Monday, 16 June 2014
Karachi: The law enforcement and intelligence agencies fear that the influx of displaced persons from North Waziristan in the city following the army’s operation there would create a security crisis in the form of terrorists arriving under their garb as the government is unprepared to handle the situation properly.
Thousands of people are expected to flee the war-ravaged parts of North Waziristan and take shelter in the settled areas of the country. Security officials believe that a major chunk of the IDPs would travel to Karachi to take shelter in its slums and undeveloped areas on its outskirts.
“We saw after the South Waziristan and Swat operations that IDPs fled their areas and many of them travelled to Karachi to live with their relatives. In this process, scores of militants also entered the city and have now become a serious challenge for security agencies,” a senior security official told.
He said although Rangers and police were in a state of high alert to deal with any terrorist threat in the city, the civil administration and political leadership appeared ill-prepared to deal with the challenge of the arrival of IDPs in Karachi and other parts of the province - a development that could not only create a security threat, but also pose social and health challenges, particularly becoming a setback to the anti-polio efforts.
“No camps for IDPs have been set up or places have been identified to confine them to an area so that they can be prevented from blending in with the locals. There is a serious need to register every person arriving in Karachi from North Waziristan after the operation” the official said.
He said biometric verification and registration should be a prerequisite for entering the province, especially Karachi and Nadra officials should be deployed to register and verify the IDPs including women and children arriving in the city from North Waziristan.
“Polio virus had remained a major challenge for the residents of Karachi for the last decade. As no polio vaccination campaign was carried out in North Waziristan, there could be potentially many polio carriers in that population. If they mix with the population in Karachi, the polio crisis can worsen to an unimaginable degree,” he said.
Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said preventing terrorists from entering the city was the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies.
“Setting up IDP camps is no issue as they can be done so within a short notice. But so far, we haven’t received any instructions,” he said.
He said the civil administration and law enforcement agencies were working together to ensure peace and security in Karachi and coordinating on the issue of the possible arrival of IDPs in the city.
Published in the XReports.net, on June 16th, 2014 | The News
Thousands of people are expected to flee the war-ravaged parts of North Waziristan and take shelter in the settled areas of the country. Security officials believe that a major chunk of the IDPs would travel to Karachi to take shelter in its slums and undeveloped areas on its outskirts.
“We saw after the South Waziristan and Swat operations that IDPs fled their areas and many of them travelled to Karachi to live with their relatives. In this process, scores of militants also entered the city and have now become a serious challenge for security agencies,” a senior security official told.
He said although Rangers and police were in a state of high alert to deal with any terrorist threat in the city, the civil administration and political leadership appeared ill-prepared to deal with the challenge of the arrival of IDPs in Karachi and other parts of the province - a development that could not only create a security threat, but also pose social and health challenges, particularly becoming a setback to the anti-polio efforts.
“No camps for IDPs have been set up or places have been identified to confine them to an area so that they can be prevented from blending in with the locals. There is a serious need to register every person arriving in Karachi from North Waziristan after the operation” the official said.
He said biometric verification and registration should be a prerequisite for entering the province, especially Karachi and Nadra officials should be deployed to register and verify the IDPs including women and children arriving in the city from North Waziristan.
“Polio virus had remained a major challenge for the residents of Karachi for the last decade. As no polio vaccination campaign was carried out in North Waziristan, there could be potentially many polio carriers in that population. If they mix with the population in Karachi, the polio crisis can worsen to an unimaginable degree,” he said.
‘No instructions yet’
Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said preventing terrorists from entering the city was the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies.
“Setting up IDP camps is no issue as they can be done so within a short notice. But so far, we haven’t received any instructions,” he said.
He said the civil administration and law enforcement agencies were working together to ensure peace and security in Karachi and coordinating on the issue of the possible arrival of IDPs in the city.
Published in the XReports.net, on June 16th, 2014 | The News
