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PESHAWAR – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) authorities soon will shift militants from various prisons from around the province to a new high-security prison in Mardan.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan attacks on prisons prompted authorities to construct the facility, officials say.
"Final touches are being made, after which prisoners will be shifted to its cells," KP Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Akhtar Ali Shah told Central Asia Online.
Authorities are withholding specific dates for the completion of the prison's construction and the transfer of prisoners for security reasons, but the completion and transfers are expected to take place this month, Shah said.
The KP government started construction on the high-level facility after two major jailbreaks in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in July 2013 freed 242 prisoners when they attacked the prison in Dera Ismail Khan District.
In April 2012, the TTP stormed the prison in Bannu District, freeing 384 inmates.
State-of-the-art facility
The Rs 1.78 billion (US $17.3m) prison features a three-layered wall and more support for guards in the form of closed-circuit TV cameras, alarms, watch towers and isolation rooms.
As an added security measure, the outer wall surrounding the facility is made of bomb-proof material.
Workers also built an 18-foot-wide road to facilitate round-the-clock patrols.
And the prison will have a solar power system to prevent any blackouts.It'll be able to hold 3,000 inmates, most in a barracks, though the prison has 127 cells set aside for high-profile prisoners.
To prevent attempts to free or kill high-profile militants in transit, authorities plan to transfer them to the prison via helicopter. They also intend to conduct those inmates' court hearings via video links from inside the prison.
Improving prisons across KP
The KP government has introduced a number of other initiatives to improve the security at prisons.
Last year it announced plans to form an 800-strong security force focusing on prisons.
"The special force will be responsible for the security of the prisons all over the province," Malik Qasim, an advisor to the KP government on prisons, said. "They will be provided with the latest gadgets and sophisticated ammunition."
Workers are setting up high-security zones at five other sensitive prisons in Timergara, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Karak to segregate hard-core militants from the other inmates, KP Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Kifayatullah Khan said recently.
The special force will have armoured personnel carriers, jammers and sophisticated weapons and will be self-reliant in any emergency, he added. KP is building several more prisons for militants and other criminals.
The provincial government approved the construction of another high-security prison in Swabi at the cost of Rs. 600m (US $5.8m), a communiqué issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department in August said.
"Rs.1 billion (US $97.3m) will be spent on the construction of a new [prison] in Nowshera, while Rs. 500m (US $4.8m) will be spent on the reconstruction of a prison in Dera Ismail Khan," the communiqué said.
The government also approved the construction of district jails in different cities, including Upper Dir, Tank, Shangla, Malakand and Charsadda.
Source
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan attacks on prisons prompted authorities to construct the facility, officials say.
"Final touches are being made, after which prisoners will be shifted to its cells," KP Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Akhtar Ali Shah told Central Asia Online.
Authorities are withholding specific dates for the completion of the prison's construction and the transfer of prisoners for security reasons, but the completion and transfers are expected to take place this month, Shah said.
The KP government started construction on the high-level facility after two major jailbreaks in Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in July 2013 freed 242 prisoners when they attacked the prison in Dera Ismail Khan District.
In April 2012, the TTP stormed the prison in Bannu District, freeing 384 inmates.
State-of-the-art facility
The Rs 1.78 billion (US $17.3m) prison features a three-layered wall and more support for guards in the form of closed-circuit TV cameras, alarms, watch towers and isolation rooms.
As an added security measure, the outer wall surrounding the facility is made of bomb-proof material.
Workers also built an 18-foot-wide road to facilitate round-the-clock patrols.
And the prison will have a solar power system to prevent any blackouts.It'll be able to hold 3,000 inmates, most in a barracks, though the prison has 127 cells set aside for high-profile prisoners.
To prevent attempts to free or kill high-profile militants in transit, authorities plan to transfer them to the prison via helicopter. They also intend to conduct those inmates' court hearings via video links from inside the prison.
Improving prisons across KP
The KP government has introduced a number of other initiatives to improve the security at prisons.
Last year it announced plans to form an 800-strong security force focusing on prisons.
"The special force will be responsible for the security of the prisons all over the province," Malik Qasim, an advisor to the KP government on prisons, said. "They will be provided with the latest gadgets and sophisticated ammunition."
Workers are setting up high-security zones at five other sensitive prisons in Timergara, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Karak to segregate hard-core militants from the other inmates, KP Inspector General (IG) of Prisons Kifayatullah Khan said recently.
The special force will have armoured personnel carriers, jammers and sophisticated weapons and will be self-reliant in any emergency, he added. KP is building several more prisons for militants and other criminals.
The provincial government approved the construction of another high-security prison in Swabi at the cost of Rs. 600m (US $5.8m), a communiqué issued by the Home and Tribal Affairs Department in August said.
"Rs.1 billion (US $97.3m) will be spent on the construction of a new [prison] in Nowshera, while Rs. 500m (US $4.8m) will be spent on the reconstruction of a prison in Dera Ismail Khan," the communiqué said.
The government also approved the construction of district jails in different cities, including Upper Dir, Tank, Shangla, Malakand and Charsadda.
Source
