PESHAWAR: The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed gave a presentation to the provincial assembly’s security committee about the condition of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police force.
He disclosed that the police force is short of resources to combat terrorism alone and, therefore, the collaboration of the army is inevitable.
In the meeting with the committee, the IGP outlined numerous problems the police were grappling with:
Within the entire province, there are about 130,000 policemen. Roughly 20 to 30 percent of them are engaged in the security of VIPs, and thus, only about 80,000 personnel are available for counter-terrorism activities, which is considered quite a low number.
The police lack vehicles to some extent as well as offices and even well-equipped police stations.
The Counter-Terrorism Team (CTT) members are very few, and they also lack proper skills and abilities.
Money allocated for the police is not sufficient to fully equip the police force with the latest technology and build modern infrastructure. The IGP estimated that the police budget is even less than what is necessary to build a single “ring road” just for police use.
The IGP also talked about his concerns regarding the removal of the “Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance” and emphasized the need for safety measures for the period prior to the end of the ordinance, as well as custody of the high-profile terrorists.
The members of the committee talked about the counter-terrorism operations that were going on and suggested various measures that could be taken to help the communities affected by these operations. A few members were also concerned about the lack of facilities and support for the victims of the Bajaur operation and they voiced their opinions in this regard.
