ISLAMABAD: A task force, comprising policemen trained by the armed forces and US officials, has been constituted to tackle any terror incident like the Badaber PAF camp attack in Peshawar last month.

Officials in the police said there was no specialised force in the capital city, which houses a number of important buildings.

They said the capability and skills of the capital police were not adequate to act against terrorists in an emergency situation. Besides, the force being established under the National Action Plan (NAP) would take time to be deployed in the field as it was currently getting training.

For the new task force, 120 personnel were selected from the Anti-Terrorist Squad. The age limit for the constables and head constables selected for the force was fixed at 35 years and that for the assistant sub-inspectors and sub-inspectors at 45 years.

Consisting of 120 well-trained personnel, the force will be used to tackle any terror activity in capital city

Those who got training from the army in Kharian and US officials at the Police Lines Headquarters during the last few years were selected for the force. The force has been divided into three groups, each comprising 40 personnel.

Two spots were also selected in the city where 20 officials of the force would be on a standby round the clock.

The task force personnel have been equipped with modern and sophisticated weapons, including anti-terrorism gear. The force also included snipers who got training from foreign trainers after 2013.

However, the officials said there was still a shortage of sniper rifles and efforts were in progress to arrange the guns for each of the personnel.

Earlier, the capital police had a contingent of well skilled and trained 100 personnel of Anti-Terrorist Squad. They were trained to swiftly act against terrorists in order to contain damages. The squad made their first appearance at Ninth Avenue a few years ago to remove a religious leader from I.J. Principal Road where he led his supporters to block the road for over five hours.

Now the contingent is patrolling different roads of the capital city along with the Rangers. Due to their engagement in maintaining peace, there was a need to establish another force to exclusively deal with terrorists.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2015

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