Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif attended a high-level meeting at the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release, during the meeting “the entire internal and external threat spectrum, including terrorist networks and their linkages” were reviewed. In particular, the focus was on the “role of hostile [foreign] intelligence agencies and their collaborators in fomenting instability in Pakistan and undermining Pakistan’s interests”. The COAS posited his conviction about the nature of terrorism in Pakistan, according to which the terrorists receive their funding from external sources while being facilitated by elements within the country. To combat the latter, the army chief emphasised the need to continue intelligence-based operations across the country to “consolidate gains from Operataion Zarb-e-Azb” in order to ensure lasting peace. Other topics that were discussed included the management of the porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which is identified as a major impediment to the effectiveness of the fight against terrorism as militants evade security forces by slipping across the border. The PM, for his part, was vociferous in his praise of the country’s army and intelligence agency. Praising what he deemed to a noticeable change in the security environment of the country due to the success of Zarb-e-Azb, he stated the government and the nation stood behind its armed forces in the fight against militancy.
Undoubtedly, the much vaunted ISI is a formidable organisation. Another undeniable fact is the manifest success brought about by Operation Zarb-e-Azb, due to which the last major stronghold of extremists within Pakistan located in North Wazirstan has been erased. Perhaps the claim that intelligence agencies across the world hatch schemes and clandestinely meddle in the internal affairs of other countries can be regarded as something of a universal truth. However, we must caution against overemphasising any of the aforementioned facts lest it foster a detrimental lack of critical reflection, complacency and paranoia. Let us not blind ourselves to the reality where most of our problems with militancy originate in the highly flawed policies pursued by the state in the past. The fact remains that Pakistan’s preferred mode of power projection has been its reliance on proxies. What we are dealing with now is a case of the chickens coming home to roost. Zarb-e-Azb has achieved many things, but it has not yet completely eliminated the terrorists. We must not allow complacency to creep in due to overzealous celebrations. The onus is on Pakistan’s security forces, including the ISI, to carry out the difficult, protracted task of rooting out networks and cells of home-grown terrorists. *