Karachi: Pakistani students are being trained by authorities in counter-terrorism which include how to defuse bombs and hide from terrorists, in the wake of the horrific Peshawar school attack that killed 150 people, mostly students, last year.
Staff and students from different schools were yesterday provided 'emergency training' to tackle any crisis as the threat of attacks on 'soft targets' looms.
Rescue officials, civil defence force, bomb disposal squad (BDS) and security agencies practised emergency drills at Public School Multan and held security training sessions with students and teaching staff over the directives of the Punjab government.
As part of the drill, BDS officials wearing special suits demonstrated how to locate and defuse a bomb. It also included giving assistance to injured people.
"We have received training and now we will utilise this if the need arises," one of the students at the Multan school was quoted as saying by Dawn.Com.
Students were also trained on giving medical assistance to injured people in case of any terror attack.
In Sindh, the provincial police today approached teachers and students of the Mama Parsi school at the Razzaqabad Training Centre in Karachi to demonstrate self defence and weapons training.
"We were already training university students and staff before the Peshawar attack, but since then, scores of schools have approached us," Spokesperson of the Special Security Unit Tahira Tariqshe said, adding that the next step is to train field journalists who, she feels, are at great risk of exposure to violence.
"If a student suddenly sees or encounters a terrorist during an attack, they will not know what to do... After this training, the confidence level of the student will be built," she said.
As the Taliban intensifies its campaign against the government and military as a reaction to the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan, the fear of a backlash has generated panic and alarm in schools across the country.
