Karachi has witnessed 43% decrease in target killing: Nisar

Interior minister says over 280,000 immigrants living in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The government claimed on Thursday that incidents of target killings in Karachi have almost halved since the start of the Rangers operation in the city.

Claiming that the overall security situation of the metropolis has improved significantly, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on the floor of the House, “Karachi witnessed a 43% decrease in target killing, 37% in incidents of murder and 6.7% decrease in terror related incidents.”

Briefing the National Assembly on the ongoing operation in Karachi, Nisar said law enforcement agencies arrested 713 terrorists along with 58,603 suspects in thousands of raids conducted in the city. The agencies have recovered 14,253 arms, and that the number of fugitives increased by 9.4% during the operation, he added.

Over 280,000 immigrants living in Pakistan, says Nisar

Over 280,000 immigrants have been living in Pakistan from some five major countries, Nisar informed the National Assembly.

"As many as 116,308 Afghan nationals are living as immigrants in the country, higher than any other country," Nisar told the House. Besides Afghans, 52,486 Americans, 79,447 British citizens and 17,320 Canadians are residing in the country, the interior minister added.

Read: Over 1,000 'hostile' spies visited Pakistan under INGO guise, says Nisar

Interestingly, around 16,501 Indians are also living in Pakistan.

Nisar said an effective policy is being implemented to stop immigrants from coming to Pakistan for illegal activities while steps have been taken against immigrants involved in illegal activities in the country.

The minister revealed that an estimated 400,000 foreigners have arrived in Pakistan since 2007.

Lamenting the fact that the number of passport offices operating in the country is lot less than required, Nisar said the government aims to double the number of passport offices from the existing 79. He further said that these offices will be established on merit wherever required.

Nisar also informed the House that the government is formulating new policies regarding Exit Control List, arms licenses, and issuance of visas, while a policy regarding security agencies will be announced within two months under which all the security agencies will be required to provide services to its clients according to the agreement. All the security agencies will have to get security clearance of its employees and will have to conduct proper training of their personnel, said Nisar adding that the provincial governments will also be consulted in formulating the policy regarding security agencies to bring standardisation in the policy.