Brace yourself: Police on red alert as more attacks feared

Law enforcers deployed at public places, sensitive areas.

KARACHI:

The attack on Karachi airport by militants has led to a sense of uneasiness among the public and experts believe that the threat level at public places has increased further.

Since airstrikes began in North Waziristan, the National Crises Management Cell has been providing the Sindh police with data on the possibility of airport-like attacks in other public places, including major shopping malls and markets.

As trust in law enforcement agencies is at an all-time low, a large chunk of Karachi’s 22 million population relies on private security guards, who now out-number the city’s police force.



However, security analysts point out that these ‘untrained and unauthorised-to-shoot’ private guards, despite their large numbers, can neither prevent nor handle a large-scale terrorist attack, similar to the one on the airport. “These private security guards are not trained to handle an insurgency,” said former IGP Afzal Shigri. “However, despite the increased threat levels, the government cannot deploy the police or military at all shopping malls or public places.”

Shigri feels that law enforcement agencies must shoulder some of the blame as they failed to have a ‘security audit’ conducted at various public places, including the airport. However, he feels that it is not too late and security audits should be conducted so that a new security plan can be chalked out after identifying weak and susceptible areas. “Citizens also need to take responsibility and report any suspicious activity that they may witness,” he added.

Are public places secure?

Shopkeepers and market association members suggest the formation of a special strike force to deal with potential threats to public places.

“We are taking extraordinary security measures to ensure that our customers are safe but we still need the help of the government as we cannot combat this threat entirely on our own,” said the head of security affairs of a major superstore, Danial Ashfaq. “We cannot disclose our security arrangements as that may compromise them and lead to a breach but we can assure customers that we have arranged state-of-the-art security measures to ensure their safety.”

However, owner of one of the city’s major cinemas, Nadeem Mandviwalla, agreed with Shigri and said that malls and cinemas have no extraordinary security arrangements in place and therefore need the help of law enforcement agencies to ensure that the places remain safe. “The government must establish a special strike force to deal with the potential threats faced by the public,” said Mandiwalla. “We cannot ask people to lock themselves up in their homes so the government must do something about their safety.”

The police

District South DIG Abdul Khaliq Sheikh informed that the Karachi police are aware of the potential threats and that a red alert has been issued in certain sensitive parts of the city.

“Malls and cinemas have their own security arrangements but we have also beefed up security measures at markets following the attack on the airport,” he claimed. “A large number of plain-clothes and intelligence officers have been deployed at mosques, imambargahs, shopping malls, eateries, cinemas and other locations.”

He further added that the department had also prepared a contingency plan for the security of public places by deploying commandos and specialised contingents.

Meanwhile, AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo has asked the management of hotels to verify identity before providing rooms to anyone by checking their computerised national identity cards. Thebo also directed the police to keep an eye on hotels and has cancelled the leaves of all police personnel as the city police braces itself for a backlash. “Recommendations have been sent to the Sindh police chief to provide us with 5,000 additional police personnel, armed with the latest weapons.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2014.