It raises questions about government and the army
Mohmand Agency has been conquered and re-conquered, and cleansed of terrorists several times over if one was to go by the statements issued by military and government leaders from time to time. It was therefore a shock to hear of 23 FC men who had been arrested four years earlier having been recently killed by the TTP. One had been reminded ad nauseum that former army chief Gen Kayani had rectified the blunders committed under Musharraf’s command as COAS which had brought bad name to the army and caused demoralization in the forces. Now we hear that the terrorists had seized nearly two dozen soldiers and were holding them for ransom since 2010. The concern shown by the PTI chief Imran Khan over the report is therefore quite understandable. He has expressed shock over the former government, the military and the present government, having done nothing to get the soldiers released. How come the ISI and MI, which have operated widely in the tribes since 1980, and are supposed to possess enough human intelligence, failed to get any clue over the years regarding the location of the detained soldiers? Why were army commandos not sent to retrieve the missing soldiers? What did the successive governments do to secure their release? These are disturbing questions that beg for answers.
The entire country has reacted with revulsion over the barbaric act that cannot be justified under any law, sacred or profane. The laws of war practiced by the civilized world do not allow killing the prisoners caught during the hostilities. The terrorists however care little for civilization. Even the government’s negotiations committee which had fed the people on false hopes for nearly two weeks has expressed inability to carry forward the peace talks after the killings. Like the indecisive prime minister, the committee also continues to hope for a miracle to revive the talks. It has appealed to the TTP to cease violent activities forthwith. In response the terrorists have attacked a check post in South Waziristan killing one soldier and targeted an army convoy, killing a major, besides kidnapping a six-member polio team from a village bordering South Waziristan and a WHO official and five members of another polio team from the tribal area of FR Tank.
Any delay in bringing the terrorists to book is likely to demoralise the troops as well as the common people. This is precisely what that the terrorists want. Troops would only fight half-heartedly if they know they are likely to be abandoned for years if they are captured. The inaction would give credence to the pessimistic remark that Imran Khan had ascribed to the prime minister who had quoted Gen (Retd) Kayani, saying that any military operation against the terrorists had only 40 pc chance of success.