Balochistan has become a metaphor for insecurity and insurgency. In less than a month, this is the third attack to undermine the writ of the state further. This time, the place that the terrorists targeted was the provincial capital of the province, Quetta. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack that resulted in the killing of at least 16 people including four police personnel. Three attacks in less than a month in the province put a serious question mark on the performance of all the agencies and authorities that are responsible for the law and order situation of Balochistan.

What defines the bureaucratic culture of Pakistan is the lack of moral responsibility and accountability for such failures. We see no resignation nor do we see any official held accountable for such breaches of security. What we often hear from the officials are false lullabies of “all is well” in Balochistan. However, nothing is good in the province.

As if the ethnic-nationalist conflict against the state is not enough to undermine the peace and stability of the province that now the banned TTP has also announced its presence with the recent attack. The attack by TTP tells that the region is now facing a multi-headed threat of terrorism. On the one hand, the nationalist separatists are challenging the state. On the other hand, the religious terrorist groups have found safe haven in the restive Balochistan.

The question that the provincial government and law enforcement agencies need to answer is this: Do they have any plan of action against the streak of terrorism that has sent waves not only in the province but also across the country? Although the government and law enforcement agencies welcomed National Action Plan (NAP) pompously, the state is yet to achieve the cardinal objective of the plan: not allowing militant outfits and armed gangs to operate in the country. And the attacks on the soil of Balochistan confirm the failure of NAP.