Terror rising

This week has brought into spotlight once again the terror challenge Pakistan faces and which has increased in recent months. A spate of different terror attacks reflects the urgent and arduous tasks ahead for the country's government and security institutions. Fourteen soldiers were martyred when two security vehicles moving from Pasni to Ormara in Gwadar were ambushed by terrorists on Friday. The same day a bomb blast targeted the police in Dera Ghazi Khan. And then on Saturday an attack on the PAF training base in Mianwali was thwarted as all nine terrorists who attacked the PAF base were gunned down by security forces. These are all alarming incidents, for the lives lost as well as for the indication that there is as yet not much respite from terror. That the TTP and others have found safe havens in Afghanistan shows that everyone who had warned that the fall of Kabul to the Afghan Taliban was a bad omen for Pakistan was eventually in the right. In fact, the TTP and the Afghan Taliban turned out to be one and the same in most respects. The failure of the Afghan Taliban in reining in the TTP and not taking any action against them has exposed those who had claimed that their rule would bring stability in the region. If anything, it has led to the rise of terrorism again in Pakistan – something the country had eradicated after more than a decade of the war on terror and our brave fight against terrorism in which we lost soldier and citizen both in their thousands.

Some experts have urged the government to take stringent measures and get countries that have influence in the region like China, Saudi Arabia and others on board to exert pressure on the Afghan Taliban regime. However, we have instead resorted to sending Afghan immigrants back to Afghanistan, which many believe is a knee-jerk reaction to the Taliban’s support of the TTP. This is not how diplomacy works or how countries tackle difficult problems. And this is certainly not how we can fix our terror problem.

The number of terror attacks in Pakistan in the first half of 2023 saw a total of 271 attacks, claiming 389 lives and injuring 656 others. The second half of 2023 does not look any better. We have seen attacks in big cities as well as smaller towns and the worrying aspect is that they have been steadily increasing. At the end of the day, it is Pakistan that is still paying the price for the war on terror and then the fall of Kabul. The US and Nato forces’ hasty withdrawal strengthened terrorist groups in the region while giving the Afghan Taliban carte blanche to do anything both inside their own country and at the border areas with Pakistan. While Pakistan strengthens its resolve to take on terror – as has been articulated by both the civilian and military leaderships – it needs the Afghan side to choke off air supply to the TTP. There is no other way.