The plot thickens

The reported arrest of suspects in the Islamabad Judicial Complex suicide blast has thickened the plot. Those nabbed – four in all – hail from Afghanistan and are affiliated with TTP. The accused, headed by Saeed-ur-Rehman alias Daadullah, had been instructed by the high command of the terrorist outfit to target the law-enforcement agencies, according to interrogators. The suicide bomber has been identified as Usman alias Qari hailing from Nangarhar.

Available details – which say that the bomber was provided with a suicide jacket in Islamabad especially procured from Peshawar, and the instructions were delivered from Afghanistan via a 'telegram' – raises several questions on the veracity as well as the performance of our intelligence sleuths who failed to get a wind of the conspiracy. Last but not least, the plotters stayed put in Islamabad before and after the deadly activity, making it even more worrisome as there could be many more in the shadows.

The revelations once again point a finger at extra-territorial characters, and that too from across the western frontier. It makes the situation more cumbersome as the Afghan authorities are unrelenting, and unwilling to lend an ear to the reservations time and again expressed by Pakistan. Thus, it would be more appropriate for Islamabad to take Kabul onboard as this probe moves ahead. It might help in making Taliban 2.0 realise that the unscrupulous characters surely have their roots in Afghanistan, and entities such as TTP have an agenda to bleed Pakistan.

The judicial complex attack, moreover, should be a wake-up call for law-enforcement and intelligence agencies which – despite having a widespread presence in the capital – were clueless about the blast that occurred on a day of high alert in the twin cities which were hosting an international game of cricket and two international moots. Still, the bomber could make his way into the targeted premises, striking at the bastion of judiciary. Perhaps the law-enforcers and policymakers are more focused on the political witch-hunt than on the elements that are a curse in our midst. That calls for a more synchronised and fair vigilance.