Pakistan

After Peshawar school attack, students receive counter-terrorist training

A BDS instructed classes of girls in Multan and Punjab how to locate and defuse an explosive device

Web Desk February 20, 2015

PHOTO: MOHAMMAD AZEEM/EXPRESS

Pakistani students are undergoing training to prepare them for potential terrorist attacks in wake of the barbaric Taliban attack on an Army Public School in Peshawar at the end of last year, Mail Online reported.

Police and bomb disposal squads (BDS) have visited school children, teaching them how to handle firearms, defuse explosives and provide emergency care in the event of a terrorist attack occurring.

A BDS instructed classes of girls in Multan and Punjab how to locate and defuse an explosive device as they underwent the training programme. The drill also trained the schoolgirls to give assistance to 'injured' people and how to safely evacuate the school.

PHOTO: AFP

In Sindh province, teachers and students at the Mama Parsi school were trained by police at a centre in Karachi. Provincial police demonstrated self defence and also gave the students weapons training.

PHOTO: AFP

In a nationwide campaign to prepare students and school staff in potential attacks, several measures have been taken. Female teachers in Peshawar are receiving combat training to 'engage' terrorists, with the first group finishing training last month.

Officials have said that trained teachers would be able to fight off terrorists for an initial ten minutes before back-up arrived.

RELATED: 132 children killed in Peshawar school attack

Following the December attack which claimed the lives of students, 35,000 educational institutions across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been ordered to beef up security and take measures.

COMMENTS (14)

Jehanzeb Mahar | 9 years ago | Reply Good step. And please relax the gun laws which are only for the law abiding people

zara | 9 years ago | Reply the bomb defusal is a technical thing and i think they are teaching fr situation when one gets trapped. Remember the whole fiasco at aps. Otherwise when an escape is there just run. And kids are trained to use guns not handed. I as a kid tried using shotgun used for hunting ,so idont know why its sucha bigdeal :(((

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hamza khan | 9 years ago | Reply @RealityCheck: what are you smoking? the army and SSG was on site in under 20 minutes, and successfuly killed 4 or 5 of the terrorists inside. the other ones had detonated themselves during the mission, but would not have escaped an SSG bullet.

MJ | 9 years ago | Reply How about giving counter terrorism training to the government ministers & officials. Have them assigned to spend a week every 3 months at the forefront on the war of terrorism. In no time they will start making and implementing policies and laws that will actually help reduce and eliminate terrorism.

Singh | 9 years ago | Reply I would be mighty angry and take those responsible to the courts, if they introduced my child to violence and guns. This is appalling.

RealityCheck | 9 years ago | Reply In an unfortunate massacres like APS even the trained commandos & professional soldiers were finding it hard to match the determined human bombers on suicide mission. How can a teacher or a student match those mass murderers? Are we kidding ourselves or we intentionally want to militarize our schools.

Adnan Siddiqi | 9 years ago | Reply After absolving itself of ensuring law and order in the province by handing over security to children and teachers and letting Jahangir Tareen control the provisional economy, KPK government can now get on with the task of planting 1 billion saplings in the province as directed by Chairman Niazi.

Derpistan | 9 years ago | Reply So sad that it's come to this. Their counter-measure is to expect students and teachers to bear arms in the midst of a terrorist attack??

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply Will there be an exam for this? On a less sarcastic note, it seems that the government is passing on the responsibility to schools and now students to protect themselves Instead on taking responsibility themselves

Abdullah Afridi | 9 years ago | Reply Totally support this. Not sure about Klashnikovs but small arms like pistols should be handed to TEACHERS with proper training and students should have proper training to, although they should not be allowed to carry any.

Timorlane | 9 years ago | Reply What if even some of them later got attracted to extremism and terrorism ???

Roshan. | 9 years ago | Reply @Neo: I agree. This is crazy.

Adnan Siddiqi | 9 years ago | Reply So this was the most ingenious and enterprising plan to eliminate terrorism within "90 days?"

Neo | 9 years ago | Reply Later these peoples either join or create their own organisation, the way pakistan is running no country in world can think of running. yesterday i read now shia can keep weapons for their own security today this. its simple recipe of civil war.

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