Security nightmare

We are truly facing a security nightmare of the worst possible kind. The terrorists remain able to strike anywhere, at any time, in any city and target whomever they choose. This time, Lahore lay at the centre of the bull’s eye. A suicide bomber who blew himself up close to the Qilla Gujjar Singh Police Lines claimed eight lives and inflicted injuries on at least 10 others. The toll could have been higher had he entered the police station rather than blowing himself up just outside it. As before, the law-enforcement agencies remain a key focal point for attacks staged by the militants. But they are not alone. A bomb scare at a private school in Lahore also kept the city on high alert. The panic caused among people by such incidents counts as a victory for the terrorists. And they won again by claiming lives in the Punjab capital. It is now obvious that the claims by the provincial government of foolproof security remain flawed. Indeed, in a situation like this, foolproof security is next to impossible. There are too many bombers, and we seem to have too little means to stop them.
We have to assess what our next steps must be. Better training for law-enforcement personnel is a must. They have been doing well by keeping bombers away from key buildings and thereby protecting lives. The step after this must be to stop the bombers further away, before they can inflict damage and this is possible only if we can determine where their hideouts are and how these outfits operate. For this, intelligence is key. We should by now have gathered file upon file of such material. It must now be utilised to capture key militant leaders and break up the groups responsible for creating the mayhem we now see spread out all around us. The task has become more difficult because we have waited so long. It will become harder still if we continue to wait rather than initiate the action or set of actions we desperately need in order to save our society and prevent the loss of further

lives. We all know the next major attack is not far away. The question is: can we stop it?