The Peshawar suicide attack this week which resulted in the death of 96 plus people and injuring more than 250 seriously is the second most horrifying terror attack in the country after the December 2014 APS school attack in which the Taliban terrorists had massacred 150 people including 134 students in their classrooms.
The horror of the tragedy is so intense that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, state leaders and representatives of all friendly countries have condemned the mosque massacre.
Blinken has rightly stated that “terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible”.
The Taliban by their brutal action have put to shame the government’s doctrine of “Good Taliban and Bad Taliban”- there is no such thing as a good terrorist.
The 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) for countering terrorism and extremism was created by NACTA (National Counter Terrorism Authority) in consultation with relevant stakeholders and approved on the 24th of December 2014 lies almost frozen in a dormant state.
The plan was never implemented in letter and spirit encouraging the terrorists to target security men and civilians – the spike in terrorist incidences in the last few years is a solid testimony to this fact.
Monday’s bloodbath has reportedly been claimed by the Mohmand faction of the TTP – Perhaps for avenging the killing of Omar Khalid Khorasani in Afghanistan in August 2022.
Omar’s real name was Abdul Wali Mohmand and he previously headed the TTP in the Mohmand Agency bordering Afghanistan.
The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for conducting the gruesome massacre in the Peshawar Mosque located in the highly fortified Police Lines area. The TTP keeps operating out of safe havens provided by their counter parts in Afghanistan with impunity.
As usual the entire top brass of the country rushed to Peshawar to participate in the high level security meeting chaired by the Prime Minister who has vowed to implement the 20 point agenda in the National Action Plan- the only solution to neutralize the TTP terrorist threats.
The government needs to amend its flawed doctrine of treating the TTP softly- with zero tolerance the menace of terrorism needs to be eradicated.
In November 2021, the government and TTP had a ceasefire accord, and under that agreement Imran Khan government released 100 TTP officials under a ‘goodwill’ gesture with the approval of the establishment.
The past doctrine of negotiating and rehabilitating the TTP appear not to have paid any significant dividends.
According to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, there was a constant increase in the incidents of terrorism in 2022. During the year 2022, 262 incidents of terrorism, including 14 suicide bombings, took place in Pakistan.
It is in the interest of Pakistan to recalibrate its Afghan policy with its regional partners and deal strictly with TTP as enemy of the state and people.
The TTP has crossed the red line and escalated the tension giving little choice and reason to the government to ignore the threat – the security of the state is at stake and like the economy it must be taken seriously.-World Tribune Pak
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