Safety net foils drone strike on Hassankhel police station

An anti-drone net saved Hassankhel police station after a quadcopter dropped an improvised explosive device on the building, police said. The device did not reach the roof because of the net fitted over the facility.

Superintendent of Police for the Saddar division, Fida Hussain, told Dawn that the device was locally manufactured and had been dropped from a quadcopter. He said the net installed over the rooftop protected the building.

What the device contained

According to Hussain, the attackers used an energy drink bottle filled with explosives, nuts and bolts. He said the device could have caused damage, but the precautionary measures taken by police protected the facility.

The report did not mention any injuries. The device was stopped before it could strike the roof, which is where the net did its work.

Why the nets matter

Hussain said all police installations within his jurisdiction had been given similar protection. That covers the Badhber, Mattani and Hassankhel police stations, along with police posts in the area.

The nets are a low-cost answer to a specific threat. A quadcopter can cross a boundary wall and drop a small device on a rooftop without an attacker coming near the building. A net over the roof breaks that flight path and keeps the device away from the structure and the people inside.

Police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have faced this threat before. Earlier in October, a quadcopter attack was reported on the Raghzai police station in Bannu, and police posts in the province have repeatedly come under drone-dropped devices. The Hassankhel incident shows why stations in exposed areas now treat rooftop nets as basic equipment rather than an extra.

A station under repeated threat

Hassankhel police station sits some 86 kilometres south of Peshawar. Dawn reported that it had remained under constant attack for some time.

The area borders Peshawar, Kohat and Nowshera districts. That position, at the meeting point of three districts, makes the station a visible target for groups able to move across district lines and strike from a distance.

The use of a quadcopter fits that pattern. It lets attackers hit a fixed target without entering the station or engaging its guards, which is why physical defences such as nets have become part of the response.

What happens next

Police have not named any group behind the attempt in the Dawn report, and no arrests were mentioned. The immediate result is straightforward: the station stayed intact and its staff stayed safe because the net held.

The wider question is whether the netting programme keeps pace with the threat. Stations and posts across the Saddar division already have nets, according to Hussain. The test will be whether that protection extends to smaller posts further out, where a single quadcopter can still do serious harm.

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Why are police stations fitting anti-drone nets?

Quadcopters can drop small explosive devices on rooftops without an attacker approaching the building. A net over the roof stops the device before it reaches the structure.

Where is Hassankhel police station?

It is located about 86 kilometres south of Peshawar, in an area bordering Peshawar, Kohat and Nowshera districts.

Was anyone hurt in the Hassankhel incident?

The Dawn report did not mention any injuries. The device was stopped by the net before it reached the roof.