11 women, including 3 sisters, join bomb disposal unit in Pak

Peshawar: Eleven women, including three sisters, were among 24 police commandos who joined bomb disposal unit after completing training in Pakistan's restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that frequently witnesses terror attacks.

Twenty-four commandos from the elite force, including 11 female commandos, underwent training at Nowshera's Police School of Explosive Handling, News International reported.

School Director Niaz Muhammad Yousafzai said 1,607 cops, including 12 females, had been trained at the school so far.

The women commandos underwent training weeks after Rafia Qaseem Baig, 29, became the first Pakistani female to join the bomb disposal unit after completing her 15-day training along with 31 other male members in December last year.

Three sisters - Parveen Gul, Rukhsana and Samina – were among 11 women who completed their training on Tuesday. The other female officers who completed the training were from Nowshera, Abbottabad, Hangu, Charsadda, Mardan, Buner and Bannu.

Chief Instructor Shafiq Khattak said that lady commandos were enrolled for the course on the directives of the Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani.

Talking to the paper after passing out, the three sisters said they were provided training in light and heavy weaponry besides bomb disposal training. The three ladies are from a very poor family of the Karak district.

They said their father, Nooran Shah, had been physically challenged by birth.

"My father equipped all of us with proper education and reared us well despite his poor financial condition,” said Pari Gul, who is the eldest among the three sisters who have joined the force.

"I got attracted to the police force when I would see cops in mobile vans in my village. I did not know that one day I will become part of the police force," she further added.

She said her younger sister, Samina, was lucky to make it to the force in the first attempt while she and her another sister Rukhsana were selected later at Hangu.

More than 600 women are serving in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police department in different capacities from junior clerk to deputy superintendent.