1,304 policemen martyred in KP since 2006

PESHAWAR: Out of 1,689 policemen of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who died with their boots on since 1970, 1,304 sacrificed their lives only during the last almost 13 years after violence severely hit the province.

Police remained the prime victim of terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, blasts, ambushes, rocket and mortar barrages and target killing all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2006.

Those who died during the last 13 years included two additional inspectors general of police (Ad IGs), two deputy inspectors general (DIGs), seven superintendents of police (SPs) and 19 acting SPs or deputy superintendents of police DSPs.

The share of the constables is the highest as over 900 of them sacrificed their lives since 2006. Among the districts, the share of martyrs from Peshawar is the highest. All the top four senior-most officers of the force were also targetted in Peshawar.

"The share of Peshawar among the martyrs of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police is the highest. Policemen of every rank from Peshawar sacrificed their lives to help restore peace in the country," Capital City Police Officer Qazi Jamilur Rehman told The News.

The worst year for police in KP was 2009 when 207 policemen, including one SP, three DSPs, four inspectors, 18 sub-inspectors and 16 ASIs were martyred in different terrorist attacks in the province.

As many as 107 died in suicide attacks, bombings, rocketing, ambushes and encounters during 2010. The situation has improved since 2015 when the number of those martyred dropped to 59, followed by 74 in 2016.

As per the data compiled by the Central Police Office in Peshawar, 35 policemen lost lives in attacks in 2017 while 17 others martyred in the first half of the current year. The trouble in KP and rest of the country during the last one decade can be gauged from the fact that 383 policemen were martyred in encounters and different attacks all over the province between 1970 and 2005 but the number of casualties remained 1304 only between 2006 and June 2018.

The first senior officer martyred in KP was Abid Ali, the then DIG Bannu Region, who was martyred along with his driver while on way to Peshawar in December 2006. In January 2007, the then CCPO Peshawar and one of the most revered cops, Malik Mohammad Saad, was targeted by a suicide bomber when he along with other senior officials was inspecting the security of the route of a Muharram procession in Dhakki Dalgaran, near Qissa Khwani. A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Khan Raziq and many others were also martyred in the attack.

The senior most among the policemen martyred in attacks by the terrorists was Safwat Ghayur, an Additional IGP who was commanding Frontier Constabulary when he was attacked. He was targeted by a suicide bomber soon after he left his office in the FC headquarters in Peshawar Saddar on August 4, 2010.

The KP Police observe the day of his death as Martyrs Day every year. Preparations have already begun to observe the Martyrs Day on August 4, with presenting salutes at the grave of martyred officers and holding functions to pay tributes to the fallen heroes.

Another senior most official attacked and martyred was Ad IG Headquarters Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Ashraf Noor. He was martyred in a suicide attack on his car in Hayatabad on November 24 last year when he was going to office from his home.

Among the SPs, Iqbal Marwat was the youngest who died in a suicide bombing in February 2010 in Bannu where he was serving as the district police officer. Another DPO, Khurshid Khan of Lower Dir, lost the life during an encounter with terrorists in March 2009.

Peshawar lost three SPs, Kalam Khan, Khursheed Khan and Hilal Haider, during the year 2012. Kalam Khan and Hilal Haider were targeted separately by suicide bombers while Khursheed Khan was martyred during an encounter with militants in Matani.

A senior police officer from KP, Hilal Khan, along with two senior army officers lost lives in an ambush in Chilas town of Gilgit-Baltistan in 2013 while ASP Salman Ayaz embraced martyrdom in Rawalpindi in 2007. Sajid Khan Mohmand posted as DPO Qilla Abdullah, martyred in a blast in Chaman last year was also from KP.