In Grip of Terror!

Today, Pakistan is afflicted with terror. Terror assaults are happening on the Pakistani soil with fury and ferocity. The  message from the terror outfits is loud and clear. Repeated terror strikes have exposed chinks in the armour of the Pakistani establishment. The security and intelligence agencies are demoralized and frustrated with the successive deadly strikes are devastatingly fatal.

Last week of February saw a lethal suicide bombing terror attack in the Darul Uloom Haqqania Madrassa killing its head of institution, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani. Madrassa was the  prime target, is located in Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. This Madrassa is well known for having educated a series of Talibani leaders imparting theological teachings to them. It is also pertinent to mention that the slain Madrassa Maulana’s father, Samiul Haq Haqqani was also murdered in 2018. It is a well-known seminary  where hundreds of students are lodged free of cost, given religious education and taken care of their clothing and other basic needs.

As this Madrassa is known to have links of the Haqqanis  with the Taliban leadership, it’s strongly believed that this act of terror was carried out by the Islamic State (IS) which often leaves its footprint by deadly terror assaults in KP as well as in parts of Afghanistan, in an apparent bid to register its presence and send a signal that the IS is not yet finished and is still  alive and kicking.

Now the Nowshera terror attack is not the only one which happened most recently.  In Bannu (March 4), at the heart of the Military Cantonment, two explosive laden  cars were driven and exploded causing deaths and injuries to many. The security forces retaliated neutralizing terrorists. This one was a very daring terror act suspected to have been carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who had been intermittently attacking the Pakistan military architecture and other strategic sites with huge ferocity. What is significant is that these terror attacks were carried out  in the month of Ramadan which is considered to be a holy month of fasting and prayers for the adherents of Islam. Causing deaths of innocents by the perpetrators of such perilous terror strikes, through suicide missions show the determination and resolve on part of the terrorists who have scant respect for the religion ignoring the timing of the religious sensitivities.

Such acts have become routine without any exceptions and notably there are fewer condemnations by the international community or religious clerics of these acts which further embolden the terrorists to continue to act with more impunity in the absence of any moral accountability or criticism.

On its part, Pakistani military is rattled by this deadly breach of security targeting the very heart of a military set up where physical security is considered to be foolproof and watertight. There is ample pressure on the Army to do something radical to rein in the often-repeated terror attacks. Pressure is also on the military in particular to tone up it’s intelligence apparatus and prevent recurrence. Someday IS and  the TTP strike the highest security zone breaching the security safeguards thus shaking the confidence of the highly trained security system. Such lapses have also  unnerved the confidence of the civilian population who more than often question the fledgling political leadership of Pakistan that their security is endangered more than before and its high time the government did something to ensure their  security instilling a sense of safety. However, that seems not happening anytime now because things are not in control even by the slightest imagination.

Under the ongoing circumstances, it is pertinent to point out that in Pakistan nearly 1600 people have died in terror attacks last year. These statistics are confirmed by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad. Also, coincidentally, there was a similar deadly terror attack in Bannu in July last year. Obviously, lessons were not learnt by the previous attack and the terrorists struck again in less than a year knowing that the security agencies were still in inertia and are yet to wake up and meet the security challenges. In February alone, nearly hundred lives are lost in the terror attacks. This time a terror outfit called Jaish al-Fursan has taken the responsibility of the attacks. This group is linked to Pakistani Taliban.

Meanwhile, security experts in Pakistan have called for a joint cooperation between the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and the government of Pakistan to collaborate and contain terror in KP. The growing differences between both the sides across the Durand Line are well-known often leading, even to, aerial attacks on the bordering areas. Experts further recommend sinking of the differences between the two sides as a tactical measure and concentrate on intelligence sharing primarily to stop the IS and the TTP from continuing with their terror strikes. However, any breakthrough in this regard looks distant, at least as of now.

Many security and counter terror analysts in the meantime, reckon that in Pakistan there should be a political approach to bring the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the TTP on board through negotiations to bring peace. They have illustrated their arguments by citing the breakthrough achieved by the Ma government recently bringing the Kurds under control following a political settlement with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In Pakistan, however, such an initiative looks implausible due to rigidity and deep-seated ideological differences and clinical hatred between the adversaries who are baying for blood at each opportune moment. This is evident from the fact that they continue to perpetrate deadly terror acts overlooking the religious significance of Ramadan spilling blood by attacking religious seminaries and the ‘safest’  of the high-profile security installations.

If this conflict zone in the vicinity of Afghanistan and Pakistan are allowed to escalate with recurring terror activities, it is likely to have a cascading effect in other parts of Pakistan threatening to engulf and encourage other terror groups for a sustained fight with the State multiplying security challenges further and making the region more combustible than before.  The task seems tough.

 
Shantanu Mukharji is a
retired IPS officer and
former National Security
Advisor in Mauritius.