Loopholes still unplugged
Since the Peshawar bus attack was the third of its kind (and the second in Peshawar) it must be accepted as an established, and successful, method of attack employed by the enemy. Yet, precisely because of the continuing trend, security agencies clearly continue to be behind the curve on this one, and it represents a glaring loophole that remains unplugged. There are too many passenger busses in the country to look after individually, of course, but surely a minimum security protocol can enable greater foresight. Such steps, unfortunately, have not been initiated yet.
Peshawar, needless to say, needs a little extra care in this regard, not the least because of its proximity to the tribal area and the number of passenger busses that go back and forth daily. Transport vehicles evidently need better checking upon entering the city. And, at the risk of repetition, the importance of improving intel gathering cannot be stressed enough. Bombs are not easily assembled nor their ingredients readily available near all target areas. It is during the process of gathering inputs and personnel for such assignments that intelligence agencies pick up ‘chatter’, which they use for preemption purposes. This requires real time information sharing between the dozens of agencies that litter the intel landscape. This, too, has not happened so far.
Having been uprooted from their sanctuary, the enemy must not be allowed to stabilise from its shaky Afghan sanctuary. Attack methods that repeatedly hit soft targets do not reflect well on the ongoing war effort, which has been largely successful. Yet the new year has seen renewed determination on the part of TTP. The government must immediately cork all security holes that have been identified. Zarb-e-Azb is at a crucial stage. The military has more or less wound up the groundwork in Waziristan, and it is time to head for urban centres. Soon, therefore, intelligence gathering and preemption will become even more important.