Foolproof arrangements: Security personnel issued special passes for ‘sensitive areas’
Move comes in wake of threat alert issued by federal interior ministry.
Move comes in wake of threat alert issued by federal interior ministry. PHOTO: APP/ FILE
GILGIT:
Police deployed in sensitive places in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) have been issued special passes to avoid any security lapse during Muharram.
According to a police official, the step was taken after intelligence reports suggested terrorists might break in the security cordon in the guise of security personnel.
“It’s compulsory for all personnel to keep the passes with them,” the official said on Tuesday, adding security personnel without passes would not be allowed to enter ‘sensitive areas’.
The federal interior ministry had earlier issued a threat alert to the G-B government, asking it to tighten security across G-B, especially in the capital Gilgit Town. It maintained terrorists had infiltrated the region with the intention to attack processions and mosques.
DIG Ali Sher termed the step “a prerequisite to maintain law and order during Muharram.”
“Given the information, it was all the more important for us to have a foolproof security plan in the town,” said the DIG, who is in charge of Gilgit’s security.
Apart from the police, local volunteers and boy scouts have also been issued passes to ensure peaceful culmination of religious activities during the month, shared Sher.
In June this year, terrorists disguised as Gilgit Scouts killed 10 foreign trekkers and their Pakistani guide in a brazen night-time assault at the base of Nanga Parbat. In a similar attack, terrorists wearing military uniforms killed 10 passengers on the Karakoram Highway in Kohistan last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th,2013.
Police deployed in sensitive places in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) have been issued special passes to avoid any security lapse during Muharram.
According to a police official, the step was taken after intelligence reports suggested terrorists might break in the security cordon in the guise of security personnel.
“It’s compulsory for all personnel to keep the passes with them,” the official said on Tuesday, adding security personnel without passes would not be allowed to enter ‘sensitive areas’.
The federal interior ministry had earlier issued a threat alert to the G-B government, asking it to tighten security across G-B, especially in the capital Gilgit Town. It maintained terrorists had infiltrated the region with the intention to attack processions and mosques.
DIG Ali Sher termed the step “a prerequisite to maintain law and order during Muharram.”
“Given the information, it was all the more important for us to have a foolproof security plan in the town,” said the DIG, who is in charge of Gilgit’s security.
Apart from the police, local volunteers and boy scouts have also been issued passes to ensure peaceful culmination of religious activities during the month, shared Sher.
In June this year, terrorists disguised as Gilgit Scouts killed 10 foreign trekkers and their Pakistani guide in a brazen night-time assault at the base of Nanga Parbat. In a similar attack, terrorists wearing military uniforms killed 10 passengers on the Karakoram Highway in Kohistan last year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th,2013.