Look both ways before crossing

The coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) has issued a timely warning in respect of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. It continues to pose a real threat to Pakistan says he, and it would be wise for all those in governance to sit up straight and pay attention. He was addressing the media prior to the Islamabad International Counter-Terrorism Forum which starts on April 3^rd.
The IS has a considerable presence in Afghanistan where it is in a power struggle with the Afghan Taliban, and there is the ever-present risk of spillover into Pakistan, re-infecting areas that had been cleansed. Also of note and in the same context a report in this newspaper of the situation in the Swat Valley, where a school built by the Malala Foundation is in the headlines courtesy of a visit by Malala herself. The report cautions that though the Taliban may appear to have been pushed out they remain latent, with sleeper cells waiting in the wings.
Add into the equation the continued presence of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and the widespread allegations — and occasional proof — that some are involved in terrorist activity and anyway harbour extremist mindsets, and it is not difficult to construct an architecture of concern that is not mere paranoia. Given the real reduction in the numbers of terrorist incidents, fewer dead and injured, it is all too easy to assume that the threat is on the wane and that would be a serious mistake. Extremism is the seedbed in which terrorism grows and thrives, and there has been no coordinated effort to produce a countervailing narrative to the now well-developed extremist paradigm that is nationally present. With extremism being for many a default position it is not difficult to make a linkage with latent terrorism. Being lulled into a false sense of security is not difficult either given the years of terror and bloodshed the state has endured. In terms of tackling terrorism the state is at something of a crux. The military component is in large part accomplished, the civilian remains a work in progress. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2018.

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