PESHAWAR: Inspector-General (IG) Police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nasir Khan Durrani has expressed concern over the provincial government’s decision to terminate the service of 12,500 police officials, which include 10,000 reserve police and 2,500 ex-servicemen employed with the insurgency-hit province’s police force.

The provincial government’s decision will come into effect from June 30, 2016.

The province’s top cop stated a state of war still exists in the province – the province has bore the brunt of insurgent attacks which still continue, although are less frequent now – and the increase in overall threat level due to the construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the cause for his concern over the decision.

“The security situation has not normalised and a state of war still exists in the province, the threat level has also increased with the construction of CPEC,” said Durrani while speaking to DawnNews.

He also added that the security of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) has also been entrusted to the province’s civilian law-enforcement agencies.

“The force already suffers from a shortage of equipment and other facilities, and we have to provide from our existing budget to provide security to KKH.”

Durrani has said he has talked with the chief minister of KP, and has also written a letter to the Home Department to extend the services of the police officials for an additional two years.

The matter is still under discussion with the relevant authorities and a decision has not been reached yet.

The former servicemen and reserve police officials were appointed in 2007, a time when the state’s war against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had gained momentum, and the extra numbers were used to augment the province’s existing force of 67,000 personnel.

During the last two years, with the start of the army’s Operation Zarb-i-Azb in the tribal areas against terrorists, urban districts of the province have been targeted, with a focus on civilian law enforcers as they remain a soft target.