ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: The Interior Ministry on Saturday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be adopted by law-enforcement agencies to prevent suicide bombings during Ashura.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Brig (retd) Javed Iabal Cheema said in a statement that the provinces had been asked to inform law-enforcement personnel about the SOP.

He said that all measures had been taken to ensure a foolproof security during Ashura. Apart from police forces, personnel of Rangers, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and the army were being deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

He said that 36 districts -- 15 in Punjab, nine in Sindh, eight in the NWFP, one in Balochistan and three in Northern Areas — had been declared sensitive and special attention was being paid to ensure security in these districts.

Mr Cheema said that peace committees comprising ulema and law-enforcement officials had been activated and meetings were being held daily to take stock of the situation.

He said that metal detectors, closed-circuit televisions and screening machines had been installed outside venues of religious gatherings.

He said that contingency plans had also been prepared and SOP devised for security of the routes of Ashura processions.