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KARACHI: A documentary film highlighting the quick police response to a deadly militant raid on the Pakistan Stock Exchange five years ago premiered on Saturday, celebrating the bravery of officers who foiled the attack and ensured that trading was not suspended for long despite the violence.

Four gunmen from the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) mounted an armed assault on the exchange in Karachi on June 29, 2020, hurling grenades and firing rifles in an apparent attempt to create a hostage situation. The attack prompted police to react quickly, killing all four attackers in a showdown that lasted about eight minutes.

At least three people — a policeman and two security guards — were killed and seven others injured, but trading on the exchange resumed once the building was secured.

“This documentary has been made on the stock exchange terrorist attack and depicts, in an excellent and unique way, the courage and bravery of Sindh police’s martyred and surviving officers and personnel,” Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon said at the premiere, according to a statement.

“Many good works of the police go unhighlighted," he added. "However, this documentary is an outstanding effort, and I am confident that such excellent initiatives will continue in the future.”

Titled Pakistan Stock Exchange – The Police Story, the film is a joint project of Sindh police and production house RAVA Documentary Films.

It was screened at a private Karachi cinema in a ceremony attended by Memon, senior police officials and a wide range of citizens.

The documentary portrays, with close-to-reality reconstruction, how policemen and other law enforcement agencies stood their ground against heavily armed militants. Commemorative shields were exchanged between Sindh police and RAVA to mark the collaboration.

Karachi has long been prone to ethnic, sectarian and militant violence, though high-profile attacks have become less frequent in recent years.

The BLA has mostly remained active in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, but it has also carried out attacks in Karachi, often seeking to target Chinese nationals.

KARACHI: Pakistan on Saturday announced new policy measures to boost citrus exports, with a particular focus on kinnow mandarins, aiming to capture more overseas markets and strengthen its fragile economy through export-led growth.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research said the initiative reflects the government’s continued drive to seek regional markets as it pivots toward exports to stabilize an economy that only two years ago narrowly averted a sovereign debt default.

The plan includes easing export procedures, expanding testing facilities and introducing disease-resistant, seedless kinnow varieties to lift yields and meet international standards.

“Citrus, particularly kinnow, is a symbol of Pakistan’s agricultural strength,” Federal Minister for Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain said in a statement.

“By facilitating our farmers and exporters, introducing improved varieties, and opening new markets, the government is determined to make Pakistani citrus a globally recognized brand,” he added.

Hussain said the Department of Plant Protection has simplified pesticide residue testing and begun registering new exporters for Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states, while also opening a temporary outpost in Sargodha, the country’s main citrus-growing region, to speed up shipments.

He cited recent talks with a Russian delegation and new laboratory accreditations as steps to diversify destinations by also targeting markets in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and the European Union.

Pakistan exported 105,690 metric tons of citrus worth US$30.9 million in the first half of the last fiscal year (July-December 2024).

Citrus, led by kinnow, remains one of the country’s key horticultural exports, though the sector has faced challenges from ageing orchards, disease and climate pressures.