Combat unit set to kick off operations

PESHAWAR: The first batch of woman commandos and the first ever special combat unit (SCU) of the Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Police would kick off their operations during the current month.
The first ever batch of 36 female policemen is presently undergoing commando training at the Elite Police Training School in Nowshera. Apart from tough physical exercises, the female commandos have been trained in handling heavy machineguns and rocket launchers.
“The special combat unit personnel and the first ever batch of female commandos would complete training during the current month,” Syed Fida Hussain Shah, the deputy commandant of the EPF, told The News. Both the SCU and the woman commandos will begin operations during March.
Clad in all-covered black commando uniform, the woman commandos exhibited their skills of firing with heavy machineguns and rocket launchers in presence of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and chief minister Pervez Khattak, last month.
The role of policewomen in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has remained insignificant so far as they have only been performing VIP duties or accompanying raiding parties to search inside houses.
Two woman police stations were set up in Peshawar and Abbottabad more than two decades back but none was able to register even a single first information report. The province got two female assistant superintendents of police and two deputy superintendents of police
for the first time in recent months.
The first ever batch of female commandos started training in the middle of last year after they requested their bosses to be imparted specialized training like their male colleagues. “They had volunteered for the commando training like their male colleagues so that they could be part of special operations against terrorists and hardened criminals,” said an official.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also set up the anti-terror special commando unit (SCU) last year. It was supposed to be a specially trained commando force like the Zarrar Company of the Special Services Group of Pakistan Army.
The 150-men strong unit is part of the Elite Police Force (EPF) that was established in 2009 to counter militancy and terrorism.“All the policemen go through proper commando training before their induction in the EPF. The SCU personnel who were selected from EPF were imparted further specialized training to deal with extraordinary situations,” superintendent of police (SP) Mustafa Tanveer told The News.
The official added the SCU personnel would be stationed in Peshawar but could be airlifted anywhere in the province in case of an emergency. He added that the special combat unit commandoes are trained to cope with suicide missions, hostage-taking situations, kidnappings and other extraordinary circumstances. The special combat unit ’s strength is likely to be raised to around 1,000 specially trained commandos in the coming months.