PESHAWAR: Army personnel on Tuesday took over the security of Central Jail Peshawar and Haripur jail on the request of the civil administration amid security threats of militant attacks, the military sources said.
It is pertinent to mention that Dr Shakil Afridi who was convicted of assisting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in obtaining DNA samples of Osama Bin Laden through a fake vaccination campaign is held in the Peshawar Central Jail.
Moreover, other high profile Taliban including founder chief of the outlawed Tehrik Nifaz Sharia-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), Mualana Sufi Muhammad, the former Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, and a number of other key commanders belonging to the Swat and Bajaur chapter of the Taliban are also jailed in the said prison.
The military source said that the deployment would not be for a long period and that the troops would be present at the prisons only to strengthen the security cordon.
According to official sources, the army would also take over the security of the central Jail Haripur for which the intelligence agencies have also issued a threat warning following the recent jailbreak in DI Khan.
The KPK government has already allocated Rs198.200 million for strengthening the Jail security across the province and deployment of army troops is an added support to the security cordon.
