New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- A deadly suicide attack on September 18 in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), bordering Afghanistan, claimed scores of lives, including 16 police officers, and grievously wounded at least 100 people. The lethal terror assault, lasting several hours and involving a car bomb, a suicide bombing and multiple armed attackers, indicates the continuing trend of terrorism in Pakistan.
According to a report in The New York Times (NYT), an alliance led by powerful extremist leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur, whose fighters once targeted US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for this assault on a mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan. Bahadur's group is widely suspected of having active links with the notorious Al Qaeda. Gul Bahadur is one of the longest-surviving commanders whom both US and Pakistani forces have failed over the years to neutralise. His re-emergence could possibly mean spiralling violence in western Pakistan and a further worsening of relations with Afghanistan. The attack highlights Bahadur's intricate network and its ability to execute "complex, serious attacks on security forces", as per Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the South Asia Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center.
It may also be stressed that the detonation of an explosives-laden vehicle outside the mosque began the assault on the compound on the afternoon of September 18. Armed terrorists then entered the complex and battled security forces for hours; a suicide bomber even detonated explosives near a facility of the police's intelligence unit. Police, on their part, claimed that eight attackers had been killed. It is also relevant to mention here that a UN report in August noted the group's global linkages. Al Qaeda's affiliate in the region had "formed the backbone" of Bahadur's network, the report said.
In the aftermath of recent multiple terrorist incidents, Pakistan carried out an intelligence-based ground operation and airstrikes targeting terrorist safe havens in parts of KP, including in the border region with Afghanistan. Authorities described it as a well-planned, intelligence-based ground operation executed by the security forces around Kohat, Hangu and Thal, followed by calibrated airstrikes against the hideouts and safe havens of terror organisations responsible for these attacks.
Pakistani security officials later claimed that their counterterrorism campaign, Ghazab Lil Haq, under the vision Azm-e-Istehkam, would continue at full pace to exterminate the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country. However, they did not clarify or elaborate on what they meant by "foreign-sponsored".
Meanwhile, continuing its reaction to the deadly terror strike, Pakistan's print media maintained its tirade. Prominent daily Dawn, in its September 20 editorial, said that the attack in Kohat marked a further escalation by Pakistan's enemies.
Further inputs, according to Dawn, reveal that The Ittehadul Mujahideen, an umbrella organisation of terrorist outfits, is, according to the Jamestown Foundation think tank, believed to operate from safe havens across the border, share intelligence and coordinate attacks with its terrorist factions. It has apparently used drone technologies to effect while targeting security forces and installations in the past. As such, it is thought in some professional circles to be a more serious and sophisticated threat than the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The media also recommends that the KP police must be better equipped and trained. They are facing an enemy that is increasingly using modern technology to cause bloodshed. They must have the equipment, strategies and technologies they need to effectively limit and counter the constant, deadly threat they face. Simultaneously, the authorities need to review the approaches being taken to counter violent perpetrators. National policy on counterterrorism requires recalibration and revisiting, especially regarding its diplomatic, political and social aspects, which must be addressed together to secure stable dividends, as per media observations.
This fresh terror attack in Kohat reveals Pakistan's inherent chinks in the armour. It is clear that its intelligence apparatus is rusted, as no actionable intelligence was received by the authorities that could have been centralised. This is of particular concern for the forces on the ground, as intelligence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is crucial. Besides, repeated terror attacks have now become a pattern in Pakistan. Targeting mosques and police establishments is more routine than exceptional. And that is what is happening at regular intervals. There is also a complete lack of coordination and intelligence-sharing with or from Pakistan's "friendly countries", with which it is supposed to exchange vital intelligence on security concerns. After all, the organisation that claimed to have perpetrated the attack is believed to be linked to Al Qaeda. If the intelligence agencies are so complacent about a global threat like Al Qaeda, then it is difficult to fathom their priorities. Due to continued indifference on Pakistan's part, the region is becoming increasingly volatile and vulnerable.
Pakistan perhaps has lost its focus on the most important issue of terrorism and has strayed into "mediating truces" or entering into defence pacts. Yet, both these endeavours have failed to pay any dividends. It is high time it paid attention to security on its borders with Afghanistan to thwart terror attacks, particularly when they are occurring so frequently. It is a sad commentary on its policy of tackling terror even 25 years after 9/11, when Al Qaeda and the terrorists wreaked havoc.
Views expressed are personal. The writer is a retired IPS officer, Adviser NatStrat
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.