Islamabad, (Samajweekly) Pakistan is again witnessing the resurgence of terrorism in its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan which is now spreading to major cities like Peshawar, Lahore as well as the capital Islamabad, making it the most challenging and dangerous test for the country’s security forces.
Since the failure of negotiations between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group and a government delegation under former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan held in Kabul under the facilitation of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the banned outfit has carried out deadly attacks ranging from suicide blasts, IED explosions, targeted attacks on security installations, military convoys and check-posts, and targeted killings of security personnel.
A latest report reveals that there have been over 200 terror attacks by the TTP and other terror groups in Pakistan.
“Pakistan witnessed a sharp increase in terrorist attacks in August with 99 incidents reported across the country, marking 83 per cent surge in militant attacks compared to July during which terrorists carried out 54 attacks,” a think tank said in a report.
Three major attacks took place in a day this month, out of which two of which were suicide blasts that targeted a religious procession and a mosque.
Friday’s suicide attack in Mastung, Balochistan, targeted at a religious procession, killed 50 people and injured more than 100 others.
Another attack reported within a few minutes took place in a mosque in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during Friday prayers, claiming at least five lives and injuring 12 others.
Also on Friday, a large number of TTP terrorists tried to enter into Pakistan from Afghanistan, targeting two check posts of the Pakistan Army in the northern mountainous Kalash border valley.
The attack was thwarted by the border security forces, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and 12 assailants.
Pakistan has maintained that TTP militants enjoy safe movement and settlements across the border in Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban-led government in Kabul to take action against those entities that threaten Islamabad.
“It is their (Taliban) responsibility — their international, bilateral and their trilateral responsibility as they have committed to the trilateral meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan and China in May this year. So, how they will do it we do not want to comment on it but it is their responsibility, and we hope they will fulfill the commitments they have made, ”Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.
The menace of terrorism has kept the Pakistani security forces and law-enforcement agencies on its toes as it fights to tackle and take out terrorists through Intelligence Based Operations (IBO) and maintain vigilance over cross-border infiltration attempts.
The other major challenge for the Pakistani security forces is the different branches, sub-branches and other terrorist groups like the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Jamatul-Ahrar (JuA), Islamic State (IS) and Ahrarul-Hind, all believed to be using Afghan soil for shelter and planning.
The terror threat has also played its role as a spoiler in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations as the government in Kabul claims and promises that it will not allow its soil to be used against any country.
Pakistan however, maintains that ongoing terrorist attacks and attempts of border infiltration from Afghanistan negate Kabul’s claim.
In view of the fast growing and increasing terror threat, Pakistan has also decided to take action against illegal Afghan refugees residing in the country.
The government has decided to repatriate at least 1.1 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan out of at least 3.7 million.
About 1.3 million Afghan refugees are registered in the country, while at least 2.4 million still reside illegally.
Pakistan has been hosting the largest number of Afghan refugees for decades.
What is important here is that Pakistan, under the caretaker government and the Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, has decided to not have any peace talks with the TTP or any other militant groups.
General Munir had stated in a grand Jirga in Peshawar that there was no option for talks with the TTP, adding that negotiations will only take place with the Taliban regime in Kabul.
But with increasing attacks by terrorist groups in Pakistan, the security challenge has become much more intensified and remains the most important for the forces.
