Another attack on PN vehicle

Third successful bomb attack in Karachi makes one wonder what our intelligence agencies are doing.

Just a couple of days after two Pakistan Navy buses were targeted by roadside bombs in Karachi, killing four personnel and injuring many more, we have yet another attack on the force. This time a bus was hit in the Karsaz area of the city, which is one of the metropolis’ more affluent neighbourhoods, and is close to several military installations, killing five people. Initial reports said that a bomb was laid in a gutter by the side of the Karsaz bridge and it exploded as the vehicle drove by, suggesting a high level of reconnaissance on the part of the planners. Yet another bomb was reported to have been defused following the two initial attacks.

The tactics of the militants are clear. They have obviously picked on the Pakistan Navy as a relatively easy target in a city which till now had not seen too many attacks on military installations or personnel. Till this bout of bombings in Karachi, the bulk of such attacks were focused in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and, of course, Fata. The fact that a third such attack was successful in the country’s business and commercial capital makes one wonder what our intelligence agencies are doing. Were they not able to get any leads from the first two bombings? And why weren’t any changes made to the routes of Pakistan Navy buses and the security employed during their travel in the city?

Without such intelligence coming in there is no way to prevent attacks of the kind we have seen. Given that similar attacks have taken place in the past, it should not be hard to pinpoint which groups are most likely to be responsible. We must also assume that, over the years, intelligence agencies have been able to infiltrate at least some of these groups and, through their men on the ‘inside’, gain advance information about their activities. The successive naval attacks indicate this does not seem to have happened, and this amounts to an unacceptable intelligence failure that leaves us at the mercy of the militants. The message is clear: The militants are not down and out and can strike targets of their choosing, with impunity.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2011.