PESHAWAR: Mansehra Assistant Commissioner (AC) Adil Waseem was injured on Saturday when unknown gunmen opened fire at his official vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district, officials said.

Muhammad Asim, the spokesperson of Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, said Waseem was “stable” and was receiving medical treatment.

Waseem came under attack in Nowshera’s Panah Kot area while on his way back from his native village Saleh Khana in the district, police officials in Nowshera said.

He sustained injuries and was immediately taken to the hospital.

According to Nowshera District Police Officer (DPO) Sonia Shamroz, the area was immediately cordoned off and a search operation was launched. She added that a team has been constituted to arrest those behind the attack.

DPO Shamroz further said a case has been registered and investigation into the incident was under way.

KP has been witnessing increased terrorist attacks and security challenges in recent years, including attacks on law enforcement personnel and officials.

According to a recent report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan recor­ded a sharp 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026, re­­versing a declining trend reported in the first and second quarters.

KP and Balochistan remained the epicentres of violence, jointly accounting for 98pc of all fatalities during the period. Balochistan recorded 829 deaths, nearly 59pc of the national total, while KP reported 556 fatalities, accounting for more than 39pc.

On Thursday night, a cop was martyred after terrorists attacked a police post in Bajaur district’s Barang tehsil.

Last week, four policemen, including a Counter-Terrorism Department official and a station house officer, were martyred while two terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire in the Karak district.

In December 2025, Miranshah AC Shah Wali was among four martyred after the official’s vehicle came under attack in Bannu. In July that year, Nawagai subdivision AC Faisal Ismail and four others lost their lives in an explosion targeting a government vehicle in Bajaur.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have integrated anti-drone systems and surveillance drones operating across the province into the Safe City Peshawar’s Command and Control Centre to strengthen security and surveillance capabilities.

With the integration of Safe City cameras and anti-drone systems, live video and surveillance feeds from police drones operating anywhere in the province, including during field operations and offensives carried out against terrorists by the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), can now be monitored at the Command and Control Centre.

Under the new system, hostile quadcopters and drones will not only be detected promptly but also neutralised, KP Safe Cities Project Director Deputy Inspector General Ijaz Ahmad said.

Addressing a news conference at the Command and Control Centre, DIG Ahmad said anti-drone systems installed in Peshawar and other cities had been linked to the centre.

Drones, anti-drone systems integrated into Peshawar’s Safe City network

He said live monitoring of police operations, including those conducted by the CTD across the province, had also become possible, facilitating the timely sharing of information.

The DIG said modern anti-drone systems had already been deployed in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Tank and Bannu districts to meet evolving security requirements and counter emerging warfare threats. Anti-drone guns had also been provided to police personnel in remote and sensitive areas of the province, he added.

He said the objective was to enhance the police’s ability to promptly detect and neutralise potential threats posed by hostile quadcopters and drones.

The DIG said monitoring and control of police surveillance drones across the province had also been incorporated into the central system.

“Now, during a police operation in any area, live video footage captured by drones will be transmitted to the central Command and Control Centre. This will keep senior police officers directly informed about the ground situation and help them support field operations effectively,” he said.

However, he said the lack of internet connectivity in some areas remained a challenge. Steps were being taken in collaboration with the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) to address the issue, he added.

He said the integrated use of modern technology, drone surveillance, anti-drone systems and centralised monitoring would further strengthen the police’s operational capabilities, security surveillance and response to militant threats.

Making the policing system more effective, coordinated and modern through technology was the need of the hour, he said, adding that the Safe Cities project was providing technical support to the KP police in this regard.

Meanwhile, the KP police have established a specialised human resource division trained in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) combat to wage high-tech warfare against terrorists, whose use of drones is evolving from surveillance and ammunition drops to swarm attacks.

The UAV division, initially conceived as an idea, was established in response to advances in terrorists’ capabilities and their growing shift from conventional street fighting to aerial warfare.

The personnel have been trained in modern drone operation, aerial surveillance, intelligence gathering, counterterrorism, protection of sensitive installations and the use of UAV technology in high-risk operations.

The division is the first of its kind established by a police department in the country.

An official said the KP police had realised that technology alone was insufficient and had taken the crucial step of establishing a specialised division of personnel trained in UAV operations.

“These personnel are not only trained to operate drones for surveillance but are also capable of conducting electronic warfare against hostile UAVs,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2026