TERRORISTS have intensified their nefarious activities both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata where innocent people are killed mercilessly. The killing of seven NGO workers, including six women, seems to have been part of the attacks on anti-polio teams in parts of the country…. This is not the first-ever incident of its kind because several other incidents have taken place wherein terrorists have attacked NGOs workers, teachers and social workers. The rulers have time and again said the government was determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism…. The Swabi incident indicates that the government is facing another challenge….

Though the government considers the attack on Bacha Khan Airport and the Peshawar airbase, the car bomb blast in Khyber Agency and the killing of senior minister Bashir Bilour at Qissa Khawani Bazaar as desperate attempts by the militants, the more recent incidents show that they have greater strength…. One thing is clear: the terrorists cannot carry out such attacks without support of the local people because strangers cannot find their way in unfamiliar localities. The terrorists must have local support and informers in the areas around sensitive installations but the law-enforcement agencies are yet to obtain data about local anti-state elements.

It is not the responsibility of police and security forces alone to fight the terrorists. It is also the duty of all the citizens to play their role effectively and help eradicate these elements. The government agencies should start work on collecting information about people living in particular localities so that they can easily take action in case of any eventuality. Residents of all provinces, in every city and village, should realise that acts of terrorism do not go in their favour and will only destroy them and the country….

Selected and translated by Ali Hazrat Bacha.