DID Press: Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is facing a severe shortage of police personnel, with around 17,000 positions currently vacant, provincial officials have said.
According to reports, the provincial government has allocated 70 billion Pakistani rupees for the police force and 10.3 billion rupees for the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the current fiscal year.
The issue was discussed during a high-level security meeting at the governor’s house in Peshawar. The meeting was attended by Faisal Karim Kundi, governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his advisers, the chief secretary, senior police officials, civil administration representatives and security officials.
Amjad Ali Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s home secretary, said a new strategy had been developed to combat terrorism. He said the previous provincial government had failed to provide adequate support for counterterrorism efforts and the return of Afghan migrants.
He added that, under previous administrations, police received only 3.2 percent of the budget allocated to the merged districts. More than 10,000 police positions and 638 CTD posts had also remained vacant. According to him, the previous government allocated 6.4 billion rupees for 22 districts but released only one billion rupees.
Figures presented at the meeting showed that 3,788 militants had been killed over the past two years, while 1,200 law enforcement personnel had lost their lives.
The home secretary said intelligence-led operations would be expanded and individuals involved in cooperating with or facilitating terrorist groups would be arrested. He added that the current provincial government aimed to reduce the 15 percent shortage in police personnel to five percent.
Meanwhile, Governor Faisal Karim Kundi stressed that the number of vacant police positions stood at 17,000, rather than 10,000, and said the posts would be filled without delay.
He said the government would provide full support to the police in the fight against terrorism and equip the force with modern weapons and equipment. He also emphasised the need to expand intelligence operations and ensure political backing for security forces.
Kundi further announced plans to install anti-drone systems in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat and Bannu to counter growing terrorist threats.
He said the provincial government would take action against opposition groups with full force and would hold talks with the federal government to secure the province’s fair share of financial resources.
“There is no other way; we will win the war against terrorism,” Kundi said.