Jamrud attack

TUESDAY`S bomb attack in Jamrud in Khyber Agency was yet another incident that pointed to the risks of the government`s use of lashkarstokeepthe peace in parts of Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The blast, in which at least 30 people are reported to have died, appears to have targeted members of the pro-government Zakakhel tribe, which has long been in conflict with Mangal Bagh`s Lashkar-i-Islam.

Despite denials by the Taliban, it may also have been carried out in retaliation for recent military action in Khyber Agency in which Tehrik-i-Taliban operatives were killed.

The lack of clarity about where responsibility lies points to the multiple fault lines that have emerged in Khyber, partly as a result of the lashkar concept.

Regardless of who was behind the blast, the victims were members of a tribe seen as an enemy because it supports the state. And despite the reduction in the number of terrorist attacks last year, this was not an isolated event. The last major terrorist incident before it an attack on a funeral in Lower Dir in September 2011 alsotargeted members of an anti-Taliban militia.

Tuesday`s blast raises the same questions that large-scale attacks on lashkars in places like Adezai outside Peshawar and Orakzai and Bajaur agencies have in the past: government-backed militias worsen tribal rivalries and leave local populations vulnerable, especially when security forces withdraw after short-term gains. Given that they consist of area residents who have a stake in peace in their areas, they can be useful, as when they were revived in 2008 to fight the Taliban insurgency. But once government forces leave after initial successes they are left at the mercy of better-equipped and more ruthless militants, as was seen in Malakand where, when the military had withdrawn, citizens were killed for backing the government. Tuesday`s attack demonstrates, once again, that in areas where militants are still able to act, lashkars need to be replaced by security forces. At the same time, while in principle we oppose the concept of raising lashkars, until the security forces are able to take over they should be given better protection.