There seems to be no end to the suffering of the terror ravaged provincial capital of Balochistan. The martyrdom of DIG Hamid Shakeel and two of his colleagues in a suicide bombing was the latest terror strike to hit Quetta. What boggles the mind is that how terrorists can strike in high security zones with impunity. Despite the city being at the mercy of terrorists and major strikes in the city becoming almost a routine the state has only ‘condolences’ to offer.
The targeted attacks against the law enforcement agencies have been on the rise. Last month, seven people, including six policemen, were killed in a blast. In August fifteen people, including eight soldiers, were martyred when a suicide bomber targeted a military truck near the Pishin bus stop in Quetta. Earlier in June, 14 people including seven policemen lost their lives in a suicide blast in Quetta’s Gulistan Road area. Last year in October in a major attack terrorist stuck at police training college in Quetta killing 61 cadets. Two months before that in another major terror incident terrorists targeted Quetta’s Civil Hospital killing at least 70 people (mostly lawyers).
The relentless attacks show that despite some success in bringing peace to the terror ravaged province, there is a lot still left to do. The involvement of hostile foreign agencies in terror activities in the province is also a reality but ensuring that these hostile agencies are eliminated completely from the province is also the job of the state. Convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav also admitted involvement in espionage and sabotage activities in Karachi and Balochistan which has proved India’s hand in terror incidents in the province.
However, what the province and city of Quetta desperately needs is the state to come forward and fulfill its duty of protecting the people. Law enforcement agencies and the provincial government should review their counter terror strategy to bring peace to the city that has already sacrificed a lot. The current counter terror strategy with regards to Quetta has failed miserably.
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