PESHAWAR: Eighteen terrorists were killed while 10 cops were martyred on Wednesday when the police team came under attack on its way back after completing an operation against elements involved in illegal gold mining, police said.
In a statement, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police public relations director said the personnel were conducting a joint operation with the local civil administration in the Darabukach locality near Kohat city.
“When the police party was returning after completing the operation, Fitna al Khawarij attacked the police party at the behest of criminal elements,” the statement read.
“Police personnel fought the attackers with great bravery and courage, as a result of which 18 khawarij were sent to hell,” it noted, adding that 10 personnel of KP Police “embraced martyrdom while fighting bravely”.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
According to images shared by KP Police on their X account, the martyred cops included Deputy Superintendent of Police Haidar Zaman.
In its statement, the KP police said the “mutual nexus between criminal elements at the behest of external forces and Fitna al Khawarij and the joint attack on the police party is clear evidence that the criminal mafia and Fitna al Khawarij maintain organised connections”.
“This incident once again proves that Fitna al Khawarij has no connection with Islam and Pakistan. These elements are working together with the criminal mafia for their nefarious purposes,” they declared.
The police vowed that “all possible action will be taken against criminal elements working with foreign backing and Fitna al Khawarij”, asserting that facilitators of terrorists and criminal mafias would not be spared under any circumstances.
“No illegal activity will be allowed.”
The statement noted that policemen martyred in the incident hailed from KP, particularly Kohat, and that their “sacrifices will always be remembered”.
Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Jawad Afridi said in a video message that the rescue service had taken 12 injured cops to a hospital after “an incident where the police party came under fire”.
The incident came a day after the Kohat deputy commissioner imposed a 60-day ban on parking excavators within the limits of Block-C, Block-D of placer gold and adjacent mining areas.
The order issued from the DC office stated that certain individuals, groups and locals had parked excavators at their residences near mining areas, which could easily be used for the unauthorised mining of placer gold.
It said that despite several operations conducted by the district administration to vacate areas of illegal mining, the presence of excavators within residential areas continued to facilitate and encourage such activities, posing a grave risk to public order and state interest
It said that the district administration, in order to curb the illegal mining activities, was compelled to take stringent measures to prevent the misuse of excavators, which have become a key tool in facilitating unlawful placer gold extraction.
Through another order, the administration had also banned the sale, purchase and supply of petroleum products in open containers/bottles for use in unauthorised mining of gold in the district.
Governor seeks report
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed sorrow over the martyrdoms and sought a detailed report, as per an official statement issued by his office.
While the police statement said the attack took place after the operation, Kundi’s statement said it occurred during the operation against illegal mining.
“This cowardly act by terrorists is highly condemnable,” Kundi was quoted as saying, vowing that the attackers would be brought to justice.
“The supreme sacrifices made by the police personnel will not go in vain,” the governor asserted, stressing that the martyrs’ sacrifices were a “source of pride” for the nation.
“In this difficult and sorrowful time, I fully share the grief of the families of the martyrs,” he said. He also reiterated the same in a post on X.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also expressed grief and sorrow at the “loss of human lives” due to “firing by terrorists” on the police team.
“The sacrifices of the police against terrorism and criminal elements are a source of pride for the entire nation,” he said on X.
“The government and relevant institutions should bring the elements involved in this cowardly act before the law as soon as possible so that they may be brought to justice,” he said.
Last week, two policemen were martyred, and another was injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in KP’s Mohmand district.
Last month, a police officer was martyred after terrorists attacked a police post in KP’s Bajaur. On October 20, an additional station house officer (SHO) of the Miranshah police station was martyred in firing by unidentified individuals near Miranshah Bypass Road in North Waziristan.
On Oct 7, seven policemen were injured when terrorists attacked a police checkpost in Kohat.
According to Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, the country’s security environment continued to show considerable volatility from Oct 30 to Nov 5, with renewed terrorist activity in parts of KP and the former tribal districts, alongside intensified counterterrorism operations and changing patterns of militant violence.
It is worth mentioning that KP has been under governor’s rule and emergency since Oct 11, when the federal government took the measures, citing the PTI-led KP government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the counterterrorism fight.
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