Hangu bombing

With every passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that the militants can now strike government installations almost at will. On May 26^th, a suicide bomb attack at a police port near several government offices killed at least 30 people, including 10 police officers. This is the fifth attack on a sensitive location since the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Nearly a hundred people were killed outside a police cadet training centre in Shabqadar on May 13^th. A week later, a US consulate convoy in Peshawar was attacked using a remote-controlled bomb, killing one bystander. Then, on May 22^nd, the audacious terrorist attack on PNS Mehran in Karachi took place. Nine people were killed in a suicide attack at a police station in Peshawar, close to the US Consulate just a day before the Hangu blast. All these attacks point to one sobering truth: The militants are getting stronger than ever while the government is incapable of protecting itself let alone the citizens it is supposed to serve.

As always, the Hangu attack leads us to ask the same questions. It would appear that the intelligence agencies are incompetent in that they do not seem to be able to prevent such attacks from taking place. It was obvious to everyone that in the aftermath of Bin Laden’s killing there would be revenge attacks, primarily targeting the government and the military. Yet, as the one on PNS Mehran and others showed, intelligence is missing and security inadequate. What’s worse is that we do not seem to be learning from our mistakes or doing things differently to ward off the expected spate of attacks.

Yes, suicide attacks may be very hard to defend against, and the terrorists are highly motivated and the attackers usually have the initiative. However, the murder and mayhem has been continuing for long enough for the security and intelligence agencies to come up with a suitably matching response. For instance, is any effort being made to penetrate the terror networks, to get at those who are financing and planning the attacks, indoctrinating and training the suicide bombers and providing them with the weapons and suicide vests. Surely, these groups have been around for long enough for our intelligence agencies to be able to succeed at least partially, if not wholly, in neutralising them.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2011.