Punjab scales back police deployment for Islamabad protests

Security preparations for political protests in the federal capital have hit a shortfall after the Punjab government declined to provide the 19,000 police personnel it had initially agreed to deploy, instead offering 12,500 personnel because of its own security requirements, according to sources. The federal government had sought 20,000 personnel from Punjab for security arrangements in Islamabad, while the provincial government had initially agreed to provide 19,000. It later expressed its inability to deploy the full contingent, citing security requirements in Rawalpindi, Attock and Murree. Sources said the Punjab government had now agreed to provide 12,500 personnel, but even that contingent had yet to reach Islamabad. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 police officers and personnel from Sindh have arrived in the federal capital as part of the security arrangements for the planned political protests.