Bomb threat: As terrorism threats rise, so do security measures in Peshawar

Road blocks and police barricades cause delays, vex people.

PESHAWAR:

Following a bomb threat near the Frontier Constabulary (FC) Headquarters on Thursday, the usually busy Dil Jan Market lay deserted, with no business activity.

The market’s closure came in the wake of the ongoing security threat in the city that has led to the closure of several roads and markets since Monday.

A police official told The Express Tribune that Dil Jan Market, named after a former head of the paramilitary force, and an FC petrol pump located on the Sunheri Masjid Road, were closed following a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax.

The official said that both the market and the pump were shut down by the FC itself and the police had nothing to do with the closure. He explained that the police had received reports of an explosives-laden vehicle roaming the city.

Meanwhile, the city continued to witness extensive traffic jams for the third consecutive day due to unprecedented security measures across the city.

The authorities have diverted all public vehicles from Khyber Road to Sher Shah Suri Road, Sunehri Masjid Road and Khadim Hussain Road to reach Gora Qabristan.

Due to the increased flow of traffic on these roads, lengthy traffic jams have been witnessed near Saddar, Shouba Bazaar, Namak Mandi and Soekarno Square.

In addition, the police personnel deployed on roads across the city have increased visibly.

Strict security measures have been taken at Soekarno Square, Firdous Chowk, Khyber Super Market and on the road linking Gulberg and Sunehri Masjid Road to keep a check on suspicious vehicles.

Apart from that, police barricades have been installed near Central Jail to keep strict vigilance on traffic.

Even though the authorities have relaxed the checking on Khyber Road and University Road, the check points in front at West Cantonment, Khyber House and other police stations are still present, causing delays to people.

The traffic on the Grand Trunk Road from Gulbahar Chowk to Nishtarabad is already congested due to the construction work on Arbab Sikandar Khalil Flyover.
The police barricades, however, have further exacerbated the situation.

It is also expected that the traffic flow would worsen due to the provincial assembly session which is to start from Friday (today).

Senior Superintendent of Police Traffic was not immediately available for a comment.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2011.