PESHAWAR: The Telecommunication and Transport Branch of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police has carried out steel-plating of 256 vehicles to mitigate the threats posed by attacks with improvised explosive devices on police vehicles.
In view of the increasing number of the IED attacks and firing incidents on police patrol vehicles, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police had decided to instal similar locally-developed IED-resistant armour protection on police personnel transport pickups. According to police, following the directives of IGP Nasir Khan Durrani an agreement was signed with the Pakistan Army for this purpose and so far mild steel plating of 256 police vehicles had been carried out under the contract.
It was stated that these vehicles included 204 single cabin and 52 double-cabin pickups. District- and unit-wise details of the vehicles are; Peshawar 53, Charsadda 18, Nowshera 19, Mardan 39, Swabi 18, Kohat 15, Hangu eight, Tank 11, Lakki Marwat 10, Bannu 16, DI Khan 29, Swat four, Buner two, Lower Dir three, Upper Dir two, Shangla two, Elite Force two and telecommunication two.
A police official of the rural circle pleading anonymity said that the modified vehicles were not safe enough to replace the armoured personnel carriers (APCs), but it was compulsion of the police to use it at least to counter the attacks to some extent.
INTERNEWS
