Disturbing escalation
Obviously the enemy is neither impressed nor much affected by the prime minister’s boast at Davos – about having broken the terrorists’ backbone – and continues with its trend of increased attacks in the New Year. Once more Peshawar was the targeted city, though this time insurgents used a remote controlled bomb instead of their trademark suicide attack tactic. Fortunately there was no loss of life and hopefully the three injured will recover soon. However, the injury to the war effort, especially in the wake of tall claims by the prime minister as well as army chief, will take longer to heal.
By now it has become clear that the enemy has regrouped enough to choose the turning of the year to increase its footprint once again in the war. It is also increasingly apparent, regretfully, that complacency was allowed to set in after the initial military success of Zarb-e-Azb. The government chose to ride the popular wave that followed the Operation instead of ensuring the National Action Plan (NAP) was implemented in letter and spirit. In fact, had some of the Plan’s more important points been followed through, attacks like Charsadda and Peshawar would have been a lot more difficult, if not outright impossible, to stage.
The government needs to realise that it has put itself in a very dangerous position. Not only did it take its foot off the gas far too early in the operation, it has also not moved on erecting that vital national narrative that was supposed to spearhead the crucial battle for hearts and minds. So far, the only narrative it has constructed is labeling the war’s unfortunate fallen as ‘martyrs’, and celebrating their ‘sacrifices’, instead of doing its basic job and making sure such attacks are not repeated. The supposed ‘arrangement’ with the Afghans – getting them to clamp down on our bad guys holed up there – has also not got off the ground and remains buried under a mountain of complications. It is, at the end of the day, the government’s duty to control terrorism. And the disturbing trend of the New Year suggests that a lot remains to be done before this war can be won.
