200 encounters in 10 months, Human Rights Commission concerned by Karachi police’s 'extrajudicial killing'

The Karachi police have killed nearly 200 suspected street criminals in alleged encounters in 2026 in a span of 10 months, starting January, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). This is an 80 per cent increase compared to the 109 suspects killed during the corresponding period last year.

Between January 1 and Oct 25 the Karachi police killed 197 suspects in 1,437 police encounters Another 1,426 suspects sustained injuries, representing a 67.9 per cent increase from the 849 suspects injured during the same period in 2025, reported Dawn citing data maintained by the police. The overall number of encounters also rose by 71 per cent from 840 last year.

HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt criticised the growing number of fatalities, describing deaths during police encounters as extrajudicial killings. He also questioned the effectiveness of such operations, recalling that the emergence of terms such as 'full fry' and 'half fry' had failed to reduce criminal activities.

Butt argued that there was a need for professional policing, scientifically conducted investigations and judicial reforms to improve public security, rather than killing suspects.

Meanwhile, two senior Karachi police officials defended the operations, maintaining that the encounters were genuine and generally followed complaints from robbery victims. They attributed the increase to intensified patrolling, snap-checking and the expansion of the Shaheen Force across multiple districts, as highlighted by Dawn.

However, official statistics did not disclose how many police personnel were injured during the 1,437 encounters. Karachi police chief Azad Khan also did not respond to questions concerning accountability mechanisms and investigations into encounter deaths, as reported by Dawn.

(With input from ANI)