The attack on Frontier Constabulary (FC) headquarters in Shabqadar led to the killing of 80 freshly trained paramilitary cadets and civilians. Responsibility for the attack was promptly accepted by TTP. While the terrorist organisation claims that this was a revenge killing for OBL’s ‘martyrdom’, terrorists attacked numerous army installations, training camps and even targeted the GHQ during the last few years. Police stations too have been their favourite target. Besides inflicting losses on the symbols of the state’s power, the terrorists have also attacked mosques and shrines. Over the last few years 30,000 civilians and 5,000 security personnel have been killed by the fanatics. It would be thoroughly unrealistic to think, therefore, that there would have been a let up to the terrorist attacks if OBL had been alive. In fact his killing has removed a major architect of the terror attacks and a rallying figure for the terrorist organisations.
The attack is yet another reminder that Pakistan continues to face an existential threat from terrorist organisations. Unless these groups are uprooted, neither Pakistan nor the world at large will be able to live in peace. The war against terrorism is Pakistan’s own war; the civilian and military leadership have to fully concentrate on the removal of the threat. What is more, coalitions made over time to fight terrorism have to be strengthened and in no case weakened. Any talk of reviewing counter-terrorism cooperation with the US is thus out of place.
There is also a need to review the country’s defence paradigm. So far India has been regarded the principal enemy by those formulating Pakistan’s defence doctrine. This might have been true at certain stages of the two countries’ history. Unless defence policies are revised to cope with new threats, military doctrines are liable to degenerate into unrealistic dogmas that can be immensely harmful. The major part of the military’s manpower and physical assets needs to be diverted to destroy the terrorists.