Thursday saw yet another Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack only three days after the one in Turbat, this time in Parachinar. Similar to the one in Turbat, this one also led to minimal damage, and injured seventeen, with one in critical condition. The negligible attack—much like the previous one—quite obviously points to the decreasing ability of terrorists to carry out serious attacks on Pakistani soil; IEDs continue to be a low-risk, luck-based attack method. Not much planning has to go into it, nor many resources. But more importantly, residents of the area came out in protest of the incident, which in itself is a display of progress made.

The fact that inhabitants of areas such as Parachinar—with parts of the agencies under the ruthless control of the militants before the clean-up—come out in protest each time an attack takes place; shows how far we have come on the militancy front. The general public is free to exercise its right to protest, and by doing so is firmly rejecting extremism from taking root in the region as well. None of this would have been possible without the stellar work carried out by our security forces.

And yet, the fight against militancy has not ended, nor will it so easily. Security forces have undoubtedly been doing all that they can, but two attacks in three days—although most likely unrelated—is a cause for concern. The terrorists must not be allowed to believe that small IED attacks will work, which is why it is imperative for us to take action. Perhaps this is where local law enforcement could also pitch in. It is important to trace even minor attacks such as this back to the source. Only dismantling these networks completely is the guaranteed way to bring peace back to Pakistan, without any untoward incidents.