The Taliban are carrying out their nefarious activities with the objective of keeping our citizens impoverished and pushing them further deep into poverty and denying them any facility. Taliban have recently blown up two schools and a hospital in Mohmand Agency. Blowing up of such infrastructure is beyond any sane and legitimate reason. An area in which conflict is already common and lacks numerous basic facilities, destroying such public service infrastructure will only add to the misery of the local people. It is imperative that more attention should be given to the development work and security of such facilities in these conflict areas.
It is encouraging that the estimated 15,000 displaced families from Mohmand and Bajaur Agencies are being repatriated back to their homes. These families had left their homes in the wake of the recent operations. Whether this is an indicator of the return to normalcy or not is yet to be seen as there are still reports of skirmishes in these agencies. It is imperative that the government should provide full security and support to these families once they return back to their homes and also guarantee that they would not have to face the same situation in the future.
Another disturbing news is that the police in Swabi have seized an abandoned container which contained a dismantled Cessna plane. The bandits had driven the container through Peshawar, Nowshera and Mardan after snatching it while abandoning it for unknown reasons. It is apparent that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police did not even bother to check the container, its contents or the drivers. Throughout this time they drove around freely and this in a province hard hit with terrorism and insurgency. Perhaps, it is time that the police should put its business in order, so that it can face up to the challenge.
YASIR HAMEED
Islamabad
