Terror trail

The tragedy continues and no one anywhere can be certain of their safety, even when they are engaged in worship.

The scourge of terror continues. Who knows when it will end, or how. Like Fridays before this, the Friday of May 17 proved to be a bloody one, with blasts at mosques targeting worshippers gathered there to offer prayers on the holiest day of the week. This time the area struck by the ruthless bombers who live among us was the Baz Darra village in the Malakand protected area, where remote controlled explosive devices were placed at two mosques close to each other in the village. The first explosion killed nine persons and injured at least 35 others. As panic and chaos spread through the area, a second blast occurred in a mosque in the same area, this time killing one elderly man. Authorities said most of those present at prayers at the time had gone off to help the victims of the first blast.

The scenes that played out were identical to what we have seen so many times before: hospitals filled with the injured, relatives grieving over the bodies of the dead, floors stained with blood and countless lives lost in a situation that has become too common in our country.

As we have seen before, it is clear too, that this attack was well planned and expertly executed. The militants behind them obviously know their business, and knew all to well what they needed to do in order to inflict maximum terror. This, after all, is their trade; it is what they specialise in, and it appears they intend to continue with this. The change in the political leadership obviously means nothing to them.

So far, all efforts to bring terrorism to any kind of halt have failed. It is obvious the security apparatus has failed. The problem is a gigantic one. It needs to be thought about from many dimensions and angles so that we can find a way of ending the wave of deaths that has continued now for more than a decade and wreaked havoc across our country. It is evident that, for now, the tragedy continues and as a result, no one anywhere can be certain of their safety, even when they are engaged in the peaceful act of worship.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.