ISLAMABAD, 13 August 2004 — Pakistan has beefed up security ahead of Independence Day celebrations amid fears of a backlash to an Al-Qaeda crackdown which has netted top operatives in the throes of plotting fresh terror attacks here and abroad.
Even horse-drawn carts and rickshaws were being stopped and searched for bombs yesterday as Pakistan’s 150 million people braced for more violence, which President Pervez Musharraf said should be expected after the wave of high-profile Al-Qaeda arrests.
Pakistan marks 57 years since Britain ceded independence to the subcontinent on Saturday, closely followed by two sensitive by-elections on August 18 to allow prime minister-designate Shaukat Aziz to enter the lower house to take up his post.
In Islamabad, where Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat is to hoist the national flag outside Parliament tomorrow morning, police have set up special checkpoints and increased their numbers at state installations.
“We are on red alert. We have deployed forces at all important buildings and around diplomatic missions,” Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil told AFP. Police helicopters will conduct “aerial surveillance” across the city, he added. The inspector general of Sindh Police has issued directives for foolproof security arrangements on Independence Day.
In the eastern city of Lahore police checked roads and bridges for bombs and tightened security at places of worship and public gathering sites, city administrator Farooq Amjad told AFP.
