Daily Times

The arrest of a major terrorist planner who led the attack on the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar, Taj Muhammad, may bring some solace to the deeply tormented families of the victims. By now, the seeds of militancy planted in the tribal areas have sprouted into the ugliest form of terrorism. The terrorists have worked out their modus operandi. They are applying every possible terror technique to achieve their nefarious agenda. They are now attacking urban areas and vulnerable points including imambargahs, schools, mosques and security installations. Brainwashed suicide attackers are the most dangerous weapon they have against the state. Once launched, they are difficult to stop without suffering damage of varying magnitudes. There is only one way that can stop these human bombs: nip the evil in the bud by carving out a strategy to pre-empt the perpetrators before they are able to implement their devilish schemes. The elimination of terrorists and their underground cells calls for more robust intelligence-led operations with cohesive covert actions. Unless you build coordinated, skilled and advanced intelligence forces, you are doomed to suffer at the hands of the terrorists. After the mass exodus of the local people from North Waziristan and other such sanctuaries of the terrorists in the tribal regions, the army has a virtual free fire zone to exterminate these barbarians with less chances of collateral damage there, but such luxury is not available in the cities.

It is appreciable that the security forces are hunting down the terrorists involved in the APS carnage. Obviously the intensity of intelligence-based operations should not be confined to the seeking out of the APS perpetrators; rather these operations should continue till the elimination of the last terrorist. Terror strikes in the cities have become a regular phenomenon now, especially the weekly incidents of blasts in imambargahs on the occasion of Friday prayers, which is painting the violence in a sectarian hue. The Shia community members are becoming the prime target of this onslaught. Such sensitive matters need a quick remedy. Another major cause of concern is the emergence of Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan, which is employing sophisticated techniques on the Internet and social media to spread fear and terror. Particularly IS’s exploitation of social media has proved that it is not an extremist militia of backward ruffians; rather they are the most sophisticated barbarians of the 21st century. They have mastered the art of actual and cyber asymmetrical warfare while using novel ways of killing and presenting their cruel acts to the world through video clips and twitter chats. The danger of IS should not be taken lightly. They are not going to arrive here from Iraq or Syria. Rather local terrorist groups are increasingly likely to align themselves with IS (this has already begun) and seek to emulate IS’s brutal methods. The government and security forces need a pre-emptive strategy to keep the IS evil away from Pakistan. *