Seven police officers were abducted by unidentified armed individuals in the Ahmedzai sub-division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Bannu district, District Police Officer (DPO) Ziauddin revealed to Geo News on Monday.
According to DPO Ziauddin, the assailants took control of the Rocha checkpost before kidnapping the officers. A search operation has been launched, and the area has been cordoned off to locate the abductors.
The incident occurred after the maghrib prayer when armed men overpowered the policemen, taking them hostage along with their weapons to an undisclosed location. The abducted officers have been identified as Saleem, Aqal Rehman, Mewah Jan, Roshan, Abdul Malik, Neematullah, and Shad Muhammad.
The abduction follows a recent surge in attacks on law enforcement personnel in KP. Earlier this month, unidentified gunmen kidnapped a police constable from his residence in the Bakakhel Police Station area of Bannu.
Pakistan has been grappling with escalating militancy, particularly in KP and Balochistan, since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
A report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) highlighted a significant rise in violence in the third quarter of 2024 (July-September), with fatalities from terrorist violence and counter-terrorism operations increasing by 90%.
During this period, 722 individuals, including civilians, security personnel, and militants, lost their lives, while 615 were injured in 328 recorded incidents. Notably, 97% of these deaths and 92% of the incidents occurred in KP and Balochistan, marking the highest regional fatality rate in a decade.
