Seven policemen wounded in intense attack targeting their convoy. President Zardari, PM Shehbaz strongly condemn deadliest attack on Punjab Police. Five policemen still missing.
SADIQABAD/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - Dacoits armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a police convoy in Punjab’s Sadiqabad on Thursday, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 12 police officials and wounding seven others, police and local officials said. The attack happened in the Rahim Yar Khan district when the policemen were passing through a deserted area in a patrol targeting robbers who operate in the region, Punjabi Police said in a statement. The attack was one of the deadliest on police in recent years, and it drew nationwide condemnation from the country’s leadership. President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi released statements denouncing the attack, expressing sorrow and describing the slain officers as martyrs. They prayed for the early recovery of the seven wounded officers, and ordered authorities to take immediate and effective action against the attackers. Local police said nine policemen died on the spot and several others sustained injuries as two police vans attacked near Basti Salman area of Sadiqabad. According to details, outlaws attacked on two police mobile vans with lethal weapons near Basti Salman area of Sadiqabad. The Rescue and police team rushed to the site and shifted the dead and injured to nearby hospital.
Police have cordoned off the area and trying to catch the culprits behind this gruesome killing. Police officials told the media that two police vans with more than 20 cops were trapped in rainwater in the locality when bandits launched rockets at them. Bandit groups in riverine areas have always been a hurdle in maintaining law and order for the provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab despite conducting multiple operations to eliminate them. A National Action Plan implementation review committee decided in a meeting at the National Counter Terror¬ism Auth¬ority (Nacta) headquarters in April to launch a joint operation of Sindh and Punjab police forces against notorious dacoits of the kacha areas in Sindh. The directives were issued by Interior Minister Naqvi who chaired the high-level meeting attended by the interior secretary, heads of Nacta and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), police chiefs of Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and provincial home secretaries. Police sources late Thursday night revealed that at least five policemen were missing following the brazen attack. They said that efforts were underway to the trace their whereabouts.
(The Nation)
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