Peshawar bombed again

The reconnaissance and intelligence gathering was spot on. The target suitably soft and defenceless. The device placement was precise. Detonation, in all probability via a remote trigger or an on-board timing device, went precisely as planned. At least 15 died on their way to work on the morning of March 16 and another 30 were injured, several of them in critical condition. As far as is known, no terrorist was hurt in the incident and no arrests have been made at the time of writing. All of the dead and injured were employees at the Civil Secretariat, Peshawar or the Air Force, clerks and peons and orderlies who avail themselves of the pick-and-drop service, most of them junior or lowly paid. The perfect hit. Those who conducted it will have congratulated one another on yet another job well done.

The dead mostly came from Malakand division and the bus they went to work on was parked at a petrol station overnight, the perfect opportunity to plant a device. The provincial government was quick to put distance between itself and any responsibility saying that security of private vehicles was the responsibility of the contractor, not the government.

Since the beginning of the year, there has been a string of multi-casualty attacks involving education institutions, security convoys, check posts and a number of other targets — and all in spite of the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). It is crystal clear that there are teams of highly competent terrorists living and working inside the communities they attack with seeming ease. They are well-resourced, resourceful and mobile. They evade detection — and yes, we are aware that there are intelligence successes as well as failures such as this — and go on to bomb another day. Whilst it is undeniable that overall there has been a national drop in the number of terrorist incidents since Operation Zarb-e-Azb commenced, terrorist groups are adept at reforming and regenerating. No matter the security successes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.