Revealed beyond doubt from the current situation in Peshawar where three consecutive blasts after short intervals in a single day resulted in the killing of five security persons and eight innocent civilians indicates that terrorism is far from over in Pakistan. That it has been curtailed to a relatively high degree in most parts of the country, however, is apparent from the employment of women suicide bombers, a rare occurrence in Pakistan.
In this backdrop, it becomes apparent that despite launching successful military operations against terrorism by the Pakistani security forces, the war is far from over. It has to be realised that this global war cannot be fought single-handedly by any one nation or in any specific region. That a decade of commitment and hard labour of the Pakistani forces have been instrumental in regaining a lot of territory from the militant stronghold, but the aftermath has been making itself felt in the form of resource compression.
Employing pressure tactics, slandering, severing relations, imposing sanctions slashing of war related funds cannot be translated as a formula for tackling militancy either locally or globally.
The only means through which the target set by the US in South Asia can be achieved is to target militancy comprehensively while keeping the limitation of the host countries under consideration. That wars are fought in battlegrounds is correct, but that they are won in the hearts and minds of the people concerned should never be forgotten.
UMAR KHAN
Lahore
