Interior Ministry summons 3,000 FC troops to guard capital

Published August 11, 2014
Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan.— File photo
Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan.— File photo

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Interior Ministry on Monday called at least 3,000 additional troops from the Frontier Constabulary (FC) to deal with the upcoming march of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) towards the federal capital.

The Interior Ministry sources told dawn that a notification was issued after approval of Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

The FC works under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry.

Apart from the FC, Islamabad would be heavily guarded due to presence of Pakistan Army's 111 Brigade commandos, Rangers, elite force and thousands of intelligence agencies' personnel.

Earlier, the federal interior minister had announced the government's decision to call in the military under Article 245 of the Constitution to assist the civil administration in maintaining law and order of Islamabad from August 1 for a period of three months.

Leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and many analysts see the timing of the imposition of Article 245 in the capital as a bid to set the army in place for the August 14 march in Islamabad.

Nisar had also said that the decision to call for army's assistance in maintaining the law and order situation had been taken before the initiation of the ongoing Zarb-i-Azb operation in North Waziristan.

Moreover, the chief of Pakistan Awami Tehreek, Dr Tahirul Qadri, had also announced that his ‘Inqilab’ march would move side by side with the PTI’s ‘Azadi’ march.

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