Pakistan’s counterterrorism challenge is once again showing itself in several theatres, all at once. That Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are being forced to fight militants in conditions closer to a battlefield than a police beat should be enough to remind the state that this is no ordinary law-and-order problem. Just days after militants had rammed an explosives-laden truck into a security compound in Bajaur, killing at least nine paramilitary officers, Saturday saw a joint intelligence-based operation conducted by police and the counterterrorism department (CTD) in Bannu that killed 12 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan members. A retired Federal Constabulary official was also martyred as four policemen and a child were injured during the exchange of fire. Earlier in the day, a 10-kilogramme remote-controlled bomb was defused near Gul Zaman Mosque by the Bannu police.
To add to the gravity, another CTD operation in a refugee camp area near Pishin, Balochistan, recovered hand grenades, locally made bombs, automatic rifles and explosives. Four terrorists were killed in the heavy gun battle.
A major terror bid was also foiled in Punjab, wherein a province-wide CTD crackdown led to the arrest of 13 suspected terrorists after 58 intelligence-based operations.
The recoveries reportedly included more than two kilogrammes of explosives, eight detonators, fuse wire, four improvised explosive devices, mobile phones, cash and propaganda material linked to banned organisations. The suspects were allegedly planning to target law enforcement offices.
Read together, these developments reveal a daunting pattern. The threat can no longer be dismissed as the problem of one frontier, one province or one militant brand. And this is precisely why we cannot afford loose rhetoric or episodic resolve.
The courage of the police and CTD must be acknowledged without hesitation, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where those tasked with defending citizens are literally standing in the line of fire. The bomb found near a mosque in Bannu is a reminder of what vigilance prevented. A security clash could easily have turned into a civilian massacre. The government owes these men more than praise. It owes them better armour, mobility, night-vision capacity, bomb-disposal support, forensic backup, safe housing, insurance, trauma care and meaningful compensation for their families.
It goes without saying that Punjab’s arrests make an equally important point. If the CTD’s claims are borne out in court, those 58 operations may have saved lives that the public will never know were at risk. That is exactly how prevention works.
The Afghan factor cannot be wished away. Since the Taliban’s return to Kabul, KP and Balochistan have absorbed the sharpest end of a militant resurgence fed by cross-border sanctuaries, loose weapons, permissive space and ideological overlap. Islamabad is right to insist that Kabul dismantle networks linked to the banned TTP, because no border management regime can succeed if armed groups retain depth across the frontier. Dialogue has its place, but Pakistan’s red line must be equally clear. *