Attack on Rangers

It appears as if the recent spate of news reports warning of the growing Taliban presence in Karachi is backed up by the facts. A remote-controlled bomb, which detonated outside a Rangers office in Korangi killing four paramilitary troops and injuring five others, is only the latest sign that the militants are making inroads in Pakistan’s largest city. Previously, the murder of social activist Perween Rahman had also been blamed on the Taliban and there have been increasingly frequent attacks in the city. It is believed that the Taliban are lurking on the outskirts of the city, taking over areas in a piecemeal fashion and establishing their domain. Before, there was a widespread belief that the Taliban were sparing Karachi from destructive bomb blasts because they were involved in the kidnapping trade in the city and didn’t want to close off this fundraising avenue by drawing attention to themselves. Even if that once was true, it is clearly no longer the case.

The political parties in the city, meanwhile, seem too busy making scapegoats of one another to unite against the Taliban threat. The MQM accuses the ANP of sheltering militants while the ANP retorts by claiming the MQM is profiling all Pakhtuns as militants. This battle is fought with both words and guns, allowing the Taliban space to thrive. Karachi has become so awash in arms and the political parties are so used to fighting violent turf battles that they have overlooked this new emergent threat which doesn’t distinguish between the MQM and the ANP or Muhajir and Pakhtun.

An added worry is the strategic thinking behind recent Taliban attacks. The TTP has been trying to destabilise the state by going after security forces. In Peshawar, the target was an FC commander, in Karachi it is the Rangers. However, this must not be interpreted to mean that they are sparing civilians. The Taliban have shown no hesitancy in killing civilians in the past and even these attacks, carried out in the heart of urban areas, cause civilian casualties and terrorise the entire population. We have long known that the only solution to this problem is a comprehensive military defeat of the TTP. All that is lacking is the will.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2013.