The idea that such attacks should act as a spur for negotiations with the Taliban needs to be resisted. All it will do is encourage the militant group to launch further similar attacks. Part of the reason by the Taliban have not been effective in recent months is because of the success of military offensives against them.
Instead, the government needs to improve both its offensive and defensive capabilities. This means taking the fight to the Taliban in their safe havens and enclaves. But it also means equipping the police throughout the country with the training and equipment that it needs to defend itself against terrorist attacks. As the Taliban raids on the Lahore police training academy in 2010 had shown, the police do not have the training to adequately defend itself against such attacks. The police are on the frontlines of a war against militants; we do them a great disservice by forcing them to serve without the proper training against this ever-present threat.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2012.
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bravo to Peshawar police