PESHAWAR: The Home and Tribal Affairs Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has alerted the officials of police and administration in the province to be aware of any possible terrorist attack as there are chances of sabotage acts in the settled areas in the wake of military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

In a circular to the provincial police officer, all commissioners and capital city police officer on Friday, the home department said that there were certain intelligence/information reports that terrorists could regroup and target vital installations.

“History reveals that in the past too certain jails, airports and offices of intelligence agencies have been targeted. The militants keep observing soft targets and target them when the guard is low,” the circular said. It was stated that in addition to the normal security issues there was a dire need to enhance the security of all the districts and central jails and also ensure continuous surveillance of all the airports and other sensitive buildings.

Home department asks police to boost security of key installations

It stated that in view of the ongoing operation in North Waziristan Agency and other tribal areas it had been anticipated that the terrorists might strike in settled areas of the province to create chaos.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, a high-level meeting was chaired by the secretary home and tribal affairs department Syed Akhtar Ali Shah in order to evolve a comprehensive response and issue directions to all the stakeholders. The secretary stressed the need for hunting down all the proclaimed offenders and anti-social elements so that the writ of the state was established.

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Appreciating the sacrifices of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, the home secretary said that the KP police owing to its bravery had stood firm against all odds and now it was the need of the hour that they should carry out their duties with the same zeal and enthusiasm.

The hone secretary directed the officers that security of vital installations like airports, oil and gas fields and Wapda offices should be beefed up as these might be the potential targets of terrorists. He stressed the need for chalking out plans and their strict implementation.

Keeping in view the gravity of the threats on the eve of forthcoming Eidul Fitr, Mr Shah directed all the district police officers and the individuals concerned to ensure foolproof security to prominent religious and political leaders.

He directed the officials to deploy well-equipped commandos at the sensitive places to avert any untoward incident otherwise strict action would be taken against the officials concerned in case of any incident due to negligence.

The officers of police and administration were asked to visit different areas in their jurisdictions and check the security arrangements during Eidul Fitr. Meanwhile, provincial monitoring cell has been established at the home department, Peshawar, to oversee the security arrangements for Eid. Special directives have been issued to police for taking immediate and effective steps to ensue protection of the mosques and sensitive places besides religious leaders in the province.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2014