PESHAWAR, July 22: Law-enforcement agencies are ill-equipped and ill-prepared to deal effectively with the emerging security situation as a wave of violence takes its toll across the province.

The spate of terrorist attacks, which have claimed nearly 100 lives and wounded scores of others in less than two weeks, has adversely affected routine life everywhere, particularly in the provincial capital.

Due to the persisting thr-eat, business activities in the city have slowed down with consumers being reluctant to go shopping, according to some shopkeepers.

People have been living in an atmosphere of fear. For the first time, they are experiencing ‘first hand’ the phenomenon of suicide bombing since the beginning of the Afghan imbroglio.

There’s no rush in markets and bazaars. Business of restaurants and cold corners has been affected and, according to shopkeepers, there has been a 40 to 50 per cent decline in the number of consumers visiting them.

People would not come to bazaars for fear of being killed, said a salesman at a shopping centre. Traffic police said the flow of traffic in the city had also receded.

Private sector firms, especially banks, have acquired the services of private security agencies. An official of a security agency said 5,000 private guards were providing security to banks, foreign missions, educational institutes and business outlets in the city.

Police have focused their attention on improving security at government buildings and escorting high-profile personalities, including ministers and senior officials.

The army has sealed areas where its installations exist. But tax-payers have been left at the mercy of terrorists.

The ill-equipped and neglected police force, which has always served as a backbone for internal security, has been taking certain makeshift precautionary measures to counter the threat of terrorism. Some entry points around the city have been barricaded. Vehicles are being searched and a small number of policemen have been deployed in plain clothes to check movement of suspected elements.

Officials said police had been using conventional methods to deal with the situation. Police lack skills, equipment and own intelligence network and rely on the outdated ‘naka bandi’ tactics and search of vehicles. The only intelligence gathering network with the police department is its tiny special branch police.

Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said the government has 19,000 assault rifles for 35,000 policemen and eight of 23 armoured personnel carriers with the force are in working condition.

“The fact is that our police force has neither resources nor it is fit for countering this kind of terrorism. Even senior police officials have no training and expertise to cope with such security problems,” observed a senior official. He said security of probable targets was being strengthened and some entry points had been barricaded to restore people’s confidence.

According to a security analyst, the police force also lacked basic investigative skills in collecting evidence and had few technical resources at their disposal.

“Civil authorities have inadequate intelligence collecting assets. The competent organisation in the country is Inter Services Intelligence, which has been increasingly involved in managing or orchestrating domestic developments. Furthermore, the relationship between the ISI and police is not reciprocal, particularly in terms of information exchange,” she maintained.

Officials accuse the federal government of ignoring the deteriorating law and order situation in the NWFP and the tribal areas. The centre provided assistance to the province at a time when lots of water has flown down the bridge, they say.