ATTOCK, March 9: Dried-up portion of the river bed of the Indus is increasingly posing a security threat, especially to some sensitive facilities in Kamra, because of unobstructed movement of delinquent elements from NWFP into Attock, it has been learnt.

Around 30km portion of the Indus River course from the Ghourghusti village to Attock bridge had dried up after the government authorities built a channel some four years ago to divert the water to the Ghazi Barotha Hydro Power (GBHP) project to generate electricity.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in the past, criminal activities in the area remained confined to drug trafficking and crime against property. But with the countrywide surge in terrorist activities since last year, the unchecked area along the river banks has been used to launch attacks on defence facilities like the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) in Kamra and the military’s training and organisational centres across the district.

Attock is the remotest district of the Punjab and it also marks the provincial boundary with the North West Frontier Province.

The cantonment zone of Kamra had come under attack twice in the last three months.

On December 10, 2007, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive laden car into a military vehicle near the Fauji Gate outside PAC Kamra, injuring seven persons, including four schoolchildren and three PAC employees.

Just after 36 days, four rockets were fired into Kamra cantonment on January 17, however, they did not cause any casualties.

After three days of the rocket attack, the Attock police reportedly found a live rocket with batteries and other gadgets at a sandbag launching pad near Shamsabad village situated near the banks of dried-up river bed.

The police, in their preliminary investigation, said the terrorist elements entered into the limits of Attock from NWFP and fled back after launching the attack.

The officials said that despite the serious situation, the government authorities had not devised an effective security plan for constant surveillance in the sensitive area.

The Attock district administration and the police are trying their best to provide security cover but their efforts have been constrained by lack of resources, they added.

District Police Officer (DPO) Attock Tariq Hanif Joiya, when contacted, termed the surveillance around Indus River “very essential” in the wake of the prevailing security threats.

But he reminded that it would require high-level steps in view of the shortage of both human and material resources on the part of the local police.

“If the government provides 200 additional personnel, vehicles, equipment and funds, the district police will be able to ensure surveillance of the Indus River inside the Attock district,” Mr Joiya claimed.

As for the present steps, the police have deployed two patrolling teams on G.T. Road to check movement between Attock bridge and Kamra Chowk.

Similarly, unauthorised camps of Afghan refugees and local vagabonds along the banks of Indus River have been removed, while data of all outsiders settled in the nearby villages is being compiled with the help of respective nazims and notables.