Lahore put on terror alert

Tehreek-e-Taliban training child suicide bombers to attack cities, letter warns

LAHORE: Punjab Home Department’s Provincial Intelligence Centre has issued an alert of a possible terrorist attack in the province, especially Lahore. A letter, issued on January 25, states that Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat was training young boys aged between 10 and 12 years as suicide bombers in Kunar, Afghanistan. They would be used to launch attacks on various cities of Pakistan, it warned. One such child, destined for Lahore, revealed that a school near Abdali Chowk was his target. It requested increased security for judicial buildings/residences all over Pakistan to avoid any untoward incident. The authority asked for additional security measures as deemed appropriate. It added a District Intelligence Committee’s meeting must be convened immediately, the threat level be examined and necessary measures taken to avoid any incident. The centre urged extreme vigilance and foolproof security measures, regular combing/search operations and extensive vigilance in the target area, snap checking at pickets and close monitoring of people associated with certain outfits.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2017.