Daily Times

The roots of violent extremism remain firmly planted in Waziristan, where terrorist attacks have become a routine part of people’s lives-in the last year alone, 177 people lost their lives to militancy in the region. The latest of these targeted an armored security vehicle, injuring a total of nine people, including five security personnel. This is a good time to ask ourselves whether we are even poised to take on the TTP. Amid our economic crisis and the Taliban’s rule in neighboring Afghanistan, the Pakistani Taliban have reemerged as an increasingly potent threat. Our response to their affronts so far has been lacklustre at best, indicating both the TTP’s renewed capability for waging terror and our inability to contain it.

Needless to say, the TTP’s escalating campaign of violence is a function of its growing political and material strength-reflected in its political cohesion, ever-expanding cadre of trained fighters, and even accessibility to better weapons and equipment. Our security personnel, on the other hand, remains woefully unequipped to deal with their resurgence. We must remember that we do not have the US to rely on anymore, whose intelligence and military capabilities were instrumental to containing the TTP the first time around. In fact, TTP messaging as of late makes the point that it has no direct aims against the US, appearing more focused on its local agenda against Pakistan. Indeed, the biggest setback to the TTP in the past was its targeting by US drone strikes, eroding its combat potential.

Strategically, it makes sense that they’d want to steer clear of any provocations against the United States. But this leaves us completely isolated at a time when we need all the help we can get. To make matters worse, we spent all of 2021 downplaying the TTP’s strength, naively assuming that the Afghan Taliban would automatically put all its resources and collective strength to help us mitigate the terrorist threat. While it is encouraging that we have abandoned the notion of a ceasefire with the TTP, we cannot deny that our myopic policies are largely to blame for their resurgence. We are doomed to repeat our mistakes unless we acknowledge them. *