Being prepared: Security arrangements finalised for Muharram

All imambargahs will be provided with comprehensive security arrangements, says a police official.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Home and Tribal Affairs department along with the police have chalked out a comprehensive security plan for the month of Muharram.

A high-level meeting of commissioners and deputy commissioners chaired by Home Secretary Akhtar Ali Shah reviewed the security situation in the province. Peshawar, Hangu, Kohat and DI Khan were declared ‘most sensitive areas’.

It was decided in the meeting that clerics involved in preaching sectarian violence would be banned during Muharram. Moreover, the bomb disposal squad (BDS) will check the routes of Muharram processions, while Afghan refugees would be asked to stay inside their camps during the month. Checkpoints will also be established on all routes leading to Peshawar from FR Peshawar, FR Kohat and Khyber Agency.

A police official said all imambargahs will be provided with comprehensive security arrangements.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2013.