Pakistan - Terrorist attack in Rawalpindi

Friday's terrorist bombing by religious extremists near a Rawalpindi Imambargah, where some 250 people were participating in a prayer meeting in connection with Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) celebrations, underscores weaknesses of the present security system. Five people were killed and 15 others injured, at least two of them grievously in the incident. The death toll could have been much higher had one of the participants not spotted and stopped a suspected terrorist outside the prayer meeting. The dead included a policeman and the injured two of his colleagues guarding the venue. Police guard, of course, is important, but in this case there was not much it could do against a suicide bomber or an explosive device, whichever means the terrorists employed to commit the carnage. 

So far there has been a focus on trying terrorists in military courts while preventive measures remain neglected. Once terrorists set off on a mission to kill and get killed stopping them at the target through police is rarely successful. Plots and plans for such attacks need to be blocked before activation. That requires an effective intelligence system. So far the information the interior ministry has been putting out in advance of some of the recent major attacks, the ones on the Army Public School and at the Wahgah Border, has not helped. Terrorists succeed because the information is almost always vague. Actionable intelligence can come only when the multiple intelligence agencies, civilian as well as military, work in co-ordination under a single authority. Equally important is the need for a special rapid deployment force to take on terrorists in real time. 

The government had announced more than a year ago its decision to activate the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), set up by the previous government, as part of a new National Security Policy. Both a joint intelligence directorate and rapid action force were to work under NACTA. So far it has little to show for its efforts towards putting those proposals into action. What is withholding progress is said to be the usual turf issues between civilian and security agencies. Some of the Western countries too have had problems vis-a-vis intelligence sharing among agencies. Yet they have managed to come up with effective action against terror suspects. What seems to be missing in this country is a strong will to act despite colossal loss of life. Needless to say, given the nature of the challenge no consideration should be important enough to come in the way of NACTA. Indeed, the security agencies are carrying out intelligence-based operations all over the country. But the primary responsibility to ensure safety and security of the citizens lies squarely on the shoulders of civilian leadership.