Sept 13, 2024
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE:
A five-day-long police protest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s district Lakki Marwat ended after tribal elders brokered a deal between protesting cops and state authorities.
The provincial police chief claimed police protests in three southern districts were an attempt to disrupt the collaboration between police and security forces against terrorism in the province.
Tribesmen of the Marwat Qaumi Jirga negotiated with senior police officials regarding the demands of the protesting officers. The agreement reached with the authorities includes provisions that no punitive action will be taken against the police officers involved in the protest; security forces operating in the district will not interfere with the authority of the local police; security operations will be led by police personnel, with army troops accompanying them; and the local police will seek assistance from security forces as needed.
On September 9, policemen across Lakki Marwat abandoned their duties and set up a protest camp at Lt. Adnan Shaheed Chowk in the Tajazai locality of Lakki Marwat, following the target killing of five of their colleagues by militants.
The protesting policemen, dressed in civilian clothing but carrying official rifles, blocked the busy road connecting Peshawar with Karachi. The absence of traffic wardens caused traffic jams in Lakki Marwat city and Serai Naurang town. Goods transport vehicles remained stranded along the highway on either side of the protest camp.
In a media interview on September 12, IGP KP Akhtar Hayat Khan stated that miscreants were exploiting the recent attacks on police for their own agendas, despite the availability of proper channels for the police to address grievances. He added that punitive action had been taken against violators according to the rules.
He said that the southern divisions of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan had been affected by militant attacks. “While attacks have decreased in the central and Malakand divisions, with only occasional incidents in Bajaur and Khyber, the intensity of militant attacks remains higher in the southern parts of the province, including Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, and Tank.”
Hayat said police had killed two militant commanders in Dera Ismail Khan and one each in Tank and Lakki Marwat. “To address personnel shortage, police is hiring over 500 personnel each for districts Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat, and 300 from district Tank.”
He also said the government was providing funding to police for armour plating of vehicles and to purchase weapons, bulletproof vests, helmets and other equipment.
Meanwhile, local sources reported that policemen in the districts of Khyber, Orakzai, Bajaur, South Waziristan, and North Waziristan have agreed to postpone their protest for a week. This decision follows assurances from senior police officials that their demands will be addressed within this time.
The protesting policemen have demanded the withdrawal of security forces from their districts and their non-interference in local policing operations. Additionally, they have requested the provision of armored personnel carriers for use in counter-terrorism operations within the districts.