Five officials of Punjab’s Elite Force were martyred in an attack by dacoits in Rahim Yar Khan on Thursday night. At least two officials were injured in the attack as well. At least one dacoit was gunned down in the operation launched in reponse.

The dacoits attacked the Sheikhani picket in Rahim Yar Khan with grenades and rocket launchers, where seven officials were on duty.

As a result of the attack, five of the officials were martyred in the attack and two injured. The injured were shifted to a hospital.

The martyred officials have been identified as Irfan, Saleem, Khalil, Ghazanfar, and Nakhil.

IG Punjab Usman Anwar strongly condemned the incident, calling it ‘cowardly’. He added that the dacoits had taken advantage of the dark of the night to launch the attack but it would not deter the Punjab police. He added that the operation against the dacoits will continue with full force.

Police launched a search operation to apprehend the dacoits involved in the incident, resulting in the killing of at least one dacoit.