That a fresh wave of terrorism is buffeting Pakistan is a fact that has found its best expression from prime minister's remarks on the Sehwan massacre: "The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims." In the wake of successful completion of military operation Zarb-e-Azb in the tribal areas and the Rangers' actions in Karachi a kind of complacence had come to obtain, and rightly so. But no more; the terrorists have struck again with tremendous force and at places far and wide in the country. Having taken the heavy toll of life and limb in Lahore and Quetta on Monday they carried out murderous attacks in Peshawar and Mohmand Agency headquarter Ghalanai on Wednesday. In Peshawar, their target were judges, apparently indicating the terrorists' resolve that no one would be spared. Most of these were the suicide-bombing attacks, but there was also a frontal clash with the security forces in which five militants were killed. Unlike an endgame scenario with sporadic firing and few casualties here and there, the latest spurt in violence is the clear message that battle has just begun. And, going by some reports, it was expected - the TTP breakaway faction Jamaatul Ahrar, which claimed responsibility for all these attacks, had released a video promising to launch its killing spree in the name of "Operation Ghazi". If the Jamaatul Ahrar is being rendered help by local terrorist outfits, that may be the case, particularly for its Lahore carnage where it might have been facilitated by Punjab-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Almi. After all, like guerrillas the terrorists too cannot operate without connivance and support of the local residents. And, it is also invariably the local people who often help frustrate terror plans - something which is apparently missing from our concerned agencies' anti-terrorism operations. The situation in relation to the Lahore carnage gives birth to a profound question: if the facilitators of Lahore carnage have been identified and apprehended now why our law enforcement agencies failed to take any meaningful action in re response to an intelligence report about the arrival of terrorists in Lahore.
Likewise, even when a lot of energy is expended through meaningless anti-terrorism rhetoric the ground realties hardly change. For instance, several years on the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) is still far from fully functional; the targets set in the National Action Plan remain elusive; and the political interests stand in the way of reviving the military courts. The criminal justice system that was to be reformed remains as it has been for over a century, and therefore dysfunctional in coping with the growing challenge of terrorism. Sentencing the confirmed criminals remains a lingering bane. How to create environments that produce anti-terrorism and anti-extremism mindset not much in concrete terms was done, nor does it seem to be on the official agenda. We are of the considered opinion that the latest spate of terrorist attacks too has the right potential to trigger a thorough review of the situation and thus help initiate steps that not only effectively cope with the evolving profile of terrorism but also fight it to the finish. For instance, we have no doubt about the fact that most of the attacks in Pakistan are carried out from inside Afghanistan by elements patronised by Mulla Fazlullah and the Khalid Khurasani's Jamaatul Ahrar. That the Afghan deputy head of mission was summoned to the Foreign Office and given a note protesting presence of these terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan is a positive development. But actions along these lines did not produce concrete results in past. Let there be a new approach to this problem, and that may be a joint Pak-Afghan anti-terrorism military campaign under the flag of the United Nations against these sanctuaries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017