IGP says KP police being equipped with latest tech to fight terrorism

PESHAWAR: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed has said that apart from capacity building of the force, his priority is to eliminate terrorism from southern districts before its spillover to other parts of the province.

He said the challenge of fighting terrorism was huge but the force in southern districts and the rest of the KP was being equipped with the latest technology, including anti-drone systems/guns, sophisticated weapons, thermal imaging scopes and bulletproof vehicles to fight the attackers.

“Aggressive policing has been adopted after attacks in Lakki Marwat, Karak, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan during Ramazan and many of the attackers, including top commanders, have been killed, which has improved the situation for the last couple of weeks,” IGP Zulfiqar Hameed told The News in an interview.

He added that specially trained squads were being formed in many districts for prompt action in case of any kind of terrorist activity. The IGP said the attacks on police had decreased in recent days as the terrorists in many areas where they had set up posts on roads had gone into hiding after they realized they were not being spared.

He said that operations had been conducted in many districts and hideouts of terrorists had been destroyed to give them a clear message. According to the police chief, the force is short of the latest technology, modern and sophisticated weapons, bullet proof vehicles and even protected buildings in the vulnerable areas.

He said that there was a shortage of officers and jawans in all ranks, but the force was fighting terrorism with commitment and playing the frontline role. The IGP said that despite all the issues, the morale of the force was high and cops were bravely fighting terrorists and criminals.

He added that police lines, posts and police stations were being rebuilt and repaired in areas in southern towns that came under attack recently to get protected buildings for the jawans who are fighting against terrorists equipped with the latest weapons. According to the police chief, work had been started on many projects to improve police infrastructure, capacity building and facilitation of the people.

“Protection of people and giving them a sense of security is the job of police. We have to fight and eliminate terrorism. We have to fight terrorism to give a sense of security to the people,” said Zulfiqar Hameed.

He added that apart from fighting terrorism, the force will go after rings involved in serious crimes and manufacturing and selling drugs, especially ice.“We need to improve infrastructure as buildings of police lines, police stations and posts need urgent construction and repair in many districts. The police post in Bahaderkhel and many other buildings attacked during Ramazan even had no boundary walls and safety,” said the police chief.

He said after taking up the issue with the government, Rs1 billion has been approved that will be used for raising boundary walls and improving the structure of more vulnerable posts and police stations.

The police chief said that 11 major construction projects would be completed before June while more posts would be launched in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Bannu and Waziristan soon.

According to IGP, he has already taken up a number of initiatives in many districts, especially southern towns to be added in the next budget. “We will use the whole ADP for police in southern districts to improve the infrastructure there,” said Zulfiqar Hameed. The police chief who had assumed the charge a couple of months back said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is facing a bigger challenge in terms of terrorism, but the incentives for the force were less than other provinces.

“Despite the challenges are higher, the incentives, salaries and Shaheed package for the KP Police are smaller compared to other provinces. I am in contact with the government to get more incentives for the brave cops,” said the police chief. He added the desired results cannot be achieved without the welfare of the force.

“More sophisticated weapons including long range thermal imaging guns, anti drone guns and systems, bullet proof vehicles and armoured personnel carriers will be provided to the force to fight the technology being used by the terrorists that they got from Afghanistan,” said the IGP.

The IGP said that Safe City for Peshawar would be completed in six months, while six districts in the south would get the facility soon. He said in the next phase, the major cities in other parts of KP would also get Safe City Projects.

“We are facing the issue of extortion because of foreign numbers. We have taken up the issue with the government so that it can be taken up with the Afghan authorities as more Afghan SIMs are being used for such calls,” said Zulfiqar.

He said the KP had the highest number of martyrs in the last two decades, but its package for martyrs is the lowest, adding they had also taken up the issue of promotions as well as more recruitment to at least get the sanctioned strength.

The police chief said that a number of measures, including strengthening and reforming dispute resolution councils, police assistance lines and others, were being taken for the benefit of the public. Zulfiqar Hameed, who was previously additional IG Punjab, assumed the charge as KP IGP when the province faced frequent terrorism attacks. The law and order situation in the province had deteriorated since 2021, but the attacks recorded a further surge since 2023. The number of attacks during 2024 was the highest in the last 15 years.