In a matter of seconds, the lives of hundreds of people in Peshawar changed as a blast inside a mosque in Police Lines killed 28 people and injured at least 150. According to reports from the scene of the explosion, there are still people who need saving from the rubble they have been buried under. Needless to say an investigation must be launched to determine who is responsible for this attack and to open the floor to questions regarding a potential lapse of security considering that the mosque was located in one of the most protected parts of the city.

The last year brought along with it a renewed spree of attacks for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as it experienced a massive surge in violence. Fatalities in the region increased by 108 percent primarily due to the reemergence of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which has been emboldened ever since the Afghan Taliban came to power. This bomb blast in the city’s red zone—an area that is swarming with security personnel due to the presence of countless government buildings like the Chief Minister House, Governor House and provincial assembly—and countless similar ones in the last few months are reflective of the reemergence of terrorism in Pakistan.

For now, the rescue operation is still underway in Police Lines and the common belief is that it was indeed a suicide bombing, although no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack. One must question how the suicide bomber was able to pass through countless security checkpoints without any trouble. Surely there must have been some lapse in judgement that must be explored to discourage similar circumstances in the future. Furthermore, with terrorism on the rise in KP, our intelligence agencies must look to improve tracking and predicting terror activities to prevent the attack from happening in the first place, especially in high-alert regions such as KP. We have to perform above and beyond expectations, but that is simply the challenge when it comes to protecting civilian lives from terror.

KP is a province that has seen more than its share of violence and now would be the time to stop it. Matters are expected to get much worse so if the government wants to do something about it, it has to be right now before terrorist factions become too strong to defeat.