At least 11 police officers were killed and seven others injured after bandits launched a rocket attack on their vehicles in the riverine region of Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, on Thursday.
The tragic incident took place in the Machka area, one of the riverine localities of Rahim Yar Khan. According to police sources, two police vans carrying over 20 officers became trapped in rainwater when bandits targeted them with rockets.
The violent assault led to the deaths of nearly a dozen officers, left seven others wounded, and resulted in the disappearance of four officers, as confirmed by the police.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack on the Punjab police by the bandits, paying tribute to the fallen officers. He also expressed his wishes for the swift recovery of the injured and assured that the government would support the families of the martyred officers.
Bandit groups operating in riverine areas have long posed challenges to maintaining law and order in Sindh and Punjab, despite several operations aimed at eradicating them.
In April, a National Action Plan implementation review committee convened at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) headquarters to discuss launching a joint operation involving the Sindh and Punjab police forces against notorious bandits in Sindh’s riverine areas. This directive was issued by Interior Minister Naqvi during a high-level meeting that included the interior secretary, heads of Nacta and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and police chiefs from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), along with provincial home secretaries.
