KARACHI: The Sindh security establishment has proposed to the government that a dedicated force be raised to keep an eye on its border with Balochistan after it was found that the suspects involved in the recent terrorist attacks here had come from the neighbouring province, officials said on Sunday.

This proposal was discussed at multiple meetings held between the security officials and top administrative authorities, including Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, after the suicide attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine in Sehwan left more than 85 dead and hundreds of others injured.

Investigations into the recent terrorism activities convinced the relevant authorities that their planners, handlers and perpetrators had come from the neighbouring province.

“A similar thought or proposal emerged in October last year as well after it was found that the suspects involved in two terrorists attacks in Shikarpur in September 2015 had come from Balochistan,” said a senior official.

“The findings pushed the Sindh authorities to take up the matter with their Balochistan counterparts and tighten security along the border and as the first step they deployed policemen at key border points,” he said, adding that the Sindh government then had deployed a total of 400 policemen on its side of the border.

The renewed wave of terrorism sweeping across the country turned worse last week when an attacker set off explosives at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, leaving more than 85 devotees dead and over 250 injured.

The militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed the responsibility for the bombing, which was the 10th terrorist attack within a week in the country. The fresh wave of terrorism started with an attack on a DSNG van of Samaa TV in Karachi on February 12, leaving a media worker dead.

The following day saw a suicide attack that killed 13 people, including two senior police officers, in Lahore. The same day, a bomb disposal squad commander and a policeman were killed while defusing a bomb in Quetta and two security personnel lost their lives when their vehicle hit a landmine in South Waziristan.

On Wednesday, four suicide bombers blew themselves up in Peshawar, Mohmand Agency and Charsadda in an attempt to target security forces and members of the judiciary. On Thursday, three soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the Awaran area of Balochistan, and four policemen and a civilian were killed in an attack on a police van in Dera Ismail Khan.

“We also need to interlink all these incidents while probing into the attack on Qalandar’s shrine,” said the official.

“But it’s crucial to take pre-emptive measures for effective security in the province apart from proper investigation into the attacks. This is the reason that the law-enforcement agencies have proposed a dedicated force that would keep an eye on movement along the borders of the two provinces.”

While the authorities concerned have yet to arrive at a conclusion on this particular issue, the official believed that the Sindh government would again sit with the security high-ups to finalise the proposal soon.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2017