RAWALPINDI: A senior police official on Sunday said that the mosque in Peshawar that was attacked by a suicide bomber on Friday was not categorised as the most sensitive or sensitive and that security had been deployed there as per routine.

The official, who is based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn on condition of anonymity that although there had been no threat alert, police personnel had been deployed outside the mosque. The terrorist first shot and killed one of the two policemen and injured the other before entering the mosque and detonating the explosive wrapped around his body.

Meanwhile, security in Rawalpindi division has been placed on high alert.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Ashfaq Ahmad Khan directed the police in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal districts to improve the security measures, especially for worship places, educational institutions and public places.

He also directed the senior police officers to deploy extra police at sensitive places and launch intelligence-based search operations in their respective areas.

On the third day of the Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Rawalpindi, the RPO and City Police Officer (CPO) Omer Saeed Malik went into a session with senior officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and also reviewed the security measures put in place for the players, cricket lovers and officials.

The RPO, who visited the cricket stadium’s surroundings, directed the police to ensure foolproof security and streamline traffic movement during the matches. About 4,500 police personnel, four companies of the army and two companies of Rangers have already been deployed for the security of the stadium.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2022