ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The caretaker government on Thursday decided to seek army’s assistance in maintaining peace in all sensitive areas of the country during Muharram, interior ministry sources told Dawn.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held at the interior ministry to review security arrangements made for the 8th, 9th and 10th Muharram.
Army troops have already been deployed in some districts of Sindh and more troops will be deployed in other parts of the country, including the federal capital.
The sources said that the centre had discussed security issues with provincial governments and asked them to optimise their security plans. They said that troops had reached Islamabad and were at standby in barracks.
The job of security officials has become more challenging after terrorists started targeting them at public meetings, processions and rallies.
Meanwhile, a high-level British delegation, led by Robert Hannigan, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Security Adviser, called on Interior Minister Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Nawaz and offered advanced equipment to Pakistans security agencies to foil terrorist attacks.
The delegation’s visit follows an agreement between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Gordon Brown to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation.
The two sides agreed that terrorism and radicalism posed a threat to every country and a concerted and coordinated response was needed to curb them.
The meeting reviewed the counter-terrorism cooperation and explored areas where it could be reinforced.
