A police convoy got here underneath rocket-propelled grenade hearth in an space of Punjab province identified to be dwelling to criminals.
Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a police convoy in Pakistan’s jap Punjab province, killing at the very least 11 cops and wounding seven others, authorities stated.
There was no fast declare of duty for Thursday’s assault within the city of Kacha within the Rahim Yar Khan area.
Cops had been ambushed whereas patrolling a abandoned space in search of robbers working within the space. Police stated the gunmen had been doubtless robbers and never members of an armed group.
“After one of many automobiles within the convoy broke down, the gangsters attacked the automobiles with rocket launchers,” an announcement from the Workplace of the Inspector Common of Punjab stated.
Safety forces ceaselessly conduct anti-bandit operations within the southern provinces of Punjab and Sindh. They cover in rural and forested areas and typically perform kidnappings to extort cash. They’ve additionally killed a number of cops in assaults in current months.
Kacha is known as a gangster hideout alongside the Indus River, the place a whole lot of closely armed bandits cover from the police.
Police stated the assault by dozens of gangsters, together with a police car that apparently broke down because it handed via waterlogged farmland, was one of many deadliest assaults of its type lately.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued an announcement calling for “fast and efficient motion” towards these accountable.
Pakistan has seen a surge in assaults by armed teams lately, however it’s uncommon for a single assault to trigger so many police casualties.
Gunmen opened hearth on a faculty bus in Punjab state early Thursday, killing two youngsters and wounding six others, police stated. Nobody claimed duty for the assault.
A neighborhood police official advised The Related Press that the assault gave the impression to be concentrating on the bus driver and was doubtless motivated by “hostility.”
For many years, the Pakistani authorities has struggled to suppress armed teams working in a number of provinces throughout the nation. A few of these are felony organizations, whereas others, equivalent to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, often known as the Pakistani Taliban, intention to overthrow the federal government.
