• Murad says police should have stopped militants outside
• Joint resolution adopted to condemn assault on KPO

KARACHI: In the aftermath of the audacious attack on Karachi Police Office (KPO), Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday conceded inadequate security arrangements and called for ‘effective’ intelligence from agencies concerned to minimise the threat of terrorism.

Furnishing a policy statement in the Sindh Assembly on the Friday attack, he also admitted a security lapse on part of the provincial police and said that the attackers should not have entered the KPO building.

“Security arrangements at government buildings should have been better,” he said, adding: “We needed to strengthen security and make it more effective as terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) entered the KPO by breaching all security barriers.”

“How did the terrorists reach the KPO building when there was a threat alert?” he questioned and then answered “it was security laxity”.

The CM raised a question about how the militants from North Waziristan and Lakki Marwat carrying suicide jackets and weapons travelled all the way, reached Karachi and attacked the KPO. “It requires us to assess our intelligence work, security lapses, and weaknesses,” he observed.

He said that it was also the weakness of our intelligence network that could not collect information. “When the terrorists cut the barbed wire, Constable Abbas Leghari confronted them and got killed,” he said and asked where the other policemen were when the terrorists were cutting the security fence.

He said three militants were brought to the KPO in a Toyota Corolla car before they climbed the wall to enter the building, adding that two other suspects were on a motorbike.

The CM said police and Rangers responded rapidly and reached the spot within 10 minutes. He said he himself reached the police command and control centre to monitor the operation.

He said the Pak Army snipers were deployed on the rooftops of the nearby buildings and a plan was discussed to use Pak Navy helicopters fixed with night-vision gadgets in the operation.

He paid rich tribute to the five martyrs, saying that they saved Karachi from a big disaster by sacrificing their own lives.

Without naming anyone, he said that those who were in favour of talks with the Taliban were responsible of the attack.

Threat to Sindh Assembly

Speaker Agha Siraj Durranj asked the CM to beef up the security for the provincial assembly as it also had ‘security threats’. He said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had earlier issued a threat alert to the Sindh Assembly. “The FIA claimed that the terrorists had also pictures of inside parts of Sindh Assembly,” he added.

He said that there were only some personnel deployed for the Sindh Assembly security and that too without weapons.

The speaker also asked the lawmakers to not bring unnecessary staff with them.

The assembly also unanimously adopted a joint resolution to condemn the KPO attack and pay tribute to the personnel of police, Rangers and army for their brave operation.

The resolution was jointly moved by Sharmila Faroqui of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Muhammad Hussain Khan of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Khurram Sher Zaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Abdul Razzaque of the Grand Democratic Alliance.

It read: “This House unanimously condemns the cowardly terrorist attack on the Karachi Police Office on Friday night. We salute the bravery and sacrifice of the martyred police officers who laid their lives to protect our city and its citizens. We express our deepest condolence to the families of the five martyred and 18 injured people, and we pledge to support them in every possible way.

“Last but not least, we salute and commend the Sindh police, Pakistan Army and Rangers for their successful joint operation against the terrorists and showing their unwavering commitment to keeping our city and country safe. Our prayers and salutes for the brave martyrs who fought the terrorists and gave their lives in the line of duty,” the resolution stated.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2023