The choice to keep their doors closed has not been without reason – intelligence agencies warned NGOs of threats to their workers – in particular their women workers. DESIGN: SUNARA NIZAMI
Non-governmental organisations (NGO) in DI Khan have been asked by law enforcement agencies to inform their local police station before sending workers out for field work.
Security has been ramped up since the July 29 jailbreak; exit and entry points of DI Khan city continue to be manned by Pakistan Army and police personnel. According to a statement issued by the DI Khan DPO, restaurant and hotel records are being monitored daily.
Even though extra measures are in place, concerns of security breaches persist in DI Khan and Tank districts. By-polls in DI Khan-cum-Tank were postponed pre-emptively.
As the city and surrounding areas remain tense, most international and local NGOs are still out of play. Their employees have been given time off, especially the women. Those still coming to work have been told to be extra cautious in the field.
The choice to keep their doors closed has not been without reason – intelligence agencies warned NGOs of threats to their workers – in particular their women workers.
An official at the DI Khan DPO office told The Express Tribune the organisations have been warned; they have been cautioned in their work in villages in the district. He was reluctant to share more information about the nature and source of these threats.
Earlier, the district’s Social Welfare Department head Shah Zaman held a news conference in DI Khan where he asked not-for-profit organisations to limit their activities and avoid sending their women employees to the city’s outskirts due to security concerns.
Earlier this year, women working on Daewoo buses travelling between DI Khan and Peshawar were threatened by militants. As a precautionary measure, the bus company replaced the hostesses with male hosts.
On July 29, members of the banned organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led a shock and awe assault on the DI Khan Central Jail, freeing 250 inmates including some high-profile TTP militants.
At least 12 people including four policemen were killed and seven others wounded in the brazen assault staged by militants disguised in police uniforms. A local police official said he saw militants carrying rocket launchers and firing at the jail.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2013.
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