Year in review: Terrorists, criminals may be down, but far from out

Extortionists still managing to raise money for militant outfits

PESHAWAR: The year 2015 was a mixed bag in terms of security for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Although the number of terrorist attacks saw a decline, durable peace remained a distant dream.

The terrorists showed despite largely successful military operations, they were still a force to be reckoned with. A startling reminder of this fact was the large-scale attacks on Hussainia mosque and PAF base in Badabher.

Money or your life

The menace of extortion also reared its ugly head and the criminals involved went into overdrive after the month of August in Peshawar. Most of the threatening calls were made through Afghan SIMS.
The criminals also frequented the houses of their victims with hand grenades and IEDs, causing widespread panic. Their methods of intimidation included calling traders or wealthy individuals to Afghanistan for a “chat”.



Most of the business communities in Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber agencies as well as Afghan traders were the prime target of these extortionists. As a result, the police urged the businessmen to install CCTV cameras and hire security guards for their protection.

A police official told The Express Tribune the militants were broken, but not completely eliminated by military operations. He added some of their attacks such as the one on the PAF base in Badabher left a huge psychological impact.

Plan of action

Police claimed the National Action Plan brought about positive results, but the man on the street tells a different tale. He believes police are just harassing poor people in their daily operations rather than going after real militants and their supporters.



“What kind of National Action Plan is it when you are arrested on suspicion, taken to the police station and released after greasing some palms?” asked a resident of Badabher.



He claimed dozens of people were often arrested by police during search operations and all of them were released after the payment of a few thousands rupees.

In the crosshairs

The target killings of policemen remained a problem throughout K-P as several counter-terrorism department personnel were slain.  Militants also killed a man in Sheikhan, Badabher on charges of spying in August 2015. This incident was followed by similar killings in Sarband, Mathra, Gulbahar and other parts of the city, showing the terrorists were now in fear after the arrest of peers.

On Charsadda Road in the Khazana police jurisdiction, wall chalking, allegedly from the Islamic State, appeared in Arabic. However, police were quick to blame Afghan refugees and it did not give the matter much attention.

During 2015, police remained of the firm belief that IS was yet to make inroads into Pakistan.

The positives

The CTD was able to solve cold cases related to terrorism including the attacks on Bashir Bilour and Peshawar District Court, among others.

Police and CTD were able to foil major terrorist bids including one to target four imambargahs in Muharram and other plots in December. Law-enforcement personnel claimed to have arrested the people behind such designs.

IGP Nasir Khan Durrani told The Express Tribune there was a 50% decline in militancy and crimes compared to previous years as a result of police and security forces’ efforts.



“Security forces conducted the operation in Fata and some militants were killed, while others escaped to settled districts as cities provided good cover,” Durrani said. He added the police, with the government’s help, was able to use legislations like the hotels act and tenants act to ensure militants escaping the tribal areas were denied shelter.

“The K-P government introduced legislation and police conducted search and strike operations to pressurise anti-social elements and militants.” The IGP boasted the efforts produced favourable results.
“There is [also] a crackdown against illegal Afghan refugees and thousands of them have been arrested and deported,” he added.

Lingering on

Durrani admitted extortion and kidnappings for ransom were serious problems and though illegal activities had reduced, the police were unable to eliminate the issue altogether. He claimed such criminal activity was directly linked to militancy and that was the reason CTD was made responsible for investigating these cases along with terrorism-related ones.

Although on the decline, streets crimes remained another issue for Peshawar’s residents as the police was unable to control the phenomenon.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2015.