Army personnel to guard polling stations on Feb 8

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the dep­loy­ment of troops and civil armed forces personnel on polling stations and sensitive constituencies during the Feb 8 general elections.
Sources told Dawn the interior ministry had mov­ed a summary to the cabinet, suggesting the deployment of the army as a quick response force to maintain peace and security, ensuring a smooth and transparent electoral process.
The cabinet in its meeting, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, approved the summary, which okayed that army troops and civil armed forces to be deployed in sensitive areas will also serve as a rapid response force.
The deployment of troops was demanded by the Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan (ECP), citing a shortage of 275,000 security officials, required for the election duty. The ECP had already written to the Interior Ministry mentioning a shortfall of 277,558 security officials needed to ensure safe and secure polling nationwide.
According to information received by the ECP from the federal and provincial governments, there was a shortfall of 169,110 personnel in Punjab, 18,500 in Sindh, 56,717 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13,769 in Balochistan and 4,500 in Islam­abad. The letter requested immediate arrangements for deploying the Pakistan Army and other security forces at polling stations.
Source: .dawn.com/