Security measures: All Saints Church gets biometric enabled gates

After the September 22 attack, the govt has started installing security cameras all around the city.

PESHAWAR: When churchgoers walk into All Saints Church on Sunday for Mass, they will have to go through the new biometric enabled security gates installed by the police.

A security measure which, according to the authorities, will soon be adopted in churches all around the city. Installed on the instruction of the inspector general after the September 22 twin bombings, the gates will identify everyone who enters or leaves the premises.  Over 80 people were killed and 150 were injured in the blasts after the Sunday Mass at the All Saints Church.



The provincial government has also started installing security cameras at different locations throughout the city and will use a computerised security system linked to the inspector general’s office to monitor the city. They have also asked church administrations to hire their own security guards and let the government pay their salaries as right now they do not have enough security personnel.

According to the Bishop of Peshawar Humphrey Sarfaraz Peter, the biometric gates were a good security measure but should not be limited to the city. “Our churches are being targeted everywhere,” he said. “Such biometric enabled gates and extra security personnel should be deployed at churches around the province.”

“We have hired three guards from a private security firm but so far the government has not paid them,” said the bishop. “We request the government to pay the security guards so they can continue with their job.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2013.