The scourge of terrorism continues to cast a shadow over Pakistan, and the events of early November serve as a grim reminder of the vulnerabilities that the country faces. On 2 November, a suicide attack targeted a police car passing by a student van outside the Girls High School at Civil Hospital Chowk in Mastung, Balochistan. Tragically, five children aged five to 10 years embraced shahadat on the spot. Several other female students in the vehicle were critically injured. This tragedy is just one of the several that have struck Pakistan in recent months, as terrorist organizations continue to wreak havoc throughout the country. Balochistan, in particular, has been a hotspot of violence where foreign sponsored terrorists targeted innocent citizens in pursuit of their nefarious ambitions. These frequent terrorist attacks are particularly directed towards laborers who travel to Balochistan for earning bread for their families. The frequency of these heinous acts of terrorism has fomented an undue criticism on security forces for not ensuring complete elimination of this protracted scourge. Our valiant Law Enforcement Agencies succeeded in eliminating terrorism substantially by 2016 and due to unrelenting efforts, key leadership of these terror outfits fled to Afghanistan to take refuge. These terror outfits joined hands with Afghan Taliban in their fight against US led NATO forces and in the process earned Afghan Taliban favours and affinity. Besides honing their fighting expertise, these terrorist organizations gained sufficient support from their hosts to revamp themselves for perpetrating acts of terrorism in Pakistan. Hosting these terrorist outfits resulted into a sharp criticism of outside world which censored Afghan Interim Government for letting their soil used for terrorism; a concern raised during proceedings of Doha Accord. Afghan Interim Government is still indifferent to such criticism and Afghanistan serves as a hotbed of terrorism fomenting a plausible threat to its neighbours.
While these acts of terror are afforded an adequate space in media leading to misconstrued assertions regarding performance of our Law Enforcement Agencies, there is no denying the fact that a relentless effort goes in for eliminating terrorism from the country. As stated by DG ISPR in his presser, almost 130 operations of different magnitude are conducted on daily basis. There are numerous unheard feats of our resilient forces which nip intended acts of terror before they succeed in causing a carnage. Our valiant sons of the soil are committed to safeguard Pakistan’s sovereignty in the most desolate and rugged regions along our Western border and rendering unprecedented sacrifices in the call of duty. Their challenges accentuate when these selfless soldiers find themselves subjected to inimical criticism designed to tarnish their image and lower their resolve by anti-state elements. It must be remembered that no army can fight its enemy without an unflinching support of the Nation it belongs to. We as a nation are confronted to an existential threat and it warrants a whole hearted and across the board support to fight this battle. A failure (God forbids) will cast this nation dearly as witnessed in the case of Libya, Syria and other countries where a weakened army led to disintegration of the whole society. From 2011 to 2014, Arab Spring ruined three prosperous countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya casting these countries an accumulative loss of approximately 833 Billion US Dollars. They confronted massive economic meltdown and suffered a total degradation of their economy and societal disorder. These losses were suffered in terms of GDPs, influx of refugees and destruction of infrastructures. These sufferings were preceded by weakening of strong armies these countries had. The credibility of their armies was put to test followed by subjecting of people to go through a traumatic phase of history.
We as a nation need to be cognizant of the fact that our country is subjected to a hybrid threat which entails hounding assaults in multiple spheres of our existence. We need to thwart these nefarious threats by extending unison response and standing with those who are trying to secure our future with their lives. Pakistan is entangled in multilateral challenges which warrant a cohesive response of the nation. Army, alone cannot be made responsible for preserving the sovereignty and stability of the country. It requires a whole of the nation approach. With persistent dedication, unity, and resilience, Pakistan can steer through these challenges which haunt our very existence as a vibrant nation.
The author is an independent researcher who writes on issues concerning national and regional security, focusing on matters having critical impact in these milieus. She can be reached at [email protected]