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KARACHI: Police in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province have made their first ever arrest using facial recognition technology of a suspect wanted in multiple violent crimes through a network of surveillance cameras recently deployed in the port city of Karachi, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Karachi, a city of nearly 20 million people that is also the country’s commercial capital, has a history of street crime, gang violence relating to turf wars over illicit drug trade, kidnapping for ransom as well as sectarian and politically motivated targeted killings.

Police said the suspect, Abdul Azeem, was identified and apprehended through a facial recognition (FR) camera, part of the city’s expanding Safe City project, which aims to modernize law enforcement through the use of real-time surveillance and automated data analysis.

“This is the first case of its kind in which police, with the help of cameras, managed to apprehend a criminal about whom there was no prior information,” Asad Raza, a deputy inspector general of police in Karachi’s South district, told Arab News.

“Using technology, his identity was confirmed and the cameras identified him as the same criminal the police were searching for. Immediate action was taken and he was arrested.”

As militants, armed gangs and political factions battled for influence across the city for years, authorities launched a major crackdown in 2013, ‘Karachi Operation,’ which saw paramilitary Rangers and police collaborate to bring violence down. While overall security has improved since then, street crime and organized criminal activity remain challenges.

Instead of relying solely on traditional policing, authorities are now turning to technology and have installed over 1,000 cameras in the city under Phase 1 of the Safe City initiative. Of them, more than 900 have been installed in the South zone where the arrest was made.

The new system includes three types of cameras: standard surveillance units, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, and facial recognition (FR) cameras. FR cameras are positioned in public places including malls, parks and registration offices.

Azeem, traveling on a motorcycle, was flagged by one of the 42 facial recognition cameras installed in the South Zone. The alert was transmitted to the command-and-control center, which dispatched nearby officers to stop and verify the suspect, according to DIG Raza.

The suspect was wanted for multiple cases, including a police encounter, possession of illegal weapons and robbery.

The official emphasized the importance of integrating technology into urban policing.

“I believe that policing and technology have now become inseparable, and in all modern cities, law enforcement agencies are relying on technology to aid their operations,” he said.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s agriculture experts and industry stakeholders gathered in Islamabad on Tuesday for the Pakistan Olive Summit 2.0, aimed at accelerating investment and innovation in the country’s emerging olive sector, which officials say could generate billions in export revenue.

The event, organized by Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) Limited in collaboration with the National Alliance for Safe Food, brought together policymakers, researchers, and international representatives from countries including Turkiye, ��������, Italy, Bahrain, Spain, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

According to data shared at the summit, Pakistan has around 10 million acres of cultivable land suitable for olive farming, of which only 55,000 acres have been developed so far. Out of a total requirement of 1.3 billion olive plants, about 7 million have been planted. At full production capacity, the sector could generate over $3 billion annually through olive oil exports, officials said.

“This initiative is not just about cultivating olives, it’s about cultivating opportunity, resilience, and prosperity,” said Muhammad Atif Hanif, CEO of Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, adding that the bank was committed to “empowering farmers, promoting agricultural sustainability, and enabling rural economic transformation through dedicated financing solutions and strategic global partnerships.”

Rana Tanveer Hussain, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, attended the summit as chief guest and called for greater private-sector participation to expand olive cultivation and reduce the country’s dependence on imported edible oils.

The summit emphasized value chain development, farmer training, and investment incentives as key to transforming the crop into a major source of export revenue and rural employment.

Pakistan currently spends more than $3 billion annually on edible oil imports, according to government data. The olive sector has been highlighted as a potential alternative, particularly in the northwestern and Potohar regions, where climate conditions are favorable for cultivation.