127 KP cops martyred in three months:
From January to March of this year, various attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resulted in the martyrdom of 127 police officers.
Officials reported that 116 police officers were martyred on January, 2 in February, and 9 in March.
The casualties included four deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and several junior officers.
Comparatively, 36 policemen were attacked in 2017, 30 in 2018, 38 in 2019, 28 in 2020, and 59 in 2021.
However, the number of casualties by policemen increased to over 120 in 2022, and the death toll in the first quarter of 2023 has already surpassed the number of martyrs in the previous year.
During the current year, the most recent major attack took place in Lakki Marwat.
DSP Iqbal Momand and three other policemen died when a roadside improvised explosive device hit their armored personnel carrier.
They were on their way to reinforce the Saddar Police Station, which was under attack with heavy weapons.
Someone threw a hand grenade at the Sheikhan police post in Badaber, Peshawar, but it did not cause any casualties.
Past Few Years
Over the past few years, police posts in several areas have been the target of attacks involving grenades and heavy weapons.
Akhtar Hayat Khan, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), announced that they have provided more manpower, heavy weapons, night imaging scopes, and armored personnel carriers (APCs) to vulnerable police posts and stations.
This is to enhance their ability to protect their buildings and repulse attacks, thereby maintaining law and order.
Furthermore, he highlighted that the Takwara Police Post in Dera Ismail Khan and the Rorhi Police Post in the same district have successfully repulsed attacks several times over the past few months. This was due to the police being alert and well-equipped.
To minimize casualties and track down terrorists and criminals, the police chief also stated that they would improve the intelligence network, conduct effective patrolling, and carry out daily intelligence-based operations.
The largest attack on the police force
The largest attack on the police force this year occurred in January when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the mosque of the Peshawar Police Lines during Zuhr prayers, causing the roof to collapse. There was still uncertainty among KP Police about the number of casualties resulting from this event. Recently, the IGP announced a cash reward of Rs 100,000 for the brave police officers stationed at Takwara Police Post.
In the aftermath of the January suicide bombing at the Peshawar Police Lines, there has been confusion regarding the exact number of casualties.
While an official statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) stated that 84 people died along with 233 injured, some other senior officials put the death toll at 100, with 96 of those being policemen.
The CTD also identified the group involved in the attack and arrested the key facilitator of the bomber. However, there were conflicting reports from the media, with some initially reporting the number of casualties to be over 100 before senior police officials clarified that the official death toll was 84.
