Monday, Jun 17, 2013
Karachi: Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Monday told the lower house of parliament that an elaborate security policy would be finalised in a meeting of armed civilian groups on June 21 and that the plan would come into force after the approval of the cabinet.
Under a security devolution plan piloted by the previous government, security issues, besides law and order matters, were made the responsibility of the provinces from the federal government, with Islamabad extending its support to provincial governments to manage security issues.
Khan said that the federal government could continue to help the provinces with intelligence expertise even as the provincial law enforcement agencies could be reinforced with the paramilitary forces.
At least three of the country’s four provinces have witnessed a wave of terror incidents and poor law and order situations. In Balochistan and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, militants attacks are rampant whereas, in southern Sindh province, extortionists, gangs, and sectarian groups are involved in an average of 12 cases each day.
In his address to members of the parliament, Khan said that the government would initiate all-out efforts to secure the life and property of every citizen of the country including people of the volatile Khyber Pakthunkhwa region.
Referring to the terror attacks in Quetta and Ziarat last week, Khan said that a joint interrogation team was probing the incidents and would soon submit its report, which would be made public.
The interrogation would focus on the fact that militants did not receive any support from within the attacked institutions.
Khan further said that there had been contrasting reports initially regarding the bomb attack on a bus carrying female students. One report suggested that the bus was bombed by a male suicide bomber but later it was conjectured that a female suicide bomber executed the attack.
Likewise, he said, in the attack on the Bolan Medical Complex, it was first reported that four to five militants were involved in an attack that started from within whereas later reports suggested that two terrorists seized the hospital premises. He further said that his government remained firm in its stance that peace could be achieved through dialogue and negotiations rather than the use of arms and ammunition.
By Mohammad Ashraf Correspondent
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
