Overview
- The Office of the Inspector General issued Operational Guidelines OG-45/2026 over the weekend, with IGP Zulfiqar Hameed signing the document and DIG Operations Shakir Hussain Dawar circulating it to regional and district formations.
- The rules set a clear escalation ladder: warnings first, then tear gas and rubber bullets, baton charges for stronger resistance, and aerial firing only in extreme cases on orders of the senior-most officer present.
- Local commanders — DPOs, SDPOs and SHOs — are required to personally oversee protest security, deploy anti-riot and special squads where needed, and coordinate with district administrations and other agencies.
- The guidelines mandate comprehensive video recording of protests to support investigations and prosecutions and authorize police to regulate processions, temporarily close roads and secure sensitive sites such as police stations, banks and highways under the KP Police Act, 2017.
- The directives follow media reports that the federal government may consider emergency powers for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; those reports are unconfirmed and the new rules raise the risk of quicker, documented escalations and greater scrutiny of police actions.