PESHAWAR: With the planned formation of the Special Anti-Terrorism Force and Special Prisons Force, two more forces are being introduced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where a number of uniformed forces are already operating.
Many believe that the new forces would be mere duplication of the previous experiments that could not prove a success.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced that a Special Anti-Terrorism Force would be established to counter militancy and restore peace in the province. Besides, a Special Prisons Force is being formed to ensure that no more jailbreaks like the ones in Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu take place.
Apart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Frontier Constabulary, Frontier Corps and army are taking part in operations against militants in the province and the adjacent tribal areas. The uniformed men of the Federal Investigation Agency, the Anti-Narcotics Force, the Excise Police Force and a number of other uniformed forces are also carrying out their own operations, mostly against criminals, smugglers and others.
Personnel in uniform of the National Highways and Motorway Police, Levies force and other bodies can also be seen frequently in the provincial capital. The presence of such a large number of uniformed forces isn’t having a positive impact on the general public.
There are a number of specialised forces in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police that were raised to go after the criminals and militants. However, the required results could not be achieved. Before the Special Anti-Terrorism Force, the previous government and the police bosses raised the Elite Police Force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by imparting special commando training to the cops and equipping them with sophisticated weapons.
The force has around 7,000 men, who are taking part in raids and operations all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The force is headed by an additional inspector general, who is assisted by a DIG as commandant and SSP as deputy commandant.A Directorate of Counter-terrorism has also been established in the Special Branch of the police. It is headed by a DIG, who assists the additional IG Special Branch.
