LAKKI MARWAT — The Police Aman Committee, a collective of serving officers, reopened vital transport corridors to traffic on Sunday, ending a three-day policemen protest in Lakki Marwat.
The demonstration followed a devastating roadside bomb blast in the Bettani subdivision on Friday, which targeted a police van, claiming the lives of seven officers and leaving one seriously injured. The tragedy ignited deep-seated anger and unrest among the colleagues of the fallen, prompting the Police Aman Committee to initiate the strike.
Policemen protest in Lakki Marwat after deadly attack on police vehicle
On Friday night, committee members—dressed in both civilian clothes and official uniforms while carrying their service rifles—established blockades at the Darra Tang and Wanda Banochi checkposts. These strategic points control the entry and exit for the district along the Bannu-Mianwali and Bannu-Dera Ismail Khan roads.
This policemen protest in Lakki Marwat effectively paralyzed the regional supply chain. The closure of the Bannu-Dera Road halted the flow of goods between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country via the Peshawar-Karachi Highway. As a result, long queues of loaded freight vehicles formed on both sides of the checkpoints, stranding transporters for two consecutive nights.
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Amid the standoff, local villagers and welfare organizations provided humanitarian aid, arranging Sehr and Iftar for the stranded drivers. Eventually, Aman Committee President Khalid Khan announced the reopening of the main arteries at the Wanda Banochi checkpost near Darra Pezu town.
While acknowledging the hardships faced by transporters, Khan maintained that the committee had no alternative but to take this drastic step. He stated the protest aimed to sensitize higher authorities to the “genuine” issues confronting frontline officers engaged in counter-terrorism efforts within the district.
