Terrorism threat: Suspects held for tailing passenger bus

The men were arrested in Kohistan on the Karakoram Highway.

GILGIT:

A group of suspected terrorists has been arrested by security forces near Kohistan.

A security official told The Express Tribune that the men were arrested after they were found tailing a passenger bus heading towards Gilgit from Rawalpindi on the Karakoram Highway (KKH). The official said that the men were travelling in a private car in an area between Kohistan and Mansehra, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

However, when contacted, the Gilgit-Baltistan Police expressed ignorance over the development.

“We are not aware of any such incident,” said G-B Deputy Inspector General of Police Ali Sher.

The G-B Police have ensured sufficient security to all passenger buses passing through their territory, he added.

Meanwhile, in a meeting in Chilas on Tuesday, district officials of Diamer and Kohistan discussed ways to make travelling on the KKH safe for passengers.

The officials agreed to set up checkpoints on all unmanned areas besides conducting surveillance of the area between Chilas and Kohistan.

They also decided to seek help of a jirga from Kohistan to ensure safe journey for passengers over the KKH.

The meeting was attended by Kohistan District Coordination Officer Aqil Shah, Kohistan District Police Officer Akbar Ali, a commander of the Frontier Corps, G-B Home Secretary Faisal Zahoor, G-B Deputy Inspector General Amjad and the deputy commissioner of Diamer.

When contacted, G-B Chief Secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotiyana said that a taskforce has been constituted comprising 200 police, 100 FC and 150 Northern Areas Scouts officials to ensure security to passengers on a 120km stretch of the Karakoram Highway.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2012.