Terror outfits are back to stalk the northwest. A late-night explosion in North Waziristan cost the lives of 13 labourers who committed the unforgivable crime of travelling to earn their bread and butter at the same time as the real target–a convor of security forces. In what can only be called a senseless act of violence, 13 families were made to face the wrath of terror outfits. As mobil services remain suspended and official condemnations pour in, the state would have to open its eyes to blood-thirsty forces of religious fanaticism targeting security forces and ordinary citizens; wreaking havoc across the length and breadth of the bruised land. Targeted attacks in the same district shot dead two men on August 12. Earlier in August, a star-crossed couple minding their business lost their lives in an attack on the security officials near the Pak-Afghan border. The situation is becoming far too critical with every passing day where as many as 665 militant attacks have been reported in just one province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last year. The alarming resurgance said to have been triggered by the cancellation of the previously agreed-upon ceasefire agreement by Tehreek-Taliban Pakistan, has already claimed the lives of 389 people in the first six months of 2023. The fatalities recorded have been the highest since 2014. THat the sinister outfit plans to overthrow the provincial government, cut off the hapless province from the rest of Pakistan and impose its own version of Shariah law through a terrorist campaign has long been emphasised as the end goal but the state institutions have yet to respond to the looming threat. There’s no denying the unmatchable sacrifices rendered by security agencies but provincial police and counter-terrorism departments can only perform outstandingly if equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry. In the past, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s disbursement of the funds intended to prepare the armed forces against the rise in terrorism echoed in Islamabad where former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif asked whatsoever had become of Rs 417 billion sent by Islamabad in the last 13 years. In addition to establishing transparency about the operations of the government, the TTP’s obsession to reclaim no-go areas cannot be ignored till the next round of elections. Pakistan needs an immediate line of action to protect its people. *