PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to bolster security in the northwestern province bordering Afghanistan by creating an additional 1,356 police positions, the chief minister’s office said on Wednesday, amid a surge in militant attacks targeting police and law enforcers in recent months.
Over 82 policemen have been killed in attacks, ambushes and targeted killings in KP province so far this year, according to official data. Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks in the province ever since its fragile truce with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or the Pakistani Taliban broke down in November 2022.
Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday shot dead constable Mansoor Khan in his hometown Lakki Marwat district, police said. Meanwhile, attacks targeting police sparked protests in the province’s Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts last month.
“In view of the current law and order situation, 1356 new police posts of various ranks have been created for southern districts [of KP],” the CM Office said after Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur chaired a meeting related to the province’s police matters.
“Of these, 1200 the recruitment process of constables is in its final stages and appointment letters will be issued soon.”
Apart from constables, the new hirings would include sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors and head constables, the statement said. It added that the quota for the recruitment of slain police officers’ children had been increased from 5 percent to 12.5 percent.
Gandapur told senior police officials at the meeting that strengthening the police force and stabilizing the law and order situation in the province was his government’s topmost priority.
“All resources will be provided on a priority basis to enable the police force to deal with the current situation,” the chief minister was quoted as saying.
‘SERIOUS SECURITY DYNAMICS’
Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a security analyst and former inspector-general of police, described the move as a “commendable” one for the long run but said the province required an immediate solution to its security woes.
“The new recruitment of police officers is a long-drawn process while the province is in urgent need to combat militant attacks,” Shah told Arab News.
“Trained police officers should be deputed on the newly created posts which will help fill the vacuum,” he added.
Shah said the northwestern province was facing “different and serious security dynamics” which were completely different from organized crimes.
He called on provincial authorities to mobilize other forces, such as the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) and Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) forces, saying they would enable police to operate from an offensive position rather than a defensive one.
“Similarly, along with new recruitments, different departments need close liaison and seamless coordination with the backing of strong intelligence,” Shah said. “This way, we will be able to control the situation.”
Pakistan’s KP province to recruit over 1350 new cops to tackle surging militancy
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Pakistan’s KP province to recruit over 1350 new cops to tackle surging militancy
- Militants have killed over 82 policemen through various attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year
- Security analyst appreciates move but says province in dire need of urgent remedy to security woes
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
