An explosive-laden car rams into a paramilitary vehicle in Peshawar. Six Frontier Corps men injured. Unknown assailants open fire at a police check post in Peshawar. Two martyred, and several injured. Untraceable miscreants spray an on-duty constable in Dera Ismail Khan with bullets. A policeman dies while serving in the line of fire. And now, another blast targets a Tehsil office in broad daylight; killing three policemen and wounding seven others. These snapshots encapsulate some of what transpired on the streets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a major province of a country that is neither fighting any war nor under attack. That all of this went down in a span of few hours engulfing dozens of households across the land in an air of melancholy further spells out the criticalness of the bloodied situation. We may sit tight all we want and give each other the assurances we need to get a good night’s sleep but there remain no qualms about the fact that terrorism is back and it is back with vengeance. The fact that militant outfits have deliberately chosen uniformed men as their prime targets narrate how well-planned their line of action is. By spelling out the utter lack of capacity of the state to defend itself, let alone its people, they are not only triggering bedlam among the masses but also proclaiming their dominance. No words of condemnation from however powerful quarters would pull the miraculous rabbit out of the hat unless the civilian leadership acknowledges how big the problem actually is. The sleeper cells had been activated while the politicians were busy playing a round of musical chairs and now, the enemy is in no mood to show mercy. While armed forces may be capable enough to root out this menace once and for all, any viable strategy needs a broad consensus from the parliament. Pakistan would have to blow the dust off its determined resolve to crush the forces of terrorism and once again launch an all-encompassing operation. The cat-and-mouse game cannot continue for long.’ *