At least 11 policemen were martyred, and seven others were injured when bandits in the kacha area launched a rocket attack on their vans in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, on Thursday.

The devastating attack took place in the Machka area, one of the riverine regions of Rahim Yar Khan. According to police officials, two police vans carrying over 20 officers became trapped in rainwater when bandits attacked them with rockets. The brutal assault resulted in the martyrdom of nearly a dozen officers, with seven others wounded and four reported missing.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack on the Punjab police, honoring the martyred officers. He also prayed for the swift recovery of the injured policemen and assured that the government would support the families of the fallen officers.

Bandit groups operating in riverine areas have long posed challenges to law and order in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, despite numerous operations aimed at eliminating them.

In April, a National Action Plan implementation review committee, meeting at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) headquarters, decided to launch a joint operation by Sindh and Punjab police forces against the notorious dacoits in the kacha areas of Sindh. The directive came from Interior Minister Naqvi, who chaired the high-level meeting attended by the interior secretary, heads of Nacta and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the police chiefs of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, along with provincial home secretaries.