PM Shehbaz directs enhanced security coordination for Ashura

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for enhance security coordination with provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, especially for Ashura during Muharram-ul Haram.

PM Shehbaz issued the directives during a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. They deliberated on the law-and-order situation throughout Muharram-ul-Haram.

Additionally, they discussed the wider political landscape, interior ministry affairs, and other pertinent matters during the meeting.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities across the country, especially in KP and Balochistan, since the outlawed militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

It is pertinent to mention here that militants have targeted Muharram processions several times, including a bomb blast that killed more than 40 people attending the main Ashura procession on Karachi’s M. A. Jinnah Road in December 2009.

Earlier, the federal government approved the deployment of armed forces across the country to ensure security during the month of Muharram.

Read more: Army deployed nationwide for Muharram security

The move comes on the request of the authorities in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir to deploy military to control the law and order situation.

The Centre, under Article 245 of the Constitution, authorised the “deployment of army troops/assets and civil armed forces troops/assets” to ensure peace.

The Ministry of Interior has clarified that the deployment of the army will be based on the ground situation and that the provinces will have the authority to determine the deployment locations.