PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have been facing acute shortage of officers which has direct bearing on their fight against terrorism and militancy.

According to an official statement issued here on Thursday, the provincial police had approached the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to meet the acute shortage of officers so they could maintain the operational capability of the units established for curbing militancy.

The province needs five additional inspectors general, while only two are available at present. In the rank of deputy inspector general, only eight officers are presently working against 18 sanctioned posts. Similarly, against 35 sanctioned posts of SSPs only 17 are presently available.

The shortage of officers in the rank of SP is more glaring and of 78 sanctioned posts only 57 are available, the statement adds.

Keeping in view the threats and recent terrorist attacks, the KP police have urged the home and tribal affairs department to approach the federal government to post PSP officers in the province to meet the deficiency and cope with the challenges of militancy.