Men in white: ‘We’re always an easy target for terrorists’

Saturday's assault has pushed death toll of police personnel in Karachi this year to 16, says senior CTD official

KARACHI: The tough nature of the Karachi traffic police's job is undeniable. Dressed in all white, these policemen stand under the scorching sun, breathing in smoke and dust while trying to discipline an overwhelming number of vehicles on the road.

Add to that, they are perhaps the most vulnerable security force, standing in the open, without even as much as a bullet-proof vest, making for an easy target for attacks.

On Saturday, two traffic police personnel were gunned down by unidentified armed motorcyclist while they were on duty at a busy neighbourhood in Karachi Saturday afternoon.

"The latest assault has pushed the police officials' death toll in the last five months to 16 in Karachi," a senior Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official said.

The slain officers may be a statistic for many, but for their colleagues, they were brothers.



Commenting on the latest targeted attack, a traffic police head constable told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that they are always vulnerable to attacks due to the nature of their job. “We are always an easy target for terrorists,” he said.

While the government is to have already taken measures to equip traffic police to counter attacks, the officer argued it is all futile, saying: "How can we protect ourselves when we are always surrounded by vehicles and people? We can’t always be on our toes.”



Assistant Inspector General of Traffic Police Tahir Noorani told AFP that after the killing of nine traffic policemen last year, all field staff had been armed and directed to wear bulletproof vests while on duty.

“Although everyone in our check post has been provided bullet-proof jackets, it is not feasible to put them on in the scorching heat of Karachi,” the head constable said.

“Even wearing bullet-proof vests is of no use. Look at [Saturday’s] attack, the officers were shot in the head,” he said, adding, “The only viable solution is to wear helmets along with vests.”



At the same time, he instantly shoots down his own suggestion, saying that wearing helmets is impractical as it may hinder their sight.

Regarding steps that have already taken to beef up security of traffic police officers, he said the government has provided weapons to them and those who have personal weapons have been allowed to carry it while on duty.

However, the head constable said they have not given any training to counter attacks.

In order to minimise the risk being faced by traffic cops, he suggested officers should not be required to be on roads all the time. “When traffic is running smoothly, we should be allowed to go and sit in our check posts and be back on the road when traffic starts getting congested.”

Last year 79 policemen - including four senior officials and nine traffic policemen - were shot dead by unidentified gunmen.