While the Untied States and the rest of the world were preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US this week, two terrorist attacks in India and Pakistan on Wednesday have reinforced the fact that the world is no safer than it was 10 years ago, and humanity still faces a formidable task to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism. In Pakistan, two suicide bombers killed more than 20 people in an attack on the residence of the deputy chief of the Frontier Corps in Quetta city. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. While in India, a South Asian militant group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a powerful briefcase bomb placed outside the High Court in New Delhi that killed at least 11 people and wounded 76. It has been described as the worst terrorist attack in the country since militants staged a number of coordinated attacks that killed more than 164 people and wounded more than 300 in Mumbai in 2008. These heinous crimes against innocent people make it crystal clear that the apparatus of international terrorism is still active. Therefore, even though the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces near the Pakistan capital in May, the fight against terrorism continues. The 9/11 attacks have had profound consequences, not only with regard the heightened security measures introduced in Western countries that have compromised privacy and even human rights, but also the escalation of animosity between the Muslim world and the West. The US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, waged as part of its War on Terror, have engendered a huge loss of human life and only succeeded in exacerbating the rift between Muslims and the West. While commemorating the victims of the 9/11 attacks, the world should also reflect on the lives lost as a result of these military actions and other terrorist attacks and consider the fact that military might alone is unlikely to bring terrorism to an end. Conflicts and turbulence are the hotbed for terrorism. Poverty and backwardness form its soil. To eradicate the root causes of terrorism, the international community should make joint efforts to ease regional and global tensions, alleviate poverty and shore up cooperation and reconciliation. This will require coordinated economic, social and political measures. A consensus should also be reached that fighting terrorism and protecting peoples lives and properties are a responsibility of all. China Daily editorial