PESHAWAR, June 25: Finding its bomb disposal squad inadequately equipped to deal with the situation arising out of increasing explosions in the province, the government has decided to strengthen the department, sources said.

Officials said the bomb disposal squad currently had a strength of 16 personnel. Established some 20 years ago, the squad covers Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral, Dir, Tank, Charsadda and other areas.

It takes six hours to reach D.I. Khan, officials said, adding that the government had decided to appoint more staff to cover other regions in the province.

During the past one year, about 20 bomb explosions occurred in the Peshawar city only. Officials said they had defused more than 40 bomb and explosive devices in the city during this period. A sub-inspector and constable of the squad suffered serious injuries in the line of duty.

The squad is required to deploy its personnel at the chief minister’s, and the governor’s houses, NWFP Assembly, public meetings, processions and during VIP movements, official said.

“It has become impossible now to take care of all of these assignments with so small manpower,” he added.

“The process of recruitment will start in a couple of months. A team of four assistant sub-inspectors and 12 constables headed by an officer will be posted in each of the seven regions,” Col (retd) Imran Zia, incharge of the squad said.

Easy availability of explosive materials had made their job more challenging, he said in reply to a question regarding frequent bomb blasts in the province.

Under a government initiative, retired army personnel from the Ordnance Corps would be recruited to strengthen the squad, he added.

He said recently they had conducted a month-long course for 40 police officials from different parts of the province, who were now assisting the squad in addition to performing their duties. During the course, they were imparted physical and practical training on how to defuse bombs and explosives.

As there is no course or training available at college or university level, the government had to recruit retired army personnel, he said in reply to a question.

The official said that at present the bomb disposal squad had only one vehicle to cover the entire province.

The government planned to provide seven vehicles and high-tech equipment, including metal detectors and protective gear, to ensure safety of the staff, he said.

Col Zia said that most of the explosions were caused by home-made bombs, though the detonators or initiators were of Russian make. Terrorists were trained enough to manufacture bombs locally due to easy availability of explosive materials, he added.

He said the US was also providing equipment and financial assistance to strengthen the squad.

He said the general public should also be imparted training on matters relating to civil defence.