Up to 364 cops martyred in KP since 2023

PESHAWAR: As many as 364 cops have lost lives in various attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in just over two years, triggering concerns in the force, especially in southern districts.

“Up to 25 cops have been martyred in different districts of KP in the last six weeks,” a police official told The News. The latest was the martyrdom of Assistant Sub-Inspector Safiullah in Daudzai Peshawar. Another cop Sikandar was wounded in the University Town.

“As many as 186 policemen were martyred in 2023 while 153 lost lives in attacks in 2024, making it two of the worst years for police after 2009 -10,” an official said.KP Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed has recently forwarded a summary to the chief minister for an increase in the martyrs package of the KP Police to bring it on a par with Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

The force is short also of protected buildings, bulletproof vehicles and jackets, latest weapons and technology to protect its cops. A number of policemen, especially in Bannu and Lakki Marwat, have staged protests against the innumerable attacks on the force in the last couple of years.

The attacks on police in KP had started recording a surge since mid-2021 but the number of casualties went high in 2023.Over 86 policemen were martyred in one incident when a suicide bomber detonated explosives around his vest at the central mosque of the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines, the headquarters of the Peshawar Police, in January 2023.

More than 200 policemen were wounded in the incident, considered to be the biggest attack on police in Pakistan. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has lost over 1800 policemen from the rank of constable to additional inspector general since 2007.The total number of fallen heroes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 369 from 1970 till 2006.

Most of the cops martyred in the last couple of years were in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts.The worst year for the KP Police was 2009 when 207 policemen, including one SP, three DSPs, four inspectors, 18 sub-inspectors and 16 ASIs were martyred in different terrorist attacks all over the province.

According to the record of the KP Police, 28 policemen were martyred in attacks in 2006, 107 in 2007, 176 in 2008, 207 in 2009, 101 in 2010 and 148 in 2011. The number of fallen policemen came down to 94 in 2012 but increased again to 133 in 2013 and 108 in 2014.

As many as 61 policemen were martyred in KP in 2015, 74 in 2016, 36 in 2017, 30 in 2018, 38 in 2019, 34 in 2020.A total of 44 policemen lost lives in 2021, 56 in 2022, 186 in 2023 and 153 in 2024. Only during the first six weeks of the current year, 25 policemen lost lives in different parts of KP as the attacks were still going on.