55 Pakistani cops killed in target killings in KP since January: Report

Peshawar [Pakistan], July 25 (ANI): At least 55 policemen have been killed and 60 were injured in various attacks across Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province between January to mid-July this year, local media reported citing sources.
The News International reported that as many as seven policemen were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in January this year, three in February, 11 in March, 16 in April, five in May, seven in June and six were killed in the third week of July.
"The highest number of attacks on police took place during the current year in Dera Ismail Khan, followed by Bannu, Peshawar and Mardan regions. No incident occurred in Hazara region during the current year," a source of The News International said.
The latest attacks took place in Khyber and Dera Ismail Khan on Friday and Saturday.
According to the source, the policemen killed during the last less than seven months included two inspectors, as many sub-inspectors, five assistant sub-inspectors, three head constables and 43 constables.
Around 40 of the fallen were from their respective district police while others belonged to traffic, Counter-Terrorism Department and other units.
In some incidents, the police posts, offices and vans were attacked with grenades and firing, but no casualty was reported. The rising attacks on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent weeks has set the alarm bells ringing for the government and law enforcement.
Provincial Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in a meeting expressed concern over the rising attacks on cops and directed the bosses to take measures to improve the situation. He directed the senior officers to come up with a comprehensive action plan to stop target killings and other terrorist and criminal incidents. (ANI)