Action against militants: K-P govt to launch targeted operation

Peshawar to be divided into four zones.

PESHAWAR: With 144 people dead in three major attacks during the past week, the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa government has finally decided to launch a targeted operation, dividing Peshawar into four zones.

After a high-level meeting held between military and intelligence officials, Home Secretary Akhtar Ali Shah briefed the journalists, saying: “The current attacks cannot be seen in isolation but are a continuation of what has been happening in the province for a long time.” He added that the flaws in the current system were being analysed and changes are to be made soon.

About the decision to set up a task force to help curb militant attacks and counter insurgency, he said that the task force will be dealt at provincial level and will be headed by the chief secretary, 11 Corps, Frontier C, additional IG, additional chief secretary Fata, commissioner, officials of home department, IGP, Corps headquarter and all intelligence agencies from the province.

A second special task force will be constituted only to safeguard Peshawar. This will be headed by the Peshawar commissioner, deputy commissioner, capital city police officer and will use the army at the local level.

To chalk out the strategy the task force is about to hold another high-level meeting on Monday (today). It will be chaired by the chief minister.

Short term and long term goals of these task forces will be specified in the meeting. “On an immediate basis, the K-P inspector general police will be heading the counter-insurgency as well as intelligence operations till the task forces completed their jobs,” he explained.

The task forces will not only deal with the situation at hand but they will also put in place a proper investigative mechanism to deal with culprits previously involved in terrorism.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2013.