Mohmand attack

Terrorism is not going away. Another deadly attack hit a mosque during Friday prayers in the Mohmand Agency last week. At least 28 more people joined the ranks of the thousands of terrorism victims in Pakistan. The death toll could still rise. The spell cast over the country by terrorism remains in place. Despite the tall claims of a decisive victory against terrorism, the many terrorist groups operating throughout the country have not raised a white flag yet. Instead, we continue to count the body bags. The people who died were let down by inadequate security provisions. We must remember that only months ago we were told that the military operation to clean up South Waziristan from terrorists was over and that those displaced by the war could now return. Clearly not.

Another worrying aspect of the attack is that the death toll was made worse by the absence of accessible health facilities. How is it that people in the frontlines of the war on terrorism do not have adequate facilities for responding to a terrorist attack? The bombing does nothing to temper the fears of the hundreds of thousands of people who remain displaced by the ongoing military operation in the region. The Foreign Office pointed its finger towards Afghanistan once again in what seems like another excuse for our own failures. There can be no doubt that foreign soil is used to orchestrate terrorism. However, the responsibility of stopping them from conducting successful operations within either country is theirs alone. If the joint regional effort that we all desire is not coming, we must live with it and fight our fight.

Sara Rashid

Lahore