A tough one
There has to be a qualitative improvement in the working of the security agencies to preserve the successes achieved in Operation Zarb-e-Azb which is in its final stage now. It appears that a longer and equally gruesome battle will have to be fought in the urban centres of Pakistan against the terrorist networks. Finding themselves at a disadvantage in fighting the army in tribal areas, the terrorist networks are shifting the sphere of their activities to the big cities where they can neither be subjected to aerial bombardment nor smoked out of their hideouts by military raids.
A cursory look at the terrorist attacks which took place in cities this year would show a disturbing pattern. The year has seen some of the deadliest attacks like the ones in Shikarpur (over 60 killed), Safoora Goth (43 killed) and Badaber (29 killed). Unlike the earlier suicide attacks that killed people indiscriminately, a well thought out pattern is discernible in the attacks in urban areas. The terrorists targeted PML-N legislators in DG Khan and Gujranwala, and in Attock where they killed Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada who was efficiently pursuing the terrorists. Another target was the minorities who were attacked in all the four provinces. Media offices/vans were attacked in Karachi, Lahore, Sargodha and Faisalabad and police personnel and installations in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. What one has seen happening is an increasing use of technology by the terrorists.
The incidents are indicative of weaknesses in the intelligence network and a lack of realisation of the gravity of the challenge by the federal and provincial governments. For nearly two years the federal government failed to provide funds required by the interior ministry to activate NACTA. Despite Sindh government’s other weaknesses, its Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) comprising police officers made remarkable progress in arresting the group involved in Safoora killings and its financiers. Other provinces, however, continue to lag behind Sindh.
