Daily Times

For those in positions of authority still in denial about the reverberations of the Syrian war being felt in Pakistan — and the finger here is squarely pointed in the direction of the Ministry of Interior — the horrific bomb blast in Parachinar on Sunday, which killed at least 25 people and injured scores more, should serve as a wakeup call. Parachinar is the administrative head of the Kurram Agency, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal districts serving as the frontline of the state’s war against militants. Kurram has the geographical distinction of touching three Afghan provinces. Its population is made up of a diverse range of tribes and sects. The Agency served as the main staging post of the mujahideen trained and armed to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s. With hindsight we know that these mujahideen eventually evolved into the Taliban of today, and the extremely literalist and radical ideological training of these state-sponsored fighters quickly started to manifest itself in Kurram Agency in the form of sectarian conflict. Sunday’s attack, claimed by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), was a continuation of this long trend of the targeting of the Shia minority. In the LeJ communiqué in which the attack was claimed, it was asserted this was a warning to the denizens of Parachinar to “stop sending their children to fight in Syria” as well as a revenge attack on the supporters of Bashar al-Assad. It is impossible to verify whether what the LeJ is asserting about people from Kurram going to fight in Syria is actually the case, but the subtext is clear — Bashar al-Assad and his ally Iran are the major Shia powers of the region and this attack was motivated primarily by the sect to which the victims belonged. Regardless of the veracity of LeJ’s claims, it is significant that they are picking sides in the Syrian conflict and acting on its behalf — that side being Islamic State (IS), which our Interior Minister still continues to deny has made inroads in Pakistan or made alliances with the many existing terrorist outfits. That misconception should now be abandoned and some sense injected into our anti-terrorist campaign lest we see more and more such attacks by groups affiliated to IS.

Apart from the encroaching threat of the IS franchise, this attack was clearly retaliation against the state for the operations it is carrying out against the LeJ, occurring as it did in an area known in the past for being a key route for the movement of militants between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It shows that even in areas formally cleared of militants and controlled by the army in the ongoing operation, the militants can still slip through and employ devastating sneak attacks. The tool used in this attack was a time bomb, estimated to weigh around 35 kilograms. It was inconspicuously placed at the heart of the Sunday bazaar for maximum impact during peak hours when customers were busy shopping for winter clothes. This was an obvious, soft target and therefore should have been provided better security coverage. Parachinar, as alluded earlier, is teeming with military personnel and check posts are installed on all routes into the city, but despite all the visible security apparatus, due diligence was lacking for an obviously tempting target. That is not to suggest that foolproof security can be employed everywhere, as there are obvious constraints, but in a location where people are known to congregate, and in a region with a bloody history of sectarianism, more vigilance is necessary. It has also been made clear that the LeJ, despite losing its leader Malik Ishaq under dubious circumstances, is still as threatening as ever. The LeJ is the biggest sectarian menace in Pakistan and has spread the cloud of fear, intimidation and hate far and wide. It is time for the complacency of the government to end. The threat of IS should be recognised and dealt with, while the LeJ must be rooted out.