Karachi authorities rescue teenager from dark web-linked network

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has rescued a 13-year-old girl in Karachi from an online network allegedly linked to the dark web. The intervention followed intelligence shared by an international agency, which provided IP addresses used across 13 countries to track suspicious activity related to child exploitation.

Investigators discovered the girl had been assigned dangerous tasks via social media and messaging applications. After allegedly poisoning a cat as an initial task, she was instructed to inflict serious self-harm. NCCIA officials intervened before she could carry out the second instruction.

The girl's parents, who were unaware of her involvement, reported noticing behavioral changes over the previous six months. The NCCIA has seized electronic devices for examination and is working to trace the accounts used by the network. Authorities are currently investigating whether other children in Pakistan have been targeted by the group.