Terrorism in Quetta
This is one of the deadliest attacks on the polio programme which has been making considerable headway nationally
PHOTO: AFP
There was a dreadful familiarity about the images that were quickly broadcast and posted on social media after the bombing in Quetta on January 13. At least 15 people died when the bomber struck close to a polio vaccination centre in Satellite Town, Quetta. Most of those who died were policemen detailed to protect the polio vaccinators. Two civilians and a paramedic also died and at least 10 were injured, two critically.
This is one of the deadliest attacks on the polio programme, which has been making considerable headway nationally, with numbers of reported cases dropping substantially in the last year. It is difficult to determine what the terrorists hope to gain, as there is a firm resolve on the part of the vaccinators — unsung heroines for the most part — and their support teams who are committed to polio eradication. Attacks on the immunisation teams have cost 80 lives since December 2012, and the Taliban or their local franchises say that the programme to eradicate polio is some sort of cover for espionage or part of a global conspiracy to sterilise Muslims. Both perceptions are of course preposterous but nonetheless widely believed in some quarters, which gives the bombers a safe environment in which to prepare or hide as they go about their business.
Immediately following the attack, there were routine and largely platitudinous statements from President Mamnoon Hussain downwards, all condemning the blast and vowing to track down those behind it. No group had claimed responsibility at the time of writing, but there are numerous armed and insurgent groups in Balochistan, all of whom have the capacity to carry out such a bombing; the Taliban are not alone in this respect. Questions will rightly be asked as to whether this was an intelligence failure and whether this tragic loss of life could have been prevented — and it is impossible to objectively answer one way or the other. We rarely hear of intelligence successes, and failures such as that in Quetta come about because eventually and sadly — the bomber gets through. What is important to ensure is that the war on polio continues and is won. And with the progress that has been made in the last year, there is every possibility of this happening.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2016.
This is one of the deadliest attacks on the polio programme, which has been making considerable headway nationally, with numbers of reported cases dropping substantially in the last year. It is difficult to determine what the terrorists hope to gain, as there is a firm resolve on the part of the vaccinators — unsung heroines for the most part — and their support teams who are committed to polio eradication. Attacks on the immunisation teams have cost 80 lives since December 2012, and the Taliban or their local franchises say that the programme to eradicate polio is some sort of cover for espionage or part of a global conspiracy to sterilise Muslims. Both perceptions are of course preposterous but nonetheless widely believed in some quarters, which gives the bombers a safe environment in which to prepare or hide as they go about their business.
Immediately following the attack, there were routine and largely platitudinous statements from President Mamnoon Hussain downwards, all condemning the blast and vowing to track down those behind it. No group had claimed responsibility at the time of writing, but there are numerous armed and insurgent groups in Balochistan, all of whom have the capacity to carry out such a bombing; the Taliban are not alone in this respect. Questions will rightly be asked as to whether this was an intelligence failure and whether this tragic loss of life could have been prevented — and it is impossible to objectively answer one way or the other. We rarely hear of intelligence successes, and failures such as that in Quetta come about because eventually and sadly — the bomber gets through. What is important to ensure is that the war on polio continues and is won. And with the progress that has been made in the last year, there is every possibility of this happening.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2016.