Terror-stricken Pakistan asked to do more against terror

Obama urges Pakistan to show it is serious about crushing extremist networks operating on its soil

NEW DELHI: US President Barack Obama has said the latest mass killing of university students underlined the need for more decisive action against terrorists, urging Pakistan to show it is ‘serious’ about crushing extremist networks operating on its soil.

Over 20 people were killed when four Taliban terrorists stormed the Bacha Khan University in Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday. The military says the attack was planned and controlled by Pakistani Taliban sheltering in Afghanistan.





In an interview with India’s official Press Trust of India news agency published on Sunday, Obama praised recent crackdowns by Pakistani security forces but said more should be done to eradicate violent militant groups.

“Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delegitimising, disrupting and dismantling terrorist networks,” Obama told the news agency in Washington. “In the region and around the world, there must be zero tolerance for safe havens, and terrorists must be brought to justice.”



The Charsadda carnage came over a year after Taliban terrorists methodically killed nearly 150 pupils and staff at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar. A military offensive against extremists in Pakistan's tribal areas was intensified after the APS attack, although Indian officials say authorities across the border still turn a blind eye to militant groups.

Obama said the crackdown on extremists was ‘the right policy’ but was quoted as saying that Pakistan ‘can and must’ take more effective action. “Since then [APS attack], we have seen Pakistan take action against several specific groups,” said Obama. “We have also seen continued terrorism inside Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in northwest Pakistan.”

India has blamed gunmen belonging to the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed for an attack on one of its air force bases close to the Pakistan border earlier this month that left seven soldiers dead. Obama said the attack in Punjab was "another example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has endured for too long".



The attack came only days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid his first visit to Pakistan, dropping in for talks with his counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his way home from Afghanistan.

Modi has resisted pressure to put ties with Pakistan back in deep freeze after the air base attack, and Obama endorsed the continuation of contacts. “Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to confront violent extremism and terrorism across the region,” Obama said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th,  2016.