PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday expressed concern about the deteriorating law and order situation and attacks on the personnel of law- enforcement agencies in the province and decided to forma high-level committee to regularly oversee the implementation of the recommendations made in the National Action Plan.

The decision was made during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan to review the law and order situation in the province.

The other participants included special assistant to the chief minister on information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, chief secretary Dr Shehzad Bangash, Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari, home secretary Yahya Akhwanzada, commissioner of Peshawar Riaz Khan Mehsud and other relevant officials.

According to an official statement issued later, the meeting reviewed the overall law and order situation of the province, including tribal districts.

Govt decides to revisit security measures for educational institutions

The relevant officials said the current security situation in Afghanistan had direct impact on law and order in the province.

They said the law and order situation had deteriorated in the province as attacks on the personnel of LEAs had increased and the ‘threat level’ was high.

The officials said LEAs were fully prepared to deal with such challenges in an effective manner and they had achieved a number of remarkable successes during actions against miscreants.

The participants called for result-oriented steps under a joint strategy of all the relevant stakeholders to prevent the law and order incidents in the province, while the relevant authorities were asked to take necessary steps for the purpose.

They decided to revisit the security plans of educational institution and sensitive places in the province and make plans for foolproof security for the purpose.

The participants called for improvement in the existing system of investigation and prosecution to make it aligned with the challenges of the prevailing situation, while the relevant quarters were directed to propose necessary amendments to the relevant laws for the purpose.

The chief minister directed the law-enforcement agencies to gear up intelligence- based operations against miscreants and focus special attention on result-oriented actions against drug peddlers and extortionists.

He also sought ‘solid’ proposals to further strengthen the police, especially the counter-terrorism department, to enable it to effectively deal with the emerging law and order situation.

The chief minister said the provincial government always fulfilled the needs of law-enforcement agencies on priority basisand would continue providing them with the required resources.

Five security personnel were martyred between Wednesday night and Thursday in Peshawar, Khyber, Nowshera and Kohat districts.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2022