PESHAWAR: Mindful of the threat to the life of Dr Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor sentenced to 33 years in prison for assisting the CIA, KPK authorities are considering shifting Afridi to a safer place away from Central Prison Peshawar.

An official source told dawn.com that an important meeting consisting of jail authorities, home department and other law enforcement agencies is being convened tomorrow to discuss the possibility of shifting Afridi, outside KPK for security reasons.

The Attock and Balahisar Fort are also being considered as possible jail cells for him. A high-ranking government official said that Afiridi had already informed jail authorities about a potential threat from Taliban prisoners inside Central Prison Peshawar where the medic is being jailed after punishment by the APA Bara under 40-FCR.

Afiridi is being kept in barrack 16 and around 40 elite force commandos are guarding his cell to counter both internal and external threats.

Besides suggestions of moving Afridi to Balhisar or Attock Fort, proposals to shift him somewhere in Sindh or Punjab are also under consideration, official sources said.

For security purposes, only IG Jails or Superintendent of the Peshawar Jail are authorised to meet Afridi who is reportedly in poor health. A team of senior doctors have been assigned to take care of him inside the prison.