Peshawar under attack

BY: Gulmina Bilal Ahmad

Isolating Peshawar from FATA or the rest of the province will never provide a lasting solution to the problem of terrorism Peshawar is often dubbed as the ‘city on the frontier’ due to its proximity to the Pak-Afghan border. It is traditionally the administrative centre of the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. The strategic location of this city has turned it into an economic hub for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the rest of the country as well. However, under the present circumstances, this strategic location and proximity with FATA has become more of a disadvantage for the city and the province as well. The most recent attack on Peshawar airport/airbase points towards the vulnerability of the city to such attacks. Hundreds of attacks have been launched by terrorists not only on the Ring Road encircling the city, but also on various locations within the city as well. Only this year, more than 140 civilians and 40 security personnel lost their lives to terrorists’ attacks only in Peshawar, which if compared to the total number of fatalities in the whole province is quite high. Only during 2012, 350 civilians and 94 security personnel lost their lives in KP. A simple comparison reveals that about 40 percent of civilian fatalities and 42 percent of security personnel fatalities in KP occurred only in Peshawar. This recent attack on Peshawar airport claimed five lives and injured more than 40 people. This attack showed how coordinated these terrorists are. However, the security forces responded quickly; they cordoned off the area and killed all the attackers in an operation that lasted into the next day. Without questioning the efforts of the security personnel in providing security to civilians, what we need to ponder is why did such an attack occur at all and that too at one of the most sensitive areas of the city? It is evident from the track record of terrorists, especially the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that they are fighting against the security forces and have often attacked their sensitive installations. Similar attacks have occurred before at the GHQ Rawalpindi, PNS Hafeez, Karachi, and at Kamra base, and all were linked to the TTP and other terrorist organisations. However, luckily, all assets of the Pakistan Air Force remained safe in the attack and the terrorists were killed before they actually entered the airbase. The reason why I pointed towards the vulnerability of Peshawar to such attacks in the beginning is that it is surrounded by tribal areas and even a part of Peshawar called Frontier Region Peshawar or abbreviated, as FR Peshawar, is also a part of FATA. As a large number of the TTP militants and other terrorists are based in the tribal belt, their easiest target in most cases remains Peshawar. Isolating Peshawar from FATA or the rest of the province will never provide a lasting solution to the problem of terrorism. The authorities have tried doing it in the past, but due to the fact that Peshawar remains the administrative capital of KP and FATA, such an approach cannot be adopted for an extended period of time. The most plausible solution to put an end to terrorism remains a comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy, which Pakistan still lacks. NACTA or the National Counter Terrorism Authority that was created in 2009 is in the doldrums. I have pointed towards this previously as well. This authority has seen six different coordinators since its inception. The authority was formed as a coordination body between different civilian and military agencies. Additionally, it was given the task to propose a comprehensive anti-terrorism policy. However, sadly the authority that is still fighting for its legal status can never be successful in proposing an effective policy against terrorism. What we need more than ever is coordination at all levels and the only hope lies with NACTA. However, it should not be put under the control of the Interior Ministry. Such a step will only politicise the authority. NACTA should be made independent as it was intended to be when the authority was created. The much-required independence will provide a better opportunity to its office bearers to work independently of any external pressures. Better coordination between security agencies will improve the overall security situation of the country. All the development indicators in the country rely on an improvement in security and Pakistan needs it more than ever.