RAWALPINDI: The 111 Brigade of the army and the local police have started surveying the flight path of the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) to set up security pickets, it has been learnt.
The security of the airport has already been placed on ‘red alert’ after the terrorist attack on the Karachi airport on June 8, a senior security force official said.
The 111 Brigade’s senior officers along with the police have started a survey of the surrounding areas of the BBIA, especially those on the flight path, to set up pickets on the rooftops of some of the buildings. Sharpshooters will be deployed on the pickets.
Pickets to be set up on rooftops of buildings under flight path
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Another team, comprising intelligence officials, also conducted a survey of the surrounding areas of the airport and suggested the establishment of the security posts on the roads near the airport.
“The objective to deploy sharp shooters is to target any such element in case they try to target any aircraft from the nearby localities during landing or takeoff,” a senior security official said on the condition of anonymity.
He, however, added that it was yet to be decided whether the sharpshooters would be from the army or the police.
During the survey, the army-police team visited Kuri Road, Asghar Mall Road, 4th Road and other areas lying under the flight path.
The establishment of a picket on the rooftop of the Rescue 1122 office at Rawal Road is under consideration while another picket would be set up in Sadiqabad.
Related: Areas adjoining Karachi airport likely to be declared ‘red zone’
Three armoured personnel carriers (APCs) of the army carrying a squad of 19 personnel each has been stationed outside the Rawal Lounge, the airport’s apron and at the Nur Khan Airbase.
Two bomb and bulletproof pickets, each weighing eight tons and made in the Heavy Mechanical Complex Taxila, have been brought to the airport. One of the pickets has been affixed close to the airport’s entry gate while a survey is being carried out to install the other.
The security official said the extra security measures at the airport also included increased random screening of passengers and their baggage.
Since the airport security was placed on red alert, the entry passes issued to visitors have been cancelled.
Police have also been considering collecting the particulars of people living under the flight path and getting affidavits from them that they would be held responsible in case any militant activity was reported from their localities.
Also read: Another suspect of PIA plane attack arrested in Peshawar
The police have also been asked for assigning an elite force squad for patrolling the Kuri Road where the Airport Security Force (ASF) camp office is located. Intelligence officials had warned the authorities concerned that the ASF camp was vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
In another move, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) imposed a ban on the visit of more than one person to see off or receive any passenger. The ban will come to force on July 6.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2014