The recent developments on both sides of the White Mountain (Speen Ghar) - more than 15,000 feet high natural barrier between Pakistan and Afghanistan – signify a disturbing security situation in the region.
The Trump administration used ‘the mother of all bombs’ in Afghanistan’s Achin district lying in the foothills of snow-covered White Mountain on Thursday. The bomb struck the infrastructure of the so-called Islamic State Khorasan (ISK).
The ISK has strong presence in parts of Nangarhar and adjacent Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan. The use of powerful non-nuclear bomb indicates the looming threats of the ISK’s infrastructure in view of the reports that the radical, militant group may get a toehold in the region after eviction from the Middle East.
The most worrying situation is developing in Kurram valley stretching along the southern side of the White Mountain. Several kilometers long security trench has been dug around Parachinar, some 20 kilometers from the border. Brisk security arrangements give an impression as if a foreign country is invading the valley.
Khurram Agency’s town has ‘security trench’, checkposts, CCTV cameras after recent bomb blasts
Built by the British Royal Army in 1890s, the town is the headquarters of Kurram Agency, housing offices of the political administration, units of the army and Frontier Corps besides less than 100,000 civilians.
The security trench is two to five feet wide and three feet deep. Its length is 28 kilometers. Proposals are under consideration for either raising fence along the trench or building a concrete wall around the town.
The local administration claims the army will establish 24 new checkpoints around the town. Several checkposts already exist. The close-circuit TV cameras have been installed at all sensitive locations in the town.
The ‘Kurram Militia’ recently declared a portion of the town ‘Red Zone’ banning the entry of the vehicles of outsiders there.
These security arrangements were made following two bomb explosions in Parachinar in last March and January, which had killed 60 people and injured around 400 others.
The digging of trenches or moats around towns and building of castles is thousands years old strategy, which was applied in the medieval period in Europe, Africa and Asia. Trenches were dug to prevent invaders. For instance, the Great Wall was built in China around 3,000 years ago. It still exists.
No example of the digging of security trench is available in modern times except that of Iraq, where a trench was dug around Fallujah city to keep the Islamic State militants at bay and to prevent any potential onslaught.
The Iraqi troops may need such arrangements for Baghdad and other towns as their country is in total chaos, but the digging of security trenches around a small town in a country like Pakistan is beyond understanding.
The ‘security trench’ strategy was not applied at a time when the state’s writ was partially or fully eroded in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The security situation has largely improved in the region with the ‘backbone of terrorists’ completely broken.
North Waziristan Agency has been cleared of terrorists through the Zarb-i-Azb military operation, while the Raadul Fasad offensive is under way in the country to eliminate the remnants of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and its splinter groups.
Parachinar is not like Quetta. The ‘ghost’ area like Kharotabad does not exist in and around Parachinar. The local residents don’t provide space to hostile elements in the area. The local tribes protected not only themselves but also the installations and properties of the state during four years long siege (2007-11).
Fear and uncertainty loom large over Kurram valley in general and Parachinar in particular. Parachinar and its surrounding areas look like a combat zone. Recently schools were closed in light of the reports about the entry of suicide bombers from Afghanistan.
The private educational institutions have been directed to install walk though gates and equip security guards with metal detectors. Security posts are being built outside their premises.
The border with Afghanistan including all four notified checkposts in Kurram has been closed. The villagers living along the border received fresh directives to start night vigilance to prevent possible incursion of militants from across the border.
Significantly, the authorities are focusing more on construction of the security-related infrastructure instead of improving their efficiency and other preemptive efforts. The recent blasts inside the town cast doubts about the capability and efficiency of the civil and military authorities in the area to prevent such incidents.
Seven major blasts have occurred in the town during the last five years that killed hundreds of people. However, the administration has yet to nab a single culprit. The prevailing situation in Kurram reflects inefficiency and lethargy of the quarters concerned.
The security situation is going back to square one in the context of recent developments in the region. The Nato had dropped millions of tons of explosives on Afghanistan but failed to pull the war-torn country out of the quagmire. Pakistan has lost thousands of soldiers and civilians and conducted hundreds of military operations, but uncertainty still exists.
Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2017