Army-run schools shut countrywide Security alert issued for educational institutions across country

Terrorism threats

ISLAMABAD/MULTAN/BAHAWALPUR: The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday ordered the police and Rangers to beef up security at schools and other educational institutions across the country, a week after a brazen terrorist attack on the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda which left at least 21 dead, reported Geo News.

The move came shortly after an official statement announced that all the schools run by the army across the country would remain closed till January 31. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that all the schools run by the Bahria Foundation would also remain closed till the end of the month.

The statement, however, did not specify any reason behind the sudden closure of the schools. The move came a day after the Punjab government ordered to close down schools for five days, telling 22.5 million students to stay at home, not due to security fears but because of extreme weather. 

Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood told the media on Tuesday that a large number of children were catching flu and pneumonia as temperature fell to as low as four degree Celsius in the provincial capital while severe gas shortages had complicated the issue.

"Two days ago, the parents complained about harshness of the weather and diseases to children," he said. "The meteorological office, too, told the government that the extreme cold wave would continue for another three to four days. We took all the stakeholders into confidence and made the decision to announce the holidays."

The minister denied that more than 100,000 government and private schools in the province were closed down because of threats, despite recent warnings that militants were planning to attack educational institutions.

On the other hand, the Punjab government sealed several educational institutions for lack of proper security arrangements. Among them was the Sargodha Medical College which was sealed after inspection of a security team, while the district administration issued show-cause notices to seven private schools in Sialkot over poor security arrangements.

Police also sealed the Islamia University Bahawalpur's Khawaja Fareed Campus for not adopting proper security arrangements. A police team led by DSP City Shafqat Ata sealed the campus amid the resentment expressed by the Faculty of Pharmacy and Alternative Medicines Dean Prof Dr Mehmood Ahmad and others.

Talking to the media, the DSP said the IUB administration had been asked to adopt proper security measures but it failed to do so. Similarly, the students told the media that they were also scared of inadequate security at the campus.

The DSP City also sealed the Government Postgraduate College, One Unit Chowk, and Government College of Technology for Women for the same reasons. In Multan, the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) was closed down for two days amid high security alert, the varsity officials said.

All the hostels and residences had been vacated and security agencies sealed the varsity while checking the premises, sources said. The BZU spokesman, Prof Dr Ghulam Shabbir, said that the university was closed for two days with all the classes scheduled for Saturday and Sunday cancelled.

Earlier, the Balochistan government announced that a special force would be formed to protect educational institutions, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa decided to issue free weapon licences to teachers of state-run institutions.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad Police issued a security plan for educational institutions and all heads of police stations had been categorically directed to follow it.

Following the approval of Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Sajid Kiani, police sources said that this security plan had been issued.

Station House Officers (SHOs) had been directed to patrol around educational institutions in their jurisdictions at the time of their opening and closure. It has been also asked to ensure effective security arrangements by deploying additional strength of policemen there and continuous patrolling in their vicinity. The SSP also directed for a crackdown on professional alms seekers keeping in view the security perspective.