Time to rethink govt policies

Militants have been launching increasingly daring attacks on high-value targets in recent weeks, against a backdrop of criticism from India, Britain and Afghanistan, which say Pakistan has not been handling its war against extremism well.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar lost his son to a militant attack on July 24, and the latest casualty is Frontier Constabulary Commandant Safwat Ghayyur .

These attacks raise several key questions regarding Pakistan’s so-called successes in the region. As recently as Monday, US President Barack Obama praised Pakistan’s efforts to root out militancy, but analysts remain divided.

Former chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Rustam Shah Mohmand called Pakistan’s policy to root out extremism “fundamentally flawed,” as he claimed that unbridled use of force in the tribal belt is causing people to grow angry and resentful.

“There is a disconnect between the people and the government,” the former chief secretary told The Express Tribune. “If the use of brute force was workable, we would have peace by now.”

Mohmand said weak institutions were also a cause of instability, adding that the current crisis in the tribal belt was beyond the government’s capacity. “The government has no strategic vision [for the area],” he said.

Defence analyst Brig (Retd) Rahat Latif held similar views, as he told Express 24/7: “This [attack on Safwat Ghayyur] has proved that the government has failed to establish its writ.”

Militants shifting focus?

Strikes against specific individuals as opposed to suicide attacks in crowded markets have caused people to wonder whether militants are changing their strategies.

K-P Health Minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah said on Wednesday: “Terrorists have changed their strategy... now they are carrying out target killings.”

Some analysts tended to agree, as Dr Altafullah Khan said that the amount of fear that stalked Peshawar’s streets in 2009 has decreased ever since the militants changed tack.

However, the Taliban’s desire to strike government and security forces who oppose them is equally destabilising, as Khan said militants will strike “whenever they have a chance... They will always plan to hit these prime targets.”

A military solution?

Experts seemed to arrive at a consensus about the dwindling efficacy of a solely military solution to tackling extremism in the northern areas and across the country.

Analyst Ayaz Wazir said that it was the government’s job to find a solution to the problems militancy posed, not the military’s. “The political government is missing in the tribal areas,” he said.

Another analyst cited poor intelligence sharing as a cause of flourishing militancy. Some observers questioned the wisdom of Pakistan’s commitment to achieving America’s goals in the region. They were of the opinion that aligning Pakistan’s policy with that of the US would never win over locals in tribal agencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.