Blasts in Hangu and Lakki Marwat districts have as their targets, respectively, members of the Shia sect and security personnel, both of whom have attracted the ire of the militants in the past. In Hangu, as many as 27 persons were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque there after Friday prayers. In Lakki Marwat, 24 people, including security personnel, militants and innocent civilians, were killed late Friday night when militants attacked a security personnel camp, and then ran into an irrigation department residential colony. Coming on the heels of the killing of a prominent religious scholar in Karachi on Thursday, it seemed as if the forces which had hoped to spark a sectarian confrontation had gone national. It seemed that from members of the Shia (Hazara) community of Quetta, whose slaughter had led to Governor’s rule being imposed on the province only recently, the attempt to cause sectarian tensions where none exist is being spread. The Hangu attack was lent emphasis by the fact that the attacked mosque, the Masjid Faizullah, was in a lane which also contained a Sunni mosque, which was left alone.
It should be noted that both attacks took place in south-western districts of the KPK province, and were not too far from the two Waziristan political agencies, where the militants are supposed to have their havens. The provincial government of the ANP is a junior partner in the central coalition, but sacking it by imposing presidential rule would provide no solution that would not be met by holding the elections on time.
The speed with which the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Lakki Marwat attack should serve as a warning signal that the military-only strategy is not working. While the state must not compromise on the enforcement of its writ, it must also ensure that it evicts tourist jihadis, parading as citizens, from the geographical confines of Pakistani territory. Punishments for all those who harbour such criminals should also be made law. It is only through such measures that the bloodbaths in Hangu and Lakki Marwat can be stopped. The outgoing central government must also wonder what was wrong with its coalition partner, and its own provincial organization, which allowed the atmosphere in which they occurred.