Pakistan: Nothing is safe

Sukkur, a city not known for terrorist attacks, came under heavy assault when an explosives-laden car rammed into the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) office damaging the better part of the building and killing four officials. The attack was followed by intense firing when at least 34 hand grenades were hurled at the security forces and the residents of Barrage Colony. The locality houses the headquarters of the Shahbaz Rangers, Military Intelligence, ISI and other government offices. The DIG and Commissioner also live there. The attack was carried out immediately after Iftar, making passersby going for Maghreb prayers victims of the blast as well. Nearly eight people died while over three dozen had been injured. According to initial reports, four terrorists wearing suicide vests and armed with hand grenades and assault rifles orchestrated the attack on the ISI building. The power supply to the city was suspended for over five hours, adding to the inconvenience of people fasting. There is no immediate claim for the blast but Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is considered to be behind the attack for their similar past attempts. This is not the first time that terrorists have chosen government institutions to vent their anger at the state. This is also not the first time that the government has shown its inability to pre-empt such attacks. The question is, when the country’s premier intelligence agency, supposed to defend the state from hostile forces, could not protect itself, how could it guarantee the safety of other institutions, let alone citizens. This is not a small security breach. It raises a big question mark on the abilities of the intelligence agencies. The country at this juncture could not afford security lapses, especially not around security installations, increasingly the targets of the militants. The place, the timing and the target of the attack have clearly demonstrated that for the militants no place, time or occasion is sacred. They can kill innocent people, make murderous attempts in the month of Ramzan and penetrate into an innocuous city like Sukkur. This calls for a deeper introspection by our security agencies and law enforcers regarding their state of readiness and alertness. Are they doing justice to the duty they are charged with, to defend the security of the state and its citizens? Does not it show that our enemies are better equipped and observant than our law enforces, including the military? They have been striking us time and again, while we remain in reactive mode. Since 2007, now six years, the state has been under siege by the TTP, but the response of the government has been inadequate. The lack of a coordinated and all encompassing security arrangement under the command of a singular entity has created holes that the militants have been exploiting successfully with relative ease to implement their agenda of disrupting the writ of the state. What is holding back the government or the security agencies to realize the consequences of their delayed in building such an institution is a million dollar question, requiring an immediate answer. How many more attacks and blasts do we need to wake up? Now that TTP and its hundred factions have penetrated into our system, the mess is already difficult to unravel. Without a solid and concentrated intelligence system backed by rigorous laws and efficient implementation, we can hardly reach the militants who have already outsmarted our capacity to handle them.