Fifth column threat

Fitna al-Khawarij's malicious capacity to strike at the heart of Balochistan's security apparatus has been demonstrated once again. Nine policemen, including two SHOs and the province's Anti-Terrorist Force in-charge, lost their lives when terrorists stormed a police post in the picturesque Ziarat valley, overwhelming defenders after an extended exchange of fire. Five personnel remain missing as search teams comb the Mangi Dam area. That militants held their ground long enough to breach the premises and leave five officers unaccounted for suggests a failure of preparedness at the post level and beyond.

Viewed alongside recent months, Ziarat is not an outlier but confirmation of a resilient militant infrastructure. Police posts in Qila Abdullah, Pishin and Duki came under fire barely weeks earlier, while Huramzai's checkpost lost a headconstable in April. Figures showing a 31% monthly drop in provincial attacks offer no grounds for reassurance. Such incidents demand not only courageous battlefield responses but also a thorough reassessment of intelligence-sharing and force protection measures for isolated police installations. However, military successes, while necessary, cannot by themselves guarantee lasting peace. Every successful operation must be followed by sustained IBOs to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and disrupt recruitment networks. A parallel effort must be made to identify and curtail Indian proxies working to destabilise the province from within.

This must be matched by sustained diplomatic pressure on the Afghan Taliban regime to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on its soil. Islamabad's overtures to Kabul have thus far failed to yield concrete enforcement. Furthermore, the security establishment's continued reliance on post-attack retaliation, however forceful, concedes the initiative to an adversary that only needs to choose its next remote target. If Balochistan's police force is to stop paying with its blood for these operational gaps, the province urgently needs a garrisoning policy tailored to actual threat density.