The administrative setup in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plans to establish faceless anti-terrorism courts in the province as part of its initiatives to strengthen the fight against terrorism, according to a briefing by the officials televised on Sunday.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi was also present at the briefing, where KP Secretary Home Amjad Ali Khan outlined several measures planned to step up the fight against terrorism and explained that witnesses in terrorism cases feared coming forward.
“So, we have recently sent the amendment to set up faceless anti-terrorism courts. Through this, not just the protection of witnesses, but that of prosecutors and judges will also be ensured,” he said.
Moreover, he said the administrative setup planned to spend Rs70 billion on the Counter-Terrorism Department and police in a year, in order to increase their capacity.
Talking about dealing with terrorism in the policy domain, Khan noted that in the past there had been a “lack of political ownership” in the fight against terrorism in the province.
“Our armed forces and law enforcement agencies are making sacrifices in the war against terrorism; however, [..] the provincial government was not taking ownership for them.”
The Centre imposed governor’s rule and emergency in KP on October 11, citing the PTI-led provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the fight against terrorism.
Khan stressed the need for a “close liaison” on terrorism between the public, political leadership, and security forces. He further recalled that despite the Centre formulating an Afghan policy, “actions continued to be taken in the province contrary to that policy, leading to confusion among the people.”
He also noted that there was “propaganda against the security forces in attempts to sabotage the counterterrorism efforts in the province”.
The official then spoke of the “insufficient funding” for civil law enforcement agencies, including police and CTD, particularly in the merged districts, where he said only 3.2 per cent of the budget was allocated for security.
He highlighted a shortage of over 10,000 personnel in the police, while also noting the lack of security infrastructure.
“Along with that, in the merged districts, most of the dependence regarding the police force is on former ex-Fata Khasadaars and Levies,” he said, adding that the police personnel did not receive adequate training.
He further highlighted inadequate counter-drone protection, for which the available system was at a capacity of 12pc, noting that terrorists were using drone technology as well, “due to which we are suffering considerable losses”.
He also highlighted the lack of adequate SWAT teams.
“Because of these issues [..] we have suffered significant losses over the past two or three years in which 1,003 personnel of the armed forces were martyred, 627 police personnel, and 808 civilian casualties occurred,” he stated.
Referring to the Centre’s Rs160bn package for uplift of KP, Khan said that the provincial set-up and the federal government were on the same page, expressing hope that “its effects will be seen in the coming days”.
He went on to outline plans to strengthen police capacity in the province, including fortifying sensitive police stations and check posts, extending the Safe City project, and establishing anti-drone systems in Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, and Bannu as well as functionalising District Nerve Centres in ten districts.
Updated information will be available to LEAs from the centres, he added.
Under the legal interventions in policing, the official said that faceless ATC courts will be set up.
“Witnesses in terrorism cases are afraid to come forward due to their identity. So we have recently sent the amendment for these faceless courts. Through this measure, witnesses, prosecutors, and judges will have their protection ensured,” he stated.
Detailing the technical abilities of the police, the official said that satellite communication systems were being set up in areas with no prior communication system.
He added that the provincial administration was also deploying AI tools for social media monitoring to counter terrorists’ narrative.
Khan also stressed the need for increased public outreach, including strengthening District Dispute Resolution Councils as well as establishing tribal liaison committees.
“Regular jirgas will be held with notables, regular interaction will occur with the public, and community mobilisation will take place,” he stated.
He also outlined plans for police to be trained in modern technology such as anti-drone systems and sniping. He also recalled the provincial setup’s decision to revise packages for martyred police personnel.
Khan continued: “Kinetic operations will be scaled up so that militancy can be eliminated. In this regard, intelligence-based operations will be enhanced, area sanitisation will be carried out [..], terrorist facilitators will be arrested, and re-verification will also be carried out for people on the fourth schedule to ensure none of them is providing facilitation or support to terrorists.
He also added that the Rapid Response Force will be mobilised. Khan added that the provincial administration also planned to increase the number of police check posts.
He announced that the government was spending Rs70bn on CTD and police annually.
“In this regard, the police are being given Rs59.8bn, of which Rs33.4bn will be for their infrastructure and Rs26.4bn will be for procurement, while Rs10.3bn is being given to the CTD, of which Rs5.4bn is for infrastructure, and Rs4.9bn for procurement.”
He added that police surveillance capacity — at 15pc presently — will be increased to 60pc, while for CTD it will be enhanced by 70pc.
“The police’s counter-aerial threat capacity, which is currently at 1pc, will be taken up to 50pc. Our air strike capability is currently at 18pc and will be increased to 50pc, as well as night fighting capacity, with vehicle armour capacity of the police to be improved by 45pc.
More to follow
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