Islamist Militants Have Pakistan's Police In Their Crosshairs

Police officers hold their weapons during a training session at the Elite Police Training Center in Nowshera, Pakistan, on February 10.

Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, are increasingly targeting Pakistani police as part of their violent campaign against the Islamabad government.

A police officer rappels off a building during a practice session at the training center.

The police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, which neighbors Islamabad, say they are up for the fight but lack the resources that they need to be effective.

Police officers take position during a counterterrorism training session.

The firing of rocket-propelled grenades is also a part of their training.

A police officer looks through the window of a gate at the Achini police outpost, on the outskirts of Peshawar, on February 9.

According to police officers, militants are employing high-tech weapons that were left behind by Western forces when they left Afghanistan in 2021.

Assistant subinspector Jameel Shah, 40, stands between two police officers as they observe their surroundings at the Sarband Police Station on the outskirts of Peshawar. This outpost, along with eight others, has suffered four major attacks in recent months.

"We’ve stopped [the militants'] way to Peshawar," Shah said.

A policeman mans a 12.7-mm infantry machine gun on top of the Sarband police station.

Recently, a senior police officer was ambushed and killed outside a police station during a firefight with militants, who, according to Shah, used thermal goggles to target the officer in the darkness.

A police officer stands outside the Achini outpost on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Pakistan acknowledges the difficulties its police face in combating militants who attack its forces. 

A billboard in Peshawar with the faces of police officers who died in the line of duty.

Prayers for the victims of a January 30 suicide bombing take place at a damaged mosque located inside a high-security police facility in Peshawar on February 9.

The blast at that compound, which contains the headquarters of the provincial police and a counterterrorism department, killed 80 police personnel. A faction of the TTP, Jamat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility.

A wreath and flowers sit atop the rubble of the January 30 suicide bombing.

A TTP spokesman said, “The police have been told many times not to obstruct our way, and instead of paying heed to this, the police have started martyring our comrades,” he said. “This is why we are targeting them.”