What does the Karachi airport attack signify?

Need for action is urgent, we shouldn't fool ourselves into believing we can succeed confined to retaliatory strikes.

In the past few days since the terrorist attack on the Karachi airport, the subsequent firing incident at the ASF hostel and the much-delayed recovery of the bodies of workers trapped in the vicinity of the cold storage room of the privately-owned cargo shed, much has been written on the security lacunae, the heroism of the ASF and other defenders and the disregard of responsibilities by the CAA.

Much was also telecast as the plethora of TV channels outdid one another in being the fastest to broadcast ‘breaking news’. While one must acknowledge that the anchorperson, Shahzeb Khanzada of Express News, did a yeoman’s job of focusing attention on the plight of the trapped workers in the cargo, literally forcing the authorities to bestir themselves and mount a rescue operation, there were elements of the rest of the coverage that called into question the professionalism of the journalists and equally of the editors.

There was, for instance, an almost hysterical note to the comments on the revelations that the arms the terrorists carried were of Indian and Russian origin. In the channels I watched, not one commentator mentioned the fact that in Karachi, one of the most heavily weaponised cities in the world, you can get guns and ammunition originating in any part of the world.

Similarly much was made, while talking of how the terrorists had prepared themselves for a long stay, of the revelation that the terrorists were carrying blood clotting drugs, which were of Indian origin and which were carried by Indian soldiers when going into combat situations so that they could prevent excessive bleeding before they could get proper medical attention. Some channels showed the labels, which clearly stated that this medicine was being imported and marketed by a Pakistani company and presumably was available to anybody who wished to buy it from a local pharmacy but this was not highlighted in any of the comments.

The Foreign Office spokesperson has said there is no evidence yet that the weapons of Indian origin proved the existence of a ‘foreign hand’ and that no allegations would be made without a proper investigation. One is reasonably certain that any investigation, if it is carried out, will establish that these arms were obtained from Karachi or other parts of Pakistan.

We need now to focus on the issues and not on the ‘foreign hand’

One that has not attracted media attention is the fact that most if not all the terrorists involved were said to be Uzbeks. This is important because these ‘foreign mujahideen’ have nowhere to go. They cannot be assimilated even if they have contracted local marriages as became apparent when the late Mullah Nazir decided that their behaviour patterns were such as could never blend with tribal tradition and launched an offensive to get them out of South Waziristan. They are the ideal recruits for the ‘suicide bomber’ missions of the sort that was mounted on the Karachi airport.

Karachi is a large and cosmopolitan city but even in this potpourri of nationalities and ethnicities surely the Uzbeks who stood out in the tribal areas would also stand out in the ‘bastis’ and ‘mohallahs’, where terrorists find refuge in Karachi. The human intelligence our agencies deploy should be able to spot the Uzbek or the Chechen, both easily distinguishable from the South Asian or even the Hazara. Equally importantly, the people living in these areas must be persuaded to identify them and help the security agencies detain them.

The second issue is the security of aviation. Today, as many observers have pointed out, we have only airlines from the Gulf and a couple from the East touching down at Pakistan’s airports. There were rumours, thankfully established to be groundless, that one of these airlines had decided to suspend operations to Pakistan. It is almost certain, however, that if the airport has to be closed from time to time because of an imminent threat, such suspensions will happen.

Perhaps, commentators were right in saying that the warnings issued by our agencies were not strong enough to create the sort of urgency that was attached, for example, to the recovery of the bodies from the cargo shed after the media focused on the issue. Perhaps, the resources were not available. But this is not now the point. Karachi and Karachi’s airport are a lifeline for the country. They cannot be allowed to remain insecure anymore. To say that the CAA’s officials were found wanting in the present crisis is an understatement. A drastic overhaul is needed and must be undertaken immediately.

These, of course, are what could be called the local issues. The most important is handling the TTP in North Waziristan. The splits that have come in the TTP and the tribal jirga that has been formed to try and oust the TTP are good developments but it would be naïve to assume that these are sufficient unto themselves. The need for action is urgent and we should not fool ourselves into believing that we can succeed while confining ourselves to only launching retaliatory strikes.

The fact is that a branch of the TTP that has apparently grown strong carried out the Karachi attack but it is still a branch. The tree is in North Waziristan and it is this tree that must be uprooted if one, and perhaps most dangerous, facet of our terrorism problem is to be eliminated.

It will still leave us with the problem of extremism inspired terrorism most recently exhibited by the gruesome murder of Shia pilgrims in Taftan. History teaches us that a sustained and genuine show of strength, of a firm resolve to enforce the writ of the state can have an impact. What does not help is the suggestion that pilgrims must accept that the land route is not safe and find alternative routes. Action on this front, too, cannot be long postponed.

The sectarian strife that is engulfing Iraq and Syria will have its fallout here. In the eighties we became the secondary battlefield for the Iran-Iraq war. Let us ensure that this does not happen to us again.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.