The security personnel in the Bannu and Lakki Marwat district of KP are in Line of Fire and four more cops have embraced martyrdom on Sunday in yet another gruesome attack by the TTP men. The militants have become so bold to have attacks a police station in a bid to enter the building. Though the police repulsed their attacks but during the 45-minute battle with the terrorists, as many as four cops lost their lives. In a separate incident, militants seized part of Bannu CTD centre on Sunday last and after holding the authorities as hostage, demanded safe exit to Afghanistan.

The situation on the security front has been escalating every day. The Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts are badly affected by the terrorists activities.  The CTD centre which was partly seized by the terrorists is situation in Cantonment area.

Seizing part of CTD centre and making the interrogators as hostages speak volume of the security situation in two districts. The ongoing unabated attacks on security personnel including policemen in KP are not only worrying but also shocking as the terrorists have started striking at will. The KP CM has condemned the incident but what he needs to give serious attention to the alarming security situation in the province.

One would agree with Interior Minister Sanaullah for taking  a jibe at the KP chief minister saying, “CM should seriously give attention to the law and order situation (in KP); he should spend more time in his province and less in Zaman Park (PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s residence).” Protection of lives and properties is the responsibility s of the Govt but the KP government at present is more concerned about the party politics and less about people’s lives. It may be recalled here that after ditching ceasefire agreement with the GOvt last month, the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has returned to all-out war on the state, carrying out terrorists acats wherever it can.

In the backdrop of operations by security forces against militants in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the TTP  has asked its militant sector commanders to. It is very unfortunate that due to inaction of the KP provincial government against militant and terrorists outfits including the banned TTP, the law and order situation in the province has become alarming. A sense of insecurity and fear has gripped the citizens. Two persons have been beheaded so far in the current months, the latest being in Bannu. The militants have become so bold to have also targeted the houses of former provincial minister Haji Muhammad Javed and Awami National Party Senator Hidayat Ullah.

Representatives of the traders say that despite repeated appeals to the provincial government, nothing has been done so far to restore writ of the government in the province. On Wednesday last, another man was beheaded in Bannu District. This is the second case of its within 10 days. Earlier, an FC man was also beheaded in the same manner. The militants have become so bold to have hung the head of the victim from the tree with a letter, signed by terrorists also pasted on the trunk of the tree in which the area people were warned not to attend the burial of the victim. Earlier, a similar chit was also pasted near the beheaded body of FC man, who was killed by the militant’s for spying on them. The situation has become so alarming that traders and professional have started leaving the province, shifting to either abroad or other provinces due to prevailing sense of insecurity. The irony is that the provincial government deep in slumber and instead of taking action terrorists and militants outfits, it is mainly focused on PTI’s dharna, protests planned by the party chief Imran Khan. Had the provincial government taken timely action against the terrorists, situation would not have worsened to such an extent.

The terrorists have regrouped and staged a comeback after the Fall of Kabul to Taliban in August last year and since then our country has seen a steep rise in terrorism cases across the country, mainly the KP and Balochistan provinces which are near the Afghan border. The situation on the border has also become tense and on Thursday border clash have occurred despite an early apology from the Taliban Government in Afghanistan. In this latest attack on the Pak team which was busy in repairing the border fence is in fact an eye opener for our security apparatus. One person was killed while over a dozen have been injured in this heinous attack. In fact, this is not first case of its kind. The cross border attacks on the civilian population from the Afghan side in Chaman area has become a common incident in recent weeks.

Earlier, eight persons were killed in an unprovoked cross-border shelling from the Afghan side. The Afghan side had also tendered an apology on that incident but despite that assurance the incidents of cross border shelling into Chaman are occurring. Earlier this month, the Afghan Taliban men  resorted to mortar shells and artillery attack in Chaman from across the Afghan border in which civilian casualties occurred. Besides, an incident of mortar shell explosion has also taken place close to a Frontier Corps check-post. The Changez, Shoukat, Ilyas and Tanveer posts have also been targeted by Afghan Taliban Forces. The border village of Killi Bacha was also targeted by Afghan forces, killing as many as seven persons in a mortar shell attack in the Reg area, west of Chaman border. In the wake of continuing law and order situation in the KP province and the increasing incident of terrorism and militancy in the country, the security experts consisting of academics, journalist, retired military officials and also the ex-diplomats call for review of Afghan policy. They were addressing a consultation talk on “Afghan peace and reconciliation; Pakistan’s interests and policy options”. The consultation talk was held by Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), which is an Islamabad-based think-tank. This think-tank, while sounding alarm over the  new wave of terrorism across the country  as the militants outfits have become active in the country and are striking at will now. An all-out and comprehensive operation should be launched against terrorist outfits as elimination of militancy and terrorism, their supporters, and facilitators should be the top priority of our government.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 20 2022

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