Tazeen Akhtar
Security crisis in Pakistan is worsening day by day with consecutive terrorist attacks. It is not the problem in far flung areas of Balochistan or KP only. Islamabad, the capital city, has been hit in less than 4 months time. Latest when the President of Uzbekistan was in town while the President of Kazakhstan had left the city only one day ago. Both Presidents have expressed their grief on loss of lives and condoled with the families of the victims.
The blast in Shia Masjid at the time of Jumma prayers took a heavy toll on lives of innocent worshippers. Officially 31 deaths have been confirmed while 169 are injured. It is clear that the figures are shared gradually to mitigate the impact and most of the time the actual number is more than the confirmed. The number of injured helps in this regard because many injured die in the hospitals after succumbing to the injuries.
Balochistan was hit by terrorists on 31 Jan in the length and breadth of the province. 36 Citizens including women , children and 22 Security Forces Personnel , more Police than FC or Military were martyred in the attacks in different cities from provincial capital Quetta to emerging port city Gwadar. Pakistan Army’s public relations wing ISPR shared the number of terrorists killed in response as 261.
The terrorists were active from before the high level visits to Pakistan and during that as well. They had planned to shake the whole Pakistan throughout the whole week when multilateral engagements were happening in Islamabad. East Libyan General Haftar, Naval Commander of Azerbaijan, Ministerial delegation from Jordan and Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
When Balochistan was burning , Islamabad was hosting the Pakistan Tourism Festival and Lahore was poised to celebrate Basant. The concerned officials assumed that security challenges were in Balochistan or KP only and that resulted in the Islamabad blast.
When Balochistan was attacked and follow up operations were carried on, the capital city was taken as safe by the concerned authorities that proved to be a big mistake. Islamabad had already been targeted by the terrorists in Nov 2025 in a blast near District Courts taking many lives.
Now , the authorities are doing the same routine things to cover up all the mess but their statements and acts are raising more questions on their ability and performance. They say that it was suicide blast and they have shared an ID of one Yasir S/O Bahadur Khan of Peshawar. They found this ID at the site of the blast and shared a photo of the head of a victim as he is Yasir. Officials have shared with the media that they conducted a raid at the house of Yasir in Peshawar taking the address from the ID and arrested 4 suspicious persons.
The blast occurred in the first row of the prayer that is why it caused a big loss of lives. But the details and line of the investigation , the officials have shared is not satisfactory. How a would be suicide attacker can keep his ID card in his pocket? So that Police can trace his house and arrest his family?
A cut off head was always a suicide bomber during General Musharraf regime as well. It is possible for the extreme power of the blast but not necessarily every cut off head should be of a suicide bomber. Anyone’s head, who is the closest to the bomber, may cut off. The officials are supposed to investigate the case accordingly and not as a routine matter that seems to be common among the concerned authorities when the incidents become frequent. Pakistan is feeling the same state of affairs.
Islamabad Imambargah attack has two main impacts. 1 – To further aggravate the security situation in the country to serve the vested interests of separatists and anti Pakistan forces. 2- To incite sectoral violence in Punjab and possibly Sindh as well. Attack on a Shia Masjid may turn the wrath of the victim sect towards Sunni community. Punjab had seen the worst wave of sectoral killings between Shia Sunni in the 1990s.
The terrorists of Balochistan and KP are expanding their activities to other parts of Pakistan to paralyze the country as a whole. Many embassies , especially EU missions, have received travel warnings from their governments.
Pakistani law enforcing agencies , Ministry of Interior are expected to catch the bull from the horns doing the needful rather than issuing the condemnitions only ,rather than disturbing the citizens only at the check posts everywhere.
The site of the latest blast is not in the outskirts or it is not downtown of Islamabad. Tarlai Kalan is part of Islamabad Capital Territory. Islamabad’s all administration , Inspector General, Chief Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Chairman CDA are the specially selected officers of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. They failed to make it a safe city in 4 months since the district court blast.
Inspector General’s only qualification to be posted on this seat was his extraordinary role in dealing with the protesters of PTI on 09 May in Lahore where he was DIG. Deputy Commissioner was sentenced to six months imprisonment on flouting the orders of high court regarding release of PTI leader Sheharyar Afridi. Division bench later suspended the sentence. The Chief Commissioner and Chairman CDA are the same one person. He is focusing more on CDA than ICT affairs. All are from Lahore including the Minister interior. Lahore where Basant was being celebrated after big loss of lives in Islamabad.
The Interior Minister is former correspondent of CNN , suddenly turned out to be media Seth with two tv channels and soon after that the caretaker CM of the largest province and later incharge of the internal security of the country. The interior minister of a country badly affected with terrorism has this background. Moreover , he is looking after the Pakistan Cricket Board as well in addition. Additional responsibilities are entrusted to a person who has performed well in his basic assignment.
IS KP has accepted the responsibility of the attack. Minister Defence has shared that, the terrorists has sent a message to us, that all territories of Pakistan are in our reach. He said our security forces will respond strictly and accordingly.
