1,159 educational institutions soft targets in Islamabad

Law enforcement agencies have identified 1,159 educational institutes in the Pakistani capital as soft targets for terrorists, the media reported Tuesday.

This follows a terrorist massacre of students and teachers at a Peshawar school Dec 16.

A police officer said there were 1,137 private and government schools and colleges as well as 22 universities in the city, Dawn online reported.

He said there were 77 markets and 14 hospitals which were also considered soft targets for terrorists.

The officer said his men were already bogged down by different assignments while many were deployed to protect high ranking officials.

In some schools, guards have been deployed. But now it has been made mandatory for all institutions to hire armed security personnel.

The administrations will be asked to install CCTV cameras for surveillance of the buildings, the report said.

The height of the boundary walls of all schools, colleges and universities should be raised and barbed wires fixed, the officer said.

The digging of trenches was also proposed around school buildings. The officer said schools should also carry out evacuation drills.

The officer said there were intelligence reports that suicide jackets and bombers had been moved towards Punjab, especially Rawalpindi and Islamabad, by Taliban militants.

He said the terrorists might target school or college vehicles with an improvised explosive device.