The nation is about to enter a period of political change, thus it is imperative to maintain attention on counterterrorism measures. This is especially true for the militant-infested regions of KP and Balochistan, where security forces continue to battle militants on a regular basis.
Two occurrences that happened on Sunday in the two provinces highlight how diverse the threat is. When security personnel met terrorists associated with the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army in Gwadar, disaster was almost avoided. According to the ISPR, two terrorists were killed as they opened fire on a truck carrying Chinese labourers in the port city. Fortunately, the foreigners were travelling in armoured cars.
In order to safeguard Chinese nationals and projects, the Chinese consulate in Karachi has urged the government to “severely punish the perpetrators and take concrete… measures.” In the other incident, four TTP terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Bajaur and a soldier was martyred.
It appears that the upper brass is aware of the precarious position. The army commander hailed the residents of KP and Balochistan for “resiliently fighting terrorism” and urged Afghanistan to stop using its soil against Pakistan while speaking at the Independence Day parade in Kakul.
However, the fight against militancy cannot go on indefinitely because the residents of the afflicted areas are fed up with the bloodshed and want the government to act swiftly.
In this regard, a gathering was conducted on Saturday in Khyber district under the auspices of the Bara Siasi Ittehad. Political parties from all ideological corners of the political spectrum sponsored the event, in which the general public took part in large numbers. The rally’s attendees’ major demands were for peace in their area and an end to militancy, violence, and extortion. This is merely the most recent of several large demonstrations in KP that have echoed same demands.
To calm the afflicted areas, remove the separatist militants, whether they are part of the TTP, IS-K, or another group, an efficient counterterrorism campaign is required.There cannot be safe havens for extremists, their supporters, or their facilitators within Pakistan. Additionally, the government must keep cooperating with the Afghan Taliban to make sure no terrorists hostile to Pakistan find refuge across the western border. Even if efforts to allay Pakistan’s worries on this front have persisted since the Taliban overran Kabul in 2021, the results have been inconsistent.
Sometimes there is great acrimony and other times there is discussion of cooperation. As an illustration, the Taliban spokesman recently attacked Pakistan for failing to handle the issue of militancy. Instead of pointing fingers, all parties should cooperate to ensure that militants have no room to operate. Kabul is responsible for preventing anti-Pakistani terrorists from carrying out assaults.
