Karachi town, drawing dozens of Pakistani men onto its streets for a tournament of Ramadan cricket.

Late night street cricket during the Muslim holy month is a tradition that dates back several decades, with Karachi being the hub of the lively matches.

Mohammad Bilal says night cricket helps them stay awake until Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal, which helps them with the day’s fast after.

“We are free in the night and we have to keep ourselves awake till the time of Suhoor. If we sleep, we can miss the Suhoor. If we miss Suhoor, it is difficult to fast,” Bilal said on Thursday.




People gather to watch street cricket in Karachi, Pakistan on March 28, 2024. (REUTERS)

Working hours during Ramadan are usually shorter in Pakistan so that people have a few hours to rest before they break their fast with an evening meal, called iftar, after sunset.

The game starts after Tarawih, or late night prayers, which ends about an hour ahead of midnight.

Tennis balls taped up with white tape are used in the game to give them more heft and visibility at night.

The tape is deftly stretched over the ball’s surface to give it a smooth surface that produces greater bounce and speed. With this modification, the tape ball is less dangerous for street games than a conventional cricket, which has a cork core covered with twine layers and a leather shell.

Bilal says playing tape ball cricket helps keep them moving during the fasting month.

“People often sleep in the day during fasting, said Bilal. “Physical activity is essential for good health, that is walking and running, etc., and cricket covers all this.”




People paint pitch before a cricket match in Karachi, Pakistan on March 29, 2024. (REUTERS)

On this Thursday in Lyari, one of Karachi’s poor neighborhoods, some 200 spectators of mostly cheering fans who admire the players turned up to watch them bat and bowl through the night.

“I don’t play but I watch it with great interest,” said Muhammad Munaf.

“Some of these boys go to their jobs during the day while some others sleep during day time. They don’t have much time on ordinary days but in Ramadan (they get to play in the night).”


Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad

Updated 02 March 2026
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Pakistan army hits Afghan Taliban drone storage facility, ammunition depot in Jalalabad

  • Around 435 Afghan Taliban fighters killed, over 630 injured in Pakistani military offensive, minister says
  • Several countries, global bodies have urged both sides to exercise restraint since the conflict began last week

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army struck a drone storage facility and ammunition depot of Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad, a Pakistani security official said on Monday, following Pakistani strikes on more than 50 locations in Afghanistan amid ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.

Pakistan launched Operation ‘Ghazb lil Haq’ against Afghanistan on the night of Feb. 26 following an attack by Afghanistan on Pakistani military installations along their shared border.

The worst fighting between the two neighbors in years erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad called militant hideouts inside Afghanistan on Feb. 21-22, accusing Kabul of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants behind the attacks on its soil. Afghanistan denies the charge.

A Pakistani security official, who requested anonymity, said the army was continuing “strong retaliatory action” against the Afghan Taliban and blew up multiple border posts, forcing them to abandon their positions.

“Pakistan forces are effectively targeting the bases and military installations of the Fitna Al-Khawarij and the Afghan Taliban,” he said.

“During the effective counter-operation of the Pakistani forces, the ammunition depot and drone storage site of Fitna Al-Khawarij (TTP) and the Afghan Taliban in Jalalabad was destroyed.”

Separately, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said more than 400 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and over 630 wounded in the Pakistani military offensive so far.

Pakistan destroyed around 188 check posts and captured 31, according to a post on X by Tarar. Over 180 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns were also destroyed in Pakistani air raids at 51 locations across Afghanistan.

On Sunday, Pakistani state media shared a video of what it said were Pakistani soldiers crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest to capture an Afghan post. Pakistan has seized a 32-square-kilometer area of Afghanistan, another Pakistani security official said.

Afghan officials earlier said that dozens of Pakistani soldiers had been killed and several Pakistan posts had been captured by their forces. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.

Since the conflict began last week, diplomatic efforts have intensified, with several countries and international bodies calling on both sides to exercise restraint.

The United Nations, along with China and Russia, has called for calm, while US President Donald Trump said Pakistan has the right to defend itself against cross-border militancy.