Surge in suicide attacks

We must take tough stand against terrorists before new all-out military operations are necessitated

In another clear indicator of the failure of the decision to support the Afghan Taliban in Kabul, suicide attacks by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist groups hit their highest level since 2014, when the country was deep in the throes of its battle with the Afghanistan-based group. At least 29 attacks have occurred in the year to date, according to the think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. These attacks have taken 329 lives, while causing injuries to 582 people.

Attacks are up more than 90% and the death toll has tripled, while injuries have doubled. Slightly under half of the people martyred in these attacks and some 60 per cent of those injured were security officials. This indicates that while attacks seemed to have a slight bias towards security officials, terrorists have routinely been able to hit soft targets, namely civilians. Over half of all attacks and three-quarters of all deaths took place in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a reminder that the province which was worst affected by terrorism since the rise of the TTP is again having to absorb the brunt of the damage during the group’s resurgence.

Some defenders of the country’s policies vis-a-vis the Afghan Taliban also tried to brush aside last year’s rise in suicide attacks to a mere blip — 2022 saw 15 attacks, compared to just 11 in total from 2019 to 2021. But even if the widening divide between Kabul and Islamabad was not enough, the violence of this year makes it clear that terrorism has become a major threat again.

While there is an argument that terrorists are still geographically restricted, since not a single attack took place in Punjab, and only one in Sindh, this is of little solace to the victims or the millions of people living in terrorism hot zones who must live in constant fear because some policymakers thought the Afghan Taliban would be subservient clients of Pakistan. As the situation worsens, we must take a tough stand against terrorists before new all-out military operations are necessitated.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2023.

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