October 29, 2007	Monday	Shawwal 16, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Authorities put Islamabad on Red Alert on Sunday evening after receiving intelligence information that two suicide bombers have entered the city, administration and police officials said.

Policemen in uniform and in plain clothes have been deployed all over the city and new check-points set up. Commuters take such measures as a cause of discomfort to them.

A strict watch was mounted at inter-city bus stations and hotels, motels and sarais in the rural areas of the city were searched to fret out the suicide bombers, according to the officials.

They described the threat-level as “very high” and the motive to be revenge for the security operations being conducted against the pro-Taliban elements in Swat and North and South Waziristan tribal areas.

Police and administration sources told Dawn that police and security forces, government buildings and facilities, and foreign missions could be the “prime target” of the would-be suicide bombers.

In the light of the intelligence information, security in and around Islamabad has been tightened and the city put on “general Red Alert,” they added.

“We have taken precautionary measures on such a scale that the entire city can be sealed off within minutes,” said a senior police official on condition of anonymity.

Check-points have been set up at all entry points of the city and even in sectors and sub-sectors, he added.

Heavy contingents of police and other forces, armed with metal searching tools and modern weapons, have been deployed at all the 72 entry and exit points of the capital, including 32 sensitive points, he said.

Security personnel deployed at the entrance points have instructions to search every person and every vehicle entering Islamabad, the official said.

Those deployed within the city have been told to keep an eye on anti-social elements and take strict action against suspicious persons and vehicles.

All security personnel have instructions to keep a distance of 15 feet between them and to avoid standing in a group.