In the recent weeks, KP has experienced numerous terrorist assaults. In the most recent incident, a senior police officer was killed on Tuesday while he faced a suicide bomber who had sought sanctuary in a mosque in the Jamrud district. Terrorists assaulted a police station in Peshawar Sarband neighborhood last week, while suicide bombers also hit Bara Bazaar; many police officers lost their lives in the latter incident. The Jamrud attack and some other recent attacks in KP are thought to have been carried out by members of the terrorist group Jamaatul Ahrar. JuA has an on-again, off-again affiliation with the TTP, which is outlawed; in reality, many terrorist organisations operating in the area have a fractious structure and splinter groups are frequent.
To stop more bloodshed, the new wave of terrorism facing KP must be tackled. While locals protest for peace and demand that their neighborhoods be freed of violent extremists, far too many security personnel have died in the line of duty. On Tuesday, hundreds of tribesmen held a peace demonstration in Tirah Valley to demand a stop to targeted killings and extortion in their region and express their regret over terrorists operating “freely” in Khyber district. This is not the first such meeting; several more have taken place in different regions of KP over the past few months as terrorist violence events have increased following the failure of a precarious truce with the proscribed TTP.
The TTP, JuA, or other such organisations cannot be allowed any room to function, especially in the erstwhile tribal areas. Security actions must be intensified to prevent terrorist organisations from increasing their nefarious activities. Asif Durrani, the government’s special representative on Afghanistan, had only recently returned from Kabul after meeting with the Taliban leaders. Both the TTP and JuA are thought to be active in the Afghan districts bordering Pakistan. Taliban authorities have repeatedly stated that their territory is not being utilized for terrorism, despite the fact that what is publicly known about these meetings strongly suggests otherwise. Even while it is the state’s duty to protect Pakistani territory, the counter terrorism operation will suffer if militants are allowed to maintain safe havens on the other side of the border. As a result, the government must continue to put pressure on the Afghan Taliban to take additional steps to thwart the TTP and other terrorist organisations. The government in Kabul relies on Pakistan to bolster diplomatic efforts and enable trade. Islamabad should convey the idea that these ties will be harmed if terrorists continue to operate from Afghan territory. All of Afghanistan’s neighbours should continue to press for the closure of terrorist safe havens.
