Interior Minister Lieutenant General Hamid Nawaz Khan (Retd) on Saturday said that 81,000 troops would be deployed across the country on the polling day to ensure peaceful conduct of elections.
Talking to reporters after meeting with a delegation of European Union, the minister said around 400,000 police personnel would also perform duties to ensure peaceful election on February 18.
Hamid Nawaz Khan said that paramilitary troops, including Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) will be deployed to further tighten the security. The minister said that police from Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have also been called to deal with any untoward situation.
Giving the break-up of police force, he said that 49,000 in NWFP, 130,000 in Punjab, 190,000 in Sindh, and 25,000 in Balochistan will be deployed. He said that detained judges and lawyers will be allowed to cast their votes and nobody has been arrested in Islamabad so far.
He said that the government has not received any information so far about the terrorist attacks on the polling day. Hamid Nawaz said that though Pakistani Taliban have announced not to create law and order situation on polling day, all the necessary security measures have been taken to keep the situation under control.
He informed that there is progress regarding the recovery of the missing Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan. Hamid Nawaz also said that he has told the EU delegation that they are free to go anywhere in Pakistan and the government will provide them security in this regard.
The minister made it clear that it was not correct to say that the government was creating any hindrance in the visits of foreign election observers as they are free to go anywhere except few places in NWFP, Sindh and Balochistan due to security reasons. However, he said that foreign observers have been advised not to visit Swat, Kurram Agency, Kacha Area in Sindh, Dera Bugti, and Kohlu in Balochistan.
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