Attacks on Nato supply trucks

In attacking the Nato supply convoys in the heart of a military cantonment in Rawalpindi, the Taliban have once again shown their capability to strike almost at will anywhere in Pakistan. For its part, the military has laid bare glaring weaknesses in its internal security apparatus. There is clearly much work to be done in building up institutional capacity in both the military as well as the civilian intelligence services in order to ensure that such an attack is never repeated. But there are also broader implications of this attack. It comes on the heels of incursions by Nato into Kurram agency. And the attack’s location – in a heavily populated city – suggests that the Taliban either have a network in place or that they have their fair share of sympathisers across the length and breadth of the country. It is encouraging to note that at least nine of the 12 alleged attackers have been arrested. One hopes that they will be put on trial and prosecuted for their crimes. There have been far too few terrorist trials and convictions in Pakistan and these numbers need to increase.

While it has been argued that suicide attacks are sometimes difficult to prevent, those such as on Nato trucks, and that too in heavily-populated cities should be easier to prevent. For this, the law-enforcement agencies need to improve their intelligence capabilities at the human field level. They also need to examine the financing of the terror networks and the logistical apparatus that sustains them, in terms of providing attackers not only training and weapons but also transport to get to the location of the intended attack target. For this undercover operations such as those mounted in other countries need to be considered and for that requisite training should be imparted to field operatives. In the short-term, all Nato convoys should have better security measures such as armed escorts.

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