QUETTA: A massive search operation was laun­ched by the Frontier Corps in the Kili Deeba and adjoining areas on Sunday to consolidate peace in the locality.

FC Commander Quetta Brigadier Khalid Baig said more than 3,000 personnel, among them 208 women, were participating in the operation.

He said FC personnel were collecting information after conducting house-to-house search and once the area was cleared nine checkposts would be built and the locality would be monitored by 36 CCTV cameras.

He said six medical camps had been set up to facilitate the residents and gifts distributed among people. An area of 300sq-km is being covered under the operation which will continue for the next 24 hours.

Talking to reporters at the Sector Headquarters Help Centre, Brigadier Baig said that the decision to carry out the search operation in Kili Deeba, Baloch Colony, Railway Colony and Wahdat Colony had been taken following recent incidents of targeted killings and bomb explosions in Quetta.

He said the FC and police were playing their role in ensuring the protection of people’s lives.

He said about million people were living in 7,500 houses in the area, adding that fingerprints of all the residents would be verified by the National Database and Registration Authority as part of the operation.

According to the brigadier, an unspecified number of suspects have been picked up from the area for allegedly carrying out subversive activities.

In reply to a question, the commander said two intelligence-based operations were being carried out daily.

He said India was spending of $44 million in Balochistan to destabilise it through banned organisations, but intelligence agencies, Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, police and other law enforcement agencies were foiling their conspiracies.

He said details would be shared with the media after the completion of the operation.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2017