The suicide attack in Bannu targeted Police Station Fateh Khel, located nearly five kilometres south of Bannu city on Rorar Road, an area relatively distant from densely populated settlements. The assault once again exposed the evolving strategy of terrorists operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where pressure from sustained security operations has increasingly pushed them toward targeting softer state installations, particularly police and civilians.
According to details, 15 personnel of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police embraced martyrdom in the attack, while three others sustained injuries. Of the martyred personnel, two were eliminated directly in the blast, whereas the remaining 13 lost their lives after the roof of the police station collapsed, trapping them beneath the debris.
Bannu and its adjoining regions have remained under the shadow of terrorism for years. Earlier terrorist attacks largely focused on Bannu Cantonment and security forces installations, however, the coordinated and effective response of security forces, coupled with strengthened defensive measures, inflicted heavy losses on terrorist networks. Faced with mounting operational setbacks against hardened military targets, these cowardly khwarij increasingly shifted their focus toward softer targets, including police personnel and civilians.
A closer assessment of repeated losses suffered by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police reveals several deeply concerning realities.
Firstly, the province’s police force has increasingly become politicized. Postings, transfers and recruitments are no longer functioning purely under institutional police authority, but instead remain heavily influenced by MNAs, MPAs and local political figures. This persistent political interference has severely damaged the professional performance and operational capacity of the force. In a province battling sustained terrorism, sacrificing policing standards at the altar of political interests has become poisonous for public safety and long-term stability.
Secondly, the deteriorating condition of police stations and infrastructure across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa raises serious questions regarding the priorities of the provincial political administration. The state of many police buildings reflects years of neglect, despite the province remaining on the frontline of Pakistan’s counterterrorism war.
Thirdly, instead of standing firmly with the police following such devastating losses, local political leadership in Bannu, including PTI, JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami, has largely turned the tragedy into a theatre of political point scoring. The ongoing rivalry among these political factions has pushed administrative governance and security concerns into the background.
Political interference within policing structures has reportedly expanded to the extent that local and provincial political actors allegedly ensure the recruitment of their own workers into the force. Following terrorist incidents, such elements are then used to amplify specific political narratives aimed at targeting patriotic and honest personnel within police and security institutions. Such practices foster frustration and demoralization within police ranks while protecting narrow political interests.
The weaknesses in police preparedness and professional capability are not new. Three years ago in Bannu, terrorists held CTD police personnel hostage inside a counterterrorism department facility, forcing security forces to launch a high-risk operation and sacrifice their own lives to clear the compound and neutralize the terrorists.
A particularly alarming aspect remains the police force’s growing dependence on security forces even for its own protection. Unless meaningful steps are taken to strengthen police capability, operational authority and defensive infrastructure, the threat of similar losses will persist like a crack spreading silently through an old fortress wall.
The Narrative War Behind the Battlefield
Amid the ongoing war against terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and PTM has repeatedly advanced the narrative of “good and bad Taliban” while criticizing security institutions. In contrast, Pakistan’s armed forces have consistently maintained a clear and uncompromising position that in this war against terrorism, the only good Taliban is a dead Taliban. In the presence of such a categorical stance, promoting distinctions between terrorists effectively serves as an attempt to mask governance and security failures related to public protection.
Future Course of Action
Given the current security environment, fortifying the infrastructure of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has become an urgent necessity. Police lines, checkpoints and police stations must be transformed into hardened defensive structures through modern surveillance technology, jammers, reinforced barriers and enhanced protective systems.
A final and decisive operation against terrorist commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his facilitators has also become unavoidable in order to dismantle the entire terrorist network and uproot its financial and logistical support structures.
Simultaneously, diplomatic and military pressure on the Kabul administration must intensify to ensure Afghan territory is no longer used against Pakistan. The Afghan authorities must be clearly compelled to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries operating from their soil.
Above all, political interests must be set aside and full institutional autonomy restored to the police force. Transfers, appointments and recruitments should remain entirely under police authority so the force can fulfil its professional responsibilities without political coercion or interference.
