The protest by police personnel from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s merged tribal districts continued for a third consecutive day at Bab-e-Khyber in Jamrud, with protesters announcing a phased escalation of their campaign over unresolved demands.

In the first phase, the police have announced a boycott of security duties for the upcoming polio vaccination campaign if their demands are not accepted within two days. They have also announced a ban on wearing the current police uniform.

Addressing the ongoing sit-in in Jamrud, All FATA Police Chairman Syed Jalal Wazir said the provincial government was not sincere in resolving the issues of police personnel in the merged districts.

He demanded that the agreement reached between the government and police be finalized and that the officers’ longstanding concerns be addressed immediately.

Wazir said an Apex Committee had been formed at XI Corps on the basis of 22 demands, and all of their demands had been accepted, but no practical progress had been made on the agreement.

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He said police personnel had been protesting in uniform for several days in the constituency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, but the government had yet to contact them.

Wazir warned that if their demands were not accepted within two days, police in all merged districts would boycott security duties during the polio campaign. He also announced that personnel would stop wearing their current uniforms and would instead wear the former Khasadar Force uniform.

He said the police would then return to their communities to continue their protest.

According to Wazir, the next phase of the protest would involve locking the offices of District Police Officers (DPOs) across the merged districts. He added that tribal elders would also stand with the police in support of their demands.

Wazir urged the provincial government to take immediate notice of the situation and implement the agreement reached with the merged districts police to prevent the protest from escalating further.