Police convoy attacked by gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades in Punjab province in space identified to have felony hideouts.
Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades have ambushed a police convoy in japanese Pakistan’s Punjab province, killing at the least 11 officers and wounding seven, authorities say.
Nobody instantly claimed duty for the assault within the Rahim Yar Khan district’s Kacha city on Thursday.
The officers have been ambushed whereas on patrol in a abandoned space looking for robbers who function within the area. Police stated the gunmen have been seemingly robbers and never members of an armed group.
“The bandits attacked the automobiles with rocket launchers after one of many automobiles within the convoy broke down,” stated an announcement from the inspector basic’s workplace in Punjab.
Safety forces typically perform operations in opposition to bandits in Punjab and Sindh province within the south. They conceal in rural, forested areas and typically perform kidnappings to make cash by way of ransoms. They’ve additionally killed a number of cops in assaults over current months.
Kacha is thought for robbers’ hideouts alongside the Indus River, the place a whole lot of closely armed bandits evade police.
Police stated one of many police automobiles apparently broke down whereas passing by way of amassed rainwater alongside farm fields when dozens of bandits launched the assault, one of many deadliest of its form lately.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched an announcement calling for “speedy and efficient motion” in opposition to these accountable.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in assaults by armed teams lately, however such a excessive variety of police casualties in a single assault is uncommon.
Earlier on Thursday, gunmen opened fire on a school van in Punjab, killing two kids and wounding six individuals, police stated. Nobody claimed duty for that assault.
An area police official advised The Related Press the assault appeared to focus on the motive force of the bus and the motive was seemingly considered one of “enmity”.
Pakistan’s authorities has struggled for many years to subdue armed groups that function in quite a lot of provinces all through the nation. Some are felony organisations whereas others, comparable to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, often known as the Pakistan Taliban, goal to depose the federal government.