Islamabad, Dec 23 (IANS): In the drive to eliminate terrorism from the country after the Dec 16 Peshawar school carnage, the authorities in Pakistan are taking all possible measures to stop educational institutions from becoming targets of militant attacks.
The superintendents of police of all the four zones in Islamabad -- City, Saddar, Rural and Industrial Area -- have been asked to hold meetings with the school administrations in their respective areas and brief them on the security arrangements, Dawn online reported.
In some of the schools, guards were already deployed but now it has been made mandatory for all institutions to hire armed security personnel.
Walk-through gates should also be installed at the entry points of the schools and guards should be deployed with metal detectors.
The administrations would also be asked to install CCTV cameras for surveillance of the buildings.
The height of the boundary walls of all schools, colleges and universities should be raised and barbed wires fixed.
The digging of trenches has also been proposed around school buildings.
A police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that schools would also be asked to carry out evacuation drills to check their preparedness in case of any emergency.
The educational institutions have also been asked to arrange reflectors to check vehicles for magnetic explosive devices.
The officer said there were intelligence reports shared by the interior ministry’s National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) that suicide jackets and bombers had been moved towards Punjab, especially Rawalpindi and Islamabad, by the outlawed Pakistani Taliban.
He said the terrorists might target any school or college vehicle with an improvised explosive device (IED) through a time device.
He also said the police officers and station house officers concerned have been asked to ensure that each educational institution had implemented the standard operating procedure (SOP).
As of now, winter vacations have started in the schools and majority of the universities.
Earlier, law enforcement agencies identified 1,159 educational institutes in the Pakistani capital as soft targets for terrorists.