02 February 2004	Monday	10 Zilhaj 1424

KOHAT, Feb 1: Military authorities have beefed up security at the PAF base in Kohat, following seizure of three missiles and an incident of rocket firing over the past four days.

Personnel of the Frontier Constabulary were deployed at nearby mountain, officials informed Dawn on Sunday. An official of the airbase said that foolproof security arrangements had been made after reports that in the two incidents the airbase was the main target.

He said that they had their own security system which had been put on high alert. Similarly, the police had established three checkpoints on the western side of the airbase from where the missiles were seized on Friday.

Besides the deployment of police commandos and round-the-clock patrol, FC troops had also been called out in aid of the civil administration, SSP Abid Ali said.

Meanwhile, cases have been registered in the city police stations against unknown terrorists who fired rockets and planted three missiles near the airbase.

The police also interrogated a large number of people of the Shahpur village from where the missiles had been seized to find leads to the terrorists. Intelligence agencies were also in contact with arms suppliers of Darra Adamkhel, FR Kohat, to know whether the missiles and rockets had been purchased from there.

Orakzai Agency is the only area where tribes use such lethal weapons against each other during conflicts but even there the practice had been abandoned after the Pakistan Army entered the region in 2002.