The wave of terror has made its way to the capital as on Friday morning a suicide blast took place in Islamabad’s I-10/4 sector. A policeman was martyred in the attack and at least six people—including four police officers and two civilians—were in injured. As per reports, the incident took place at a check post where the police spotted a suspicious vehicle with a man and a woman aboard. The vehicle—packed with explosives—was headed towards its target destination before it was intercepted and once again it is the law enforcement personnel that bore the brunt of this tragedy.
Once again, the TTP has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement put out on Friday. Some sources claim that the attack has been termed as a reprisal for Omar Khalid Khorasani’s killing in Afghanistan. Judging by the statements and frequency of attacks, it appears that the group feels that it is a step ahead of the Pakistani state and it is supremely confident in its operational capacity and capabilities.
For years it was emphasised that it would be critical to solidify the permanent gains made from conducting multiple counter-terrorism operations, but those calls fell on deaf ears. We are now back to a scenario where check posts will be set up across cities and in sensitive areas. Immediately following the blast, the Islamabad inspector-general issued orders for a “security red alert” across the city. Further, action will be taken against vehicles with non-specimen number plates and other vigilance measures will also be adopted.
It remains to be seen that the counter strategy is going to be effective considering how the militants have now penetrated urban centres where full-fledged kinetic operations cannot take place. It is also hard to gauge the extent of pressure that can now be applied from Kabul. Though the Foreign Office did state on Thursday that Kabul has renewed its “commitment” to rein in cross-border terrorism.
We cannot feel assured by any such commitments that have been made multiple times in the past. This is now an internal issue and we will have to pay the price for inaction. The hope is that the country’s leadership can set its priorities right and address this threat in a coordinated fashion. Also, the kind of alarm this attack has triggered exposes the indifference of many when it comes to the lives being lost in KP and the newly merged districts. Terrorism has not just returned to the country, in fact, the uptick in attacks began in August. The only difference is that it is now also at the doorstep of those that live in urban centres.