Sir: The country’s biggest jailbreak in our history was successfully executed by militants in Bannu, despite warnings by the intelligence agencies earlier this year. Four main points were demarcated as prospective targets that included the Bannu jail at the top of the list. Various letters had been issued by the intelligence agencies to inform the concerned authorities, but professional negligence prevailed and a significant piece of intelligence information was ignored. Apparently, the drama where 384 prisoners were freed by more than 100 militants could not have been possible without the support of the jail staff. That so many militants could enter a guarded place conveniently to perform such a brazen attack is quite unbelievable and serves as a wake up call for both the authorities and the security and intelligence apparatus. According to news reports, Adnan Rashid had been freed by his comrades. Sentenced to death in 2010 by an anti-terrorist court for attacking Musharraf, the then president of Pakistan, Adnan was sent to the Bannu jail in December 2011. This episode highlights the fact that intelligence reports of such serious nature are not taken seriously. The prison should have been on high alert, with or without intelligence warnings. This colossal administrative failure does not only damage our credibility but severely undermines the efforts of our security personnel who had taken great pains to capture all these militants. Surely, this serves as fodder for all those who have cast doubts upon the sincerity of Pakistan in the war on terror. The inability of the civil administration to consolidate the gains of war is just one example where lack of interest makes life difficult for Pakistanis. Such incidents would further provoke the US’s ire and its mantra for Pakistan to do more could begin again. At a time when Pakistan is redesigning and redefining its relations with the US, any lax attitude on the part of the government in tackling terrorism could backfire. The recent attacks on foreign installations in Afghanistan have already been traced to South Waziristan, especially linking it to the Haqqani network. This may well begin a fresh onslaught of drone attacks. Any development on these lines would push the so-called foreign policy that our parliament has delineated so laboriously into an abyss. It is time Pakistan become serious about handling terrorism. KABIL KHAN Peshawar