ISLAMABAD, Oct 19 A letter sent to the Inspector-General of Punjab Police by the commandant of the Sihala Police College seeking clarification from the interior ministry and the Foreign Office about the use of their installation has confirmed that it had been under the use of US counter-terrorism training personnel since 2003.

Dawn has learnt that the letter was also forwarded to the personal secretary of the interior minister.

The college's commandant, Nasir Khan Durrani, said that the US Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance had set up a camp inside the college premises in 2003 to train counter-terrorism Crisis Response Teams.

The interior ministry conveyed its concurrence, and the American embassy was allowed to use the premises for training. Besides, the embassy was also allowed to build necessary facilities, including a firing range and an armoury.

The letter said that even the college administration was not allowed access to the camp.

“High explosive material is stored inside the premises,” the letter said, adding that storage of such hazardous material “in the vicinity of a training institute is a security risk”.

The commandant requested the interior ministry and Intelligence Bureau to take steps to ensure “appropriate and adequate” safety.

He said that the terms and condition, duration and the protocol vis-a-vis the college administration was “unclear, therefore, the issue may kindly be taken up with the home department to seek clarification/advice on the issue from the ministry of interior and Foreign Office”.

The college commandant could not be contacted for comments.

The sources told Dawn that American diplomats had selected the location for the anti-terrorist training camp after a country-wide survey and demanded the site.

They said they suspected that sophisticated monitoring equipment had been installed in the camp to monitor activities taking place in sensitive installations located around the Sihala college.

They said that a large and thick concrete wall blocked their view of the camp and even the college administration was not allowed to enter it.