Interior ministry outlines SOP for invoking Article 245

In a letter, interior ministry says all costs and logistics of calling in army will be borne by provinces.

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry, in a letter to the chief secretaries of all four provinces, outlined the method to call armed forces when required, Express News reported on Monday.

The letter stated that provinces can call the army when needed under Article 245 of the Constitution and details the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for doing so.

According to the interior ministry's letter, the number of army officers will be subject to consultation and agreement and the amount of power given to the army in such situations will be in accordance with section 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 - which is regarding the "use of armed forces and civil armed forces to prevent terrorism".

The letter also states all costs and logistics of calling in army will be borne by the provinces.

Anti-Terrorism Act

Section 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act allows members of armed forces to

(1) Use necessary force to prevent terrorist acts after giving prior warning, it will also be lawful for any superior officer to fire or order firing upon persons against whom he is authorized to fire upon under terms outlined in the Act

(2) Arrest, without warrant, any person who has committed an act of terrorism or for whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed or is about to commit such an act

(3) Enter and search any premises to make an arrest or to take possession of any property or weapon used or likely to be used to commit a terrorist act, without warrant