Pakistan, July 4 -- Washington has reiterated its support for Pakistan's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks, with the US State Department saying that "the Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists" and that Washington "supports Pakistan's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks." The remarks signal continued US backing for Pakistan's position that the violence it faces cannot be treated solely as an internal law-and-order issue.

That matters because Islamabad's security problem has increasingly been internationalised by the conduct of the groups attacking it. The banned TTP and its affiliates are not operating as isolated local cells. They survive through sanctuaries, recruitment pipelines, ...