The blowback

At least eight were killed & an unknown number injured in an explosion that took place near the Police Lines in Lahore

Just a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif were in Karachi saying they would fight terrorism to the end — the terrorists delivered their riposte in Lahore. At least eight were killed and an unknown number injured in an explosion that took place near the Police Lines in Lahore on the afternoon of February 17. There could be no clearer indicator of just how far this government is from winning the war against terrorism than a terrorist strike at the very heart of Punjab. The blast took place near the main gate of the Police Lines in the Qila Gujjar Singh area. Reports as to the nature of the blast were conflicting with some saying it was vehicle-borne, others saying it was a suicide bomber. Nearby buildings were wrecked and cars in the vicinity set on fire. A policewoman was injured and an assistant sub-inspector among those killed. The attacker(s) were prevented from actually entering the Police Lines by the security measures that were in place and it is likely that the device was triggered early.

Shortly after 2pm, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar, claimed responsibility for the attack. Politicians from the prime minister downwards were swift to condemn the bombing and vowed to catch the terrorists, and set up investigative groups to do just that — which is all the standard political response to events such as this. The National Action Plan (NAP) may have started to put a dent in the capacity of some terrorist organisations but by their very nature, they are durable and highly competent at resurrecting themselves as has been demonstrated innumerable times in the past. Punjab has escaped relatively lightly from the attentions of the terrorists in recent years; but with the gloves now off it may be expected that whatever restraint they showed in the past, they are not going to be inclined to continue to show it. As has been noted in these pages recently, this is going to be a very long war. The statements of the army chief and the prime minister in Karachi indicated that both the civilian and military leaderships are on the same page for now when it comes to fighting terror. One hopes that this translates into genuine action that can prevent such atrocities from taking place.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2015.

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