“Yes, this is true. We closed down the school on January 9 on security concerns”, a senior jail official told Anadolu Agency wishing not to be named as he is not allowed to talk to media on record.
Some 200 students - 110 girls, and 90 boys - study in the school located within the premises of Peshawar jail, which has already been declared a high-security prison where several top militant commanders are languishing.
The prisoners also included Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the father-in-law of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Maulvi Fazlullah who have waged a war against security forces to avenge the death of his predecessor, Hakeemullah Mehsud who was killed in a US drone attack in North Waziristan on November 1, 2013, and a local CIA agent Dr Shakil Afridi who had launched a fake polio vaccination campaign to track down slain Al-Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden in northwestern garrison city of Abbotabad in 2011.
“The school has been closed for an indefinite period as the intelligence agencies have warned us that terrorist may lure a student to smuggle explosive material into the prison, and detonate that through remote control”, the jail official said.
Almost half of the students studying at the school are children of women prisoners, and the jail officials, while remaining come from nearby localities.
"We have truly been facing security threats because of the presence of such high profile militants belonging to different outlawed groups”, the jail official said, adding that he had already informed the higher authorities in written about a possible terrorist attack and a jail-break.
Taliban group have already threatened that they would kill Shakil Afridi for assisting the CIA to track down and kill Osama bin Laden.
“We have requested the authorities to shift Dr Afridi to some other jail as his presence here is a permanent source of threat”, he maintained.
Jail authorities have kept militants belonging to different groups and Dr Afridi in separate blocks amid tight security.
The official confirmed that he along with various other jail personnel had already requested the high-ups for early retirement or transfer to other jails because of a permanent security threat.
Clashes between different militant groups have been another source of concern for authorities.
Sources said that a militant belonging to Lashkar-e-Islam that has strong roots in Khyber agency, which borders neighboring Afghanistan, had attacked Maulana Sufi Mohammad during Magrib (sunset) prayer in December 2013, however the attempt was foiled by the security personnel detailed there.
Following the incident, militants loyal to different groups were shifted to separate cells.
Maulana Sufi Mohammad has been serving jail since 2008 following a military onslaught in scenic valley of Swat. Maulana Sufi, head of Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shair’ah Mohammadi (Movement for Enforcement of Shari’ah) had parted his ways with his son-in-law as the former opted for a peaceful struggle to achieve the goal, whereas Maulvi Fazlullah commonly known as “Maulvi radio” for his flamboyant speeches on FM radio, preferred an armed struggle.
Army personnel carried out a search operation in the jail on the jail authorities’ request , and recovered dozens of cellular phones, wireless and laptops from the possession of militants belonging to TTP, and other groups.
On April 14, 2012, some 200 heavily armed insurgents had brazenly attacked a prison in northwestern Bannu district, adjacent to troubled North Waziristan, and managed to set nearly 400 militants detained there free.
The detainees set free by the attackers included a militant Adnan Rasheed , who was convicted for an assassination attempt on former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf in 2005.
Two days after jail break, Rasheed appeared in a videotape warning that he and his other mates were fully ready to resume attacks on security forces, which stood alongside America in war against Islam.
by Aamir Latif
