- More traffic contingents and regional police were deployed.
- Sindh CM appeals to protesters not to cause trouble to citizens.
- The recent clashes in Parachinar killed more than 130 people.
KARACHI: Commuters have been facing extreme hardship due to closure of arterial roads in Karachi due to sit-ins organized by the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) against the tense situation in Parachinar town in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The sit-in protests, which spread to several areas of the city a day earlier, continued on Friday, blocking key arteries and leaving commuters scrambling during the morning rush hour.
Additional contingents of traffic and district police were deployed to assist citizens and traffic diversion plans were later released due to the closure of at least six major roads across the metropolis.
The closed roads included MA Jinnah Road, Numaish Chowrangi, Abul Hasan Isphahani Road to Super Highway-Abbas Town, Five Star Chowrangi, University Road, Safari Park, Shahrea Faisal, Star Gate to Malir 15.
As per the traffic plan, traffic was being diverted to PP Chowrangi, Gurumandir to Soldier Bazaar due to closure of MA Jinnah-Numaish Chowrangi. An alternative route was provided for traffic from Society Signal to Corridor-III, Britto Rd to Soldier Bazaar and Gurumandir.
Similarly, both lanes of the highway were closed to traffic from Abul Hasan Isphahani Road to Super Highway-Abbas Town, while traffic was diverted to Paradise Bakery to Fariya Chowk.
Traffic flow has resumed from service roads for residents of Nazimabad due to complete closure of Five Star Chowrangi.
Protesters also blocked University Road by staging a sit-in in front of Metro Mall near Safari Park towards Samama Mall, resulting in traffic being diverted from nearby streets and service roads.
Meanwhile, commuters were asked to travel from Drigh Road to Rashid Minhas Road due to closure of Shrea Faisal from Star Gate to Malir 15 while traffic from Millennium Shopping Mall was diverted to other areas via Drigh Road.
Another artery, the national highway from Malir to Quaidabad Road, was blocked due to a sit-in, due to which traffic was diverted to Model Colony via Malir Halt.
The traffic police also informed citizens about an alternative route from Manzil Pump to Younus Chowrangi and Daud Chowrangi to the industrial area.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has appealed to protesters not to cause trouble to citizens as “blockade of roads in Karachi and Sukkur is not a solution to the Parachinar issue.”
Speaking to the media in Sukkur today, CM Murad clarified that the government was not against peaceful protests and added that it was the responsibility of the government to prevent its citizens from facing difficulties.
The religious political party is protesting against the deteriorating law and order situation in Parachinar as clashes claimed over 130 lives, and reports have emerged that over 100 children have died due to shortage of medicines in the city .
However, KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif has refuted these reports of child deaths in the district.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 people near the border with Afghanistan, has been a flashpoint of tensions for decades.
Fresh clashes broke out last month, triggering a humanitarian crisis with reports of famine, lack of medicine and oxygen shortages following the blockade of the main road connecting Parachinar, Kurram’s main town, to Peshawar.
