As the country was observing Eid Miladun Nabi, terrorist stuck Peshawar’s Agricultural Training Institute. The TTP-claimed attack left 9 people dead with close to 40 injured. A swift action by the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) ensured that the terrorists disguised in burkas were gunned down quickly, minimizing the death toll in the process.
The attack came merely two weeks before the 3rd anniversary of the gruesome Army Public School attack and serves as a reminder that the war against terrorism is far from over. Last year the Bacha Khan University located near Charsadda was also attacked by the terrorists; the recent attack shows a clear pattern of terror elements targeting education institutes.
Director General ISPR Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said the attackers were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan throughout the assault, a pattern that has been witnessed in the past as well. After the relentless operations against terror elements most terror groups crossed over to Afghanistan which is now used as a base to target Pakistan. The Afghan government willingly or otherwise seems unable to take out terror elements targeting Pakistan. Attackers from Afghanistan have been involved in a number of attacks in Pakistan but despite terror sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan more must be done to stop these attacks. From enhancing border security to ensuring better intelligence a lot could be done to avoid such attacks.
There is no doubt that terror incidents in the country have been curtailed to a great extent. According to the report by Institute for Economics and Peace, in Pakistan the number of people killed in terrorist attacks fell to 956 last year, a reduction of 12 per cent as compared to the previous reporting year. This figure reflects the lowest number of deaths recorded since 2006. The report noted the reduction in terrorism fatalities is due to a significant drop in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Taliban’s activities. The terror group has been responsible for more than 4,500 killings since 2000 in the country. However attacks on law enforcement agencies in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months and the latest Peshawar attack shows that the war is not over yet.
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