Pakistan’s Sindh government teams up with local NGO to provide artificial limb to camel after leg amputation

In this handout photograph, taken and released by Karachi-based startup BIONIKS, officials assess a camel, whose leg was cut off by a landlord in Sanghar district’s Mund Jamrao village in Sindh province, for medical assistance in Karachi on June 16, 2024. (Photo courtesy: BIONIKS)
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Updated 17 June 2024
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Pakistan’s Sindh government teams up with local NGO to provide artificial limb to camel after leg amputation

  • A landlord in Sindh’s Sanghar district allegedly chopped off the camel’s leg after it trespassed on his field
  • Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon confirms five people have been arrested for involvement in crime

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Sindh province has been working closely with a local non-government organization (NGO) for the treatment and rehabilitation of a camel, whose leg was chopped off by a local landlord this week, an official of the NGO taking care of the animal said on Sunday.
The development came after local media widely reported that a landlord in Mund Jamrao village in Sindh’s Sanghar district had allegedly chopped off the camel’s leg for trespassing on his field seeking fodder.
The owner of the camel, a poor peasant named Soomar Behan, was contacted by police after the episode went viral on social media, but he refused to file a complaint against the landlord following which police took action.
Five people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the crime, with Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon confirming that a case had been registered against the suspects for amputating the camel on the state’s behalf.
On Saturday, CDRS Benji, a non-profit working for stray and injured animals in Pakistan, provided treatment to the camel at one of its shelters in the provincial capital of Karachi.
“The Sindh government has been working closely with the CDRS Benji project for the treatment and rehabilitation of the camel,” Sarah Jahangir, a CDRS Benji director, told Arab News.
“They [Sindh government] have brought in a team from BIONIKS Pakistan to prepare an artificial limb.”

She said the 8-month-old female camel was in acute pain and everyone was coming together to help the camel because the prosthetic would take time as it needed around two months for the wound to heal before proper measurements could be taken.
“We are trying to heal her infection and soothe her pain with heavy painkillers, antibiotics and other medications,” Jahangir added.
Anas Niaz, cofounder of Pakistan’s BIONIKS biotechnology startup, said his organization was trying to make the limb for the camel.
“We are working on the limb for the camel as right now it needed to heal, which will take around 1-2 months time and after that rehabilitation of the camel will start,” he told Arab News.
“As the camel will need replacement from time to time, this will be an ongoing process that we are actively managing.”
BIONIKS said it was dedicated to the well-being of the camel in need and its team, led by co-founder and CEO Ovais Hussain Qureshi, visited the camel’s shelter in Karachi to assess its condition and provide assistance. 
“We are working tirelessly to ensure the affected camel’s mobility and comfort until its wounds are fully healed,” it said. “Our efforts aim to alleviate the affected camel’s suffering and promote its recovery, demonstrating our unwavering dedication to the animal.”
Section 429 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) states that anyone who kills, poisons, maims, or renders useless any animal of the value of ten rupees or upwards, shall be punished with imprisonment of either a term of up to two years or be fined for the offense, or both.
Sindh Information Minister Memon earlier confirmed the registration of a case against the suspects, describing the amputation as a “humanely unacceptable” act.
“While the police is still doing its work, proper medical treatment is being provided to the poor animal,” Shazia Ata Marri, a Pakistani lawmaker from Sanghar, wrote on X.
CDRS Benji said its staff had cleaned the camel’s wound to make sure it was not infected.
“Cammie the camel is settling into her new home,” the NGO wrote on Facebook with a video showing the camel feeding, a white bandage wrapped around her leg.
“She is in pain, and it was traumatizing for her to be carried into the shelter. But she is eating now and taking in everything around her with those beautiful, intelligent eyes.”


Pakistan police, security forces kill 12 militants in separate operations

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Pakistan police, security forces kill 12 militants in separate operations

  • The operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak, Balochistan’s Kalat districts
  • The country is currently battling twin insurgencies in both provinces that border Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s police and security forces have gunned down 12 militants in separate operations in two western provinces that border Afghanistan, authorities said on Sunday.

Police launched an operation in a mountainous area of Karak district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, following reports of militant presence, according to Karak police spokesman Shaukat Khan.

The operation resulted in the killing of at least eight militants, while several others were wounded in the exchange of fire with law enforcers. Karak police chief Saud Khan led the heavy police contingent alongside personnel from intelligence agencies.

“Several militant hideouts located in the mountainous terrain between Kohat and Karak districts were dismantled during the operation,” Khan told Arab News on Sunday evening, adding the operation was still ongoing.

Separately, security forces killed four “Indian-sponsored” separatist militants in an intelligence-based operation in Kalat district of the southwestern Balochistan province, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.

“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area.”

Pakistan, which has been facing a surge in militancy, has long accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.