KHYBER Pakhtunkhwa has been attacked once again, and once again a familiar set of questions have arisen about the seeming ease with which multiple suicide bombers and fidayeen attackers were able to arrive at their targets in the heart of the province. A day earlier, the ISPR chief had asserted that significant successes have been notched up in the fight against militancy, but the attacks in Mardan and Peshawar have reinforced that a long and complicated fight still lies ahead. While the military is keen to discuss its successes in the various operations ongoing across the country, perhaps it should also be more candid about the extant threats and the terror networks that are still operational. The need for a more realistic outlook is essential for the public, otherwise the incongruity of a military claiming successes while attacks continue in various parts of the country will only add to the national confusion.

While responsibility for yesterday’s attacks cannot yet be known definitively, the claim by Jamaatul Ahrar does seem credible. Alarmingly, not only does the banned TTP faction appear to have a growing reach, from Quetta to Peshawar, but its resources, manpower and organisational capacity seem to be growing. Pakistani security officials point the finger of blame at Afghanistan, where TTP militants have apparently found sanctuary in the eastern region bordering Pakistan and where sections of the state and intelligence apparatus are evincing a renewed hostility towards this country. Addressing the evolved TTP threat has not proved easy because it involves everything from military strategy to national security and foreign policy to border management. Unhappily, not only does the necessary military and civilian cooperation here appear non-existent, but there is perhaps a fundamental divergence over the path ahead. While the civilian government rightly emphasises a policy of peace and reconciliation with neighbouring countries, it seems to have neither the space nor the inclination to deal with a tough set of national security and foreign policy challenges. Yesterday, the anomalous situation was on display yet again as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated one more road project and talked about Pakistan being on the path to prosperity — while Peshawar and Mardan were bleeding yet again.

Where the civilian government may be out of ideas or lack space, the military establishment seems far too keen on externalising blame rather than working towards understanding the sustained and simultaneously evolving militant threat. Wherever the Jamaatul Ahrar leadership may be based, the attacks are taking place deep inside Pakistan. Why is the intelligence apparatus always one step behind the militants? Peshawar and Mardan were no lone-wolf attacks and likely required a network of individuals to facilitate the attackers. While the bravery of security personnel helped limit the damage, it is virtually impossible to stop a suicide bomber who has already been deployed. But why are militants still operating with relative ease?

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2016