A new task force

Importance of civilian input

Soon after the horrendous suicide attack in Quetta on Monday a special combing operation was launched all over Pakistan. On Thursday the terrorists again stole a march on the agencies and law enforcement bodies, injuring 14 through a blast on a busy road of the city. The incident once again underlined the need to review the need to revamp the security system. The matter came up at the high level civil-military meeting on Thursday.

It is now being admitted by the government that the root cause of the country’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks is the failure to implement the National Action Plan (NAP), a fact which has been denied all along by the interior minister. At a meeting of the civil and military leadership on Thursday it was agreed to establish a high level task force to monitor the progress on the implementation of NAP. The task force will comprise senior representatives of all concerned departments and agencies of the federal government and the provinces. In January last year the government and the military leadership had agreed to set up Provincial Apex Committees (PACs) for coordination between civil-military leadership for the express purpose of the implementation of NAP at the provincial level. That a new body is being created to monitor the implementation of NAP indicates that the PACs we not effective. It would be premature to comment on the new body till details about its composition are shared with the public. Recognising the centrality of the intelligence agencies in rooting out terrorism it has been decided to provide all necessary resources and support to the agencies. So far the PML-N government’s spending priorities have stood in the way of allocating sufficient funds for NACTA. It remains to be seen how the finance ministry overcomes this hurdle.

The government should consider Khursheed Shah’s proposal to form a parliamentary national security committee to monitor the implementation of NAP and the progress in Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The importance of civilian inputs and oversight must not be disregarded.