Christmas security: 5,000 cops guard churches

Heavy contingents guarded roads leading to churches, while smaller roads near churches were closed for traffic.

LAHORE: Over 5,000 policemen were deployed around Lahore on Christmas day to guard churches from attack.

Superintendent of Police (Security) Faisal Rana told The Express Tribune that 120 personnel of the Elite Force and 100 of the Quick Response Force were also deployed in the city on Saturday.

He said that the police restricted people not known to the community from entering churches.

The police had searched and secured Makkah Colony and Nishtar Colony, which have significant Christian populations, on Friday night.

The city district government provided ten walkthrough gates to the city’s churches. No one was allowed entry into the churches without passing through the gates. Police personnel with metal detectors were also deployed.

Heavy police contingents guarded the roads leading to the churches, while the smaller roads near the churches were closed for traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2010.