The writing on the wall has been screaming a blood-tainted 2023 for Pakistan for a while now. Even though Pakistan’s soldiers deserve a token of appreciation for foiling the attack on an air force training base in restive Mianwali on the heels of an ambush on a military convoy in Gwadar, two remote-controlled explosions in Dera Ismail Khan and a security operation in Lakki Marwat, their courage and sacrifices do not make the resurging terror threat any less terrifying. While army spokespersons and the caretaker government repeatedly proclaim the determination of security forces to eliminate the menace of terrorism, their continuous losses against a budding enemy can neither be taken out of the equation nor dismissed as a nonaffair. These repeated attacks show the desperation of those itching to paint blood-curdling screams on the canvas. Terrorist attacks have become almost a daily affair. According to a recently released report, a staggering 57 per cent rise has been witnessed in militant violence nationwide in just the last quarter. Our country has already paid a great price in this long-drawn-out war against terrorism. Languishing from the unilateral cancellation of a ceasefire by the TTP and the renewed vigour of ethnic separatist factions, the ground might have already been prepared for Pakistan to relive the scare spectre of the past. With an average of at least four attacks every day and literally every building, school, park, and market – civlian or military – branded with a target on its back, terrorist attacks had risen to an unprecedented 2700 in 2013. Are we to assume these armed-to-the-teeth marauders have been given the green signal to carry on with their deadly whims and successfully plan out increasingly audacious attacks? There may not have been any casualties of the security forces in Mianwali but at least 17 soldiers of the Pakistan Army were lost on Friday. The state needs to realise the urgency needed for an expeditious crackdown on all perpetrators, sleeping cells and facilitators so that we can spell an end to the menace, once and for all. *