President Zardari's address: extraordinary security arrangements in capital

The law enforcement agencies on Saturday made extraordinary security arrangements on the occasion of Presidential address to the joint-sitting of parliament in the Red Zone as well as across the city to thwart any untoward incident. All roads leading to the Parliament House were under tight security with a heavy deployment of police and rangers.
The authorities also deployed rangers around all the sensitive buildings in the Red Zone including Parliament House, Presidency, Prime Minister's Secretariat, Supreme Court and Pak-Secretariat blocks. The law enforcement agencies also conducted air surveillance of the city and surrounding areas of parliament during parliament session.
Police were conducting random search of vehicles and a great sense of seriousness was evident. Personnel of Rangers stood alert on rooftops of buildings in the vicinity of Constitution Avenue while others closely guarded different buildings below. Officials of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration revealed that around 3000 personnel of Islamabad Police and Rangers were deployed in different parts of the city.
The authorities declared the Constitution Avenue and its adjacent areas, as Red Zone and banned entry of vehicles belonging to general public. Commandos of Islamabad police, Lady police, mobile patrolling, mobile eagles, Anti Terrorists Squad (ATS), Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), personnel of Quick Response Force were also deputed at different locations. The strength of police at entry points to Islamabad had been enhanced with strict checking of vehicles. The road users particularly in and around the Red Zone faced problems.