RAWALPINDI: After a recent militant attack on naval facilities in Karachi, the removal of illegal settlements around Nur Khan Airbase and Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) has now become necessary.

People, mostly from Waziristan, have concentrated there; giving rise to the fear that terrorists might have crept into the settlements in their garb.

According to sources, the authorities of the two installations have already drawn the attention of the police towards the threats these settlements pose to Nur Khan Airbase and Benazir Bhutto airport.

In July, they told the City Police Officer (CPO) through a letter to remove the Katchi Abadis, established illegally by Afghan refugees and some of the persons from tribal areas, near Noorani Mohallah, Chaklala, around BBIA and Nur Khan Airbase.

Again in August, the concerned authorities sought the attention of the Rawalpindi CPO towards intelligence reports regarding the terror threats to the defence installations, especially Nur Khan Airbase and BBIA, where VVIP movements take place frequently.

But despite reminders by the concerned authorities, the police failed to remove the Katchi Abadis.

The airport authorities believe that it is the police who are responsible for securing the airport’s surrounding areas, with the assistance of intelligence agencies, and security arrangements need to be reviewed on regular basis.

BBIA and Nur Khan Airbase are surrounded by thickly populated areas like Sadiqabad, Noorani Mohallah Chaklala and Dhoke Lulial.

When the airport authorities were contacted and asked about the security of BBIA in the light of looming threats, they said local police were responsible for securing the areas outside the airport’s premises.

A senior police officer, who requested anonymity, revealed that after the terrorist attack on Karachi airport in June, he had written letters to the city police officer regarding the loopholes in the security of BBIA but received no response.

The special branch, in its report, had also pointed out to the provincial government that three sides of the airport were surrounded by local colonies like Khurram Colony, Lulial-1, Lulial-2 and Hafiz Mohallah. Windows and the rooftops of the localities can be used by terrorists, the report had said.

The Special Branch report had said several incidents of theft, robbery, kidnapping and murder had taken place in and around the airport area.

Besides the Nur Khan Airbase and BBIA authorities, the special branch had also suggested the local police to take strict action against the persons on 4th schedule, when found absent from their homes without prior intimation.

When contacted, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Akhtar Umar Hayat Laleka said that several search operations had been carried out in the surrounding localities of the airbase and BBIA, and nearly 150 illegal Afghans immigrants were arrested and sent to jail.

After completion of their jail sentence, the illegal Afghan immigrants were either deported or shifted to refugee camps.

“Obviously, they might have links in Waziristan because but there had been no specific information regarding their involvement in any anti-state activity,” the RPO said.

He further said that data about the residents of the surrounding areas was being collected by the police on regular basis.

Published in Dawn, September 10th , 2014