The police of Pakistan’s Punjab province claimed on Friday that a major action has been taken against the gang of bandits who attacked the police convoy with rockets in Machka area of Rahim Yar Khan district. Bandit leader Bashir Shar has been killed and some of his companions have been injured. Twelve police personnel were killed and many were injured in the attack by bandits.
Organised criminal gangs have been active in the riverine border areas of southern Sindh and central Punjab for decades, often making money through kidnappings and ransom.
Two police vehicles carrying about 22 policemen were returning from a police camp in the Kacha (river) area, where recent rains had made the road muddy, causing one of the vehicles to break down. It is said that at this time the police team was attacked by bandits who fired rockets at the vehicles and then opened fire, killing 11 policemen and injuring nine others. The death toll in the incident rose to 12 on Friday. Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar told Pakistani newspaper Dawn that Punjab and Sindh police had carried out a historic operation in the river area, involving 320 policemen from Punjab besides Sindh police.
Punjab Police said the main suspect was killed in retaliation to Thursday attack, while five of his accomplices were injured.
“Punjab Police launched a retaliatory action in response to the attack by terrorists in the raw areas. The main suspect Bashir Shar, who attacked the policemen has met his end,” the police announced in a post on X on Friday.
“During the action of Punjab Police, five associates of bandit Bashir Shar – Sanaullah Shar, Gada Ali, Kamalu Shar, Ramzan Shar and Gadi – were also injured,” the police said.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed IG Anwar and other senior officers to rush to Rahim Yar Khan to deal with the situation. Her Sindh counterpart Murad Ali Shah has also directed his provincial police chief to get in touch with the Punjab Police and ask them to provide any assistance.
“At least twelve policemen were martyred in the attack, and eight others were injured,” police spokesman Saif Ali Wains told news agency AFP. Wains said the gang used rocket launchers to target the policemen stranded on the way. The army launched a massive operation against criminal gangs in Sindh in the early 1990s, but they re-emerged after successive governments failed to maintain law and order in the province.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Thursday that the PM had ordered “immediate and effective action” against the attackers. The funeral prayers for the martyred policemen were offered in Rahim Yar Khan in the afternoon.
According to a report by Pakistan’s state television PTV News, Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi as well as civilian and military leaders attended the funeral prayers. Tributes were paid to the martyred policemen and floral wreaths were laid before the bodies were sent to the policemen’s hometowns. Tight security arrangements were made in Sindh.
