Daily Times

Friday’s attack on an unguarded crowd of villagers watching a game of volleyball in Lakki Marwat amply reflects the values and mindset of people who are fighting against the state of Pakistan. Any crowd of ordinary citizens going about their lives — be it an Ashura procession in Karachi, a market in Peshawar or Lahore, or a mosque in Rawalpindi — seems fair game for these barbarians to kill and maim. The field that was the scene of an animated game and resounding applause was turned into a spectacle of gore and flesh in a matter of seconds. An explosives-packed vehicle drove into the field in Shah Hasan Khel village and killed most of the players and a large number of spectators present inside the playground in a huge explosion. The death toll had risen to 93 at the time of writing these lines, with 100 injured. In addition, adjacent houses and other buildings were badly damaged. One wonders what kind of morbid pleasure it will offer to the perpetrators of this attack. The only explanation that comes to mind is that in a battle for territory and influence, the jihadis considers unarmed civilians in their own country as justified targets.
There are no signs of the weakening of the jihadis after the initiation of military operations last year. In fact, they have come back with more ferocity. The present incident indicates that they are in full retaliatory mode against anybody they perceive as their enemy, which by now seems to mean everyone. Situated on the border of South Waziristan, Shah Hasan Khel village and the adjoining area was a hub of militants in the recent past and was cleared by local people with the government’s help. A peace committee of the area is active and according to some accounts, its meeting was being held in a nearby mosque at the time of the attack. It is not clear if any members of the committee have been killed, but the militants have sent a very strong message to the people of the area that they are alive and kicking. At this point the role of the security forces and government agencies is very important. The psychological effect of this carnage in a small village will be huge. If the government does not step forward to provide security and necessary aid to the local people, nobody can prevent this area from falling back into the hands of the militants, leading to more reversals, which neither the government nor the people can afford.
It is imperative that in addition to medical aid for the victims, monetary compensation for loss of life, injury and loss of property announced by the provincial government are paid at the earliest. The members of the peace committee would need special protection because they are obviously the source of ire for the militants whose houses were razed in the area under their supervision. In consultation with the local administration and elders of the area, the government can also consider providing training and supervision to the local militia of the people to prevent the Taliban from re-entering their area.
That said, this attack should also be looked at from a wider perspective. From their past activities and statements, the militants have made it known that they would attack both military and non-military targets in order to create chaos and mayhem to achieve their dubious goals. They want to make Pakistan a place where no one is safe and where nobody should take the risk of coming. By creating a security situation, they have already succeeded in achieving their objective of isolating Pakistan internationally. The UN is pulling out a majority of its staff from Pakistan. A large number of foreign aid workers, educationists, businessmen and technical experts working here have left. No international sports or cultural event is likely to happen in Pakistan anytime soon. All this has had a degenerative effect on all spheres of life. This should leave no doubt in the minds of the security establishment, media, political elite as well as the general public that those carrying out suicide bombings are the enemies of Pakistan. They need to be snuffed out by putting up a united front. g

CIA drone headquarter attacked

Earlier this week a suicide bomber hit the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, killing seven CIA officers and injuring another six. The question that arises is: what is the CIA doing in Afghanistan, especially this close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region? The CIA is known to use a combination of high-tech satellite technology and human intelligence gathering for carrying out drone strikes and covert operations in Afghanistan, and quite possibly, Pakistan from this base.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for this attack, probably in retaliation for the drone attacks by the US. The TTP managed to infiltrate the base with the bomber disguised as an Afghan army soldier. The suicide bomber was given access into the base after the guards mistook him to be an informer for the CIA. The base is a centre for recruiting and training informants for the CIA. Information is the name of the game and drone strikes are heavily reliant on accurate information. Drones are more effective when compared with the methods used by the Pakistan Army — heavy bombardment, using ground troops, heavy artillery, helicopters and jets — making military operations not only expensive but also causing civilian casualties and displacement of the people residing in the zone of operations. Reports coming out of FATA suggest that the locals are being held hostage by foreign and domestic Taliban fighters and that they may just prefer drone attacks because they are precision guided and far more accurate, hence causing less collateral damage.
The Pakistani government and the Pakistan Army keep stating that the use of drones is counterproductive. Publicly the government and military protest the use of drones vigorously, calling it an infringement of the sovereignty of Pakistan but fail to go any further to stop drones from entering Pakistan’s airspace. The CIA, as the attack on its base shows, is playing a central role in the war against terror and helping Pakistan along the way by eliminating the leadership of the Taliban. The US Army and the CIA, in particular in Afghanistan, should adopt better security measures in the light of this attack and those being carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan against the country’s security apparatus. *