Daily Times

After a brief lull in attacks on high profile targets, Thursday’s suicide bombing in a Punjab Regiment training camp in Mardan came as a rude shock. Despite claims to the contrary, the militants have once again exhibited their capability to strike difficult targets. It is sad that apparently lax security cost us the precious lives of 31 young army recruits. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility, stating that this was done in retaliation for drone strikes. It has become clear from several incidents, including this one, that the Taliban are adapting themselves to the challenges of asymmetrical warfare. They are training and using women and children to achieve their objectives. A boy in school uniform entered the military facility and blew himself up near the parading cadets. The same day a burqa-clad would-be teenage suicide bomber was captured from Tank. Had he not been running, given the cultural sensitivities of gender segregation, it would have been difficult to spot and search him. This reveals the enormity and urgency of the task before the security forces.

The situation is made more complicated given Pakistan’s dual policy towards al Qaeda, the Pakistani brand of Taliban, and the Afghan Taliban. When certain groups are allowed to run riot in certain localities within Pakistan and then the military’s own facilities come under attack, what message does it send to the soldier fighting the war? This ambiguity is at the bottom of all our failures. It is easier to blame other countries for orchestrating these attacks on Pakistani soil than doing serious introspection to correct the wrong we are committing against our own nation. Already we are dealing with a huge crisis of internally displaced persons (IDPs), a situation that may worsen over time. Attacks such as these send out a very wrong impression about the military’s capability to deal with the situation. Not only should the distinction between good Taliban and bad Taliban end, there should be an all-out effort to eliminate this menace through proactive intelligence gathering and busting their networks from within. Security forces must take on all the groups that challenge the writ of the state. *