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Tangible Solution to Ongoing Political Turmoil?
Just one week after a suicide bomber blew himself up and killed at least 88 people at the Lal Shabaz Qalandar Shrine in Sehwan the military in Pakistan has announced the launch of “Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad”. An operation designed to clean up society from the (existential threats) enemies that are attacking its unity and integrity, creating differences (religious, sectarian) and disputes (political and social through violent means) within it and challenging its very right to exist. Has this not been vowed and tried before by the State? What makes the current military operation different from others that the military had launched before? There is little doubt in the minds of most of the security analyst that the current rise in the violent actions (suicide bombings) in Pakistan is linked to the announcement of holding the final of PSL (Pakistan Super League in Lahore). Lahore was the first city that appeared as a target on the radar screen of the terrorists and since then the upsurge in the suicide attacks that we have witnessed has engulfed the entire country. Ironically, the cost in terms of causalities at Lal Shahbaz Shrine suicide bombing was quite similar to the one at APS Peshawar (145 people were killed including 132 schoolchildren) that took place on 16 Dec 2014. Like Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad the (military sponsored and suggested) National Action Plan (NAP) was also announced just days after the cowardly incident at APS Peshawar. On that occasion PM Nawaz Sharif chaired the all political parties conference and in a rare show of political consensus it was decided not only to set up military courts but also undertake a number of military and non-military activities to tackle the problem of terrorism in this country — the announcement of initiation of NAP was made personally by PM Nawaz Sharif in a countrywide televised address to the nation. Announced under a familiar condition of national vulnerability — NAP demonstrated political ownership whereas Operation...
The Spate of Terrorist Attacks in Pakistan
In the space of five days in mid-February, Pakistan suffered ten acts of terrorism, affecting all four of its provinces. On February 13th a suicide bomber killed 15 people outside the provincial assembly in Punjab, including two senior police officers. On February 16th more than 80 were killed and over 200 injured when another suicide bomber targeted the throngs of worshippers at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a Sufi shrine in the southern province of Sindh. Yet more bombs killed police and soldiers in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), along the border with Afghanistan. The attacks are all the more shocking because deaths from terrorism in Pakistan have fallen dramatically in recent years (see chart), the result of a sustained counter-terrorism campaign by the security services. Swathes of territory once lost to militants have been recovered. Operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched in 2014 to retake North Waziristan, a part of FATA that had become a jihadist stronghold, was a turning point. Until then, fretful politicians had postponed confrontation with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani offshoot of the militant Muslim group that ruled Afghanistan until the American invasion of 2001 and threatens its government to this day. It was a faction of the TTP that claimed responsibility for the attack on the Punjab assembly. Islamic State, the extremist group that controls parts of Iraq and Syria, said it was responsible for the bombing of the Qalandar shrine, although it is likely to have worked through a local group. But Pakistan’s army identified a third culprit: Afghanistan. It said the Afghan government was not doing enough to stamp out militant groups, and that the militants, in turn, were using Afghanistan as a base to plan attacks in Pakistan. It closed all border crossings and shelled what it said were militant camps on the Afghan side of the border. The army also demanded the immediate arrest of 76 terrorists it...
Terrorism is the common enemy of Pakistan, Afghanistan: FO
Spokesperson for the Foreign Office, Nafees Zakaria, has said that terrorism is the common enemy of both Pakistan and Afghanistan and effective border management is vital for preventing the cross-border movement of terrorists. He expressed these views while responding to a question in a weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. Zakaria stated that the enemies of Pakistan and Afghanistan are taking advantage of the turmoil in Afghanistan and using its soil to orchestrate terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Pakistan is ready to work with Afghanistan on those issues in the spirit of mutual respect, trust, and cooperation. He underlined the need for working together by the two countries in order to combat terrorism. Responding a question, he said that Pakistan is committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan and supports the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) and other roadmaps aimed at bringing peace in Afghanistan. On the Afghan government's complaints regarding refugees in Pakistan, Zakaria affirmed that Pakistan is providing all possible support to the refugees here. He assured the gathering that the Pak-Afghan border will be opened in due course. Regarding suspected Indian involvement in the recent wave of terrorism, he said that law enforcement agencies were investigating the matter. Pakistan does not want to give a knee-jerk reaction, "We do not believe in rhetoric, though Indian involvement in terrorism and terror financing in Pakistan to destabilise the country is a well-proven fact," he added. He believed that the enemy was taking advantage of the turmoil in Afghanistan and using its soil to launch terrorist attacks against Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has issued instructions to deal with the terrorists with absolute resolve, while the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies' personnel are pursuing their aims to eradicate the threat from the country. He shared that almost all Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) member countries...
Common Interests, Common Enemy
Can both Pakistan and Afghanistan step back from their positions and find a middle ground on which to get back to formal talks on issues that they both face? This proposition may seem like a distant possibility if considered in the context of the current situation; the border has been closed after a wave of attacks in Pakistan, alleged Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) safe havens in the border regions of Nangarhar province have been shelled and the two countries have sent each other lists of wanted terrorists. But the resumption of talks does not seem impossible if viewed from the lens of what the top leadership in the two countries is saying behind the scenes. Consider this: while speaking to a visiting Track 1.5 delegation, extremely highly placed political and intelligence officials said that Afghanistan had decided to exercise “strategic restraint, refrain from a blame game,” and indicated their readiness to hold “in-depth discussions” on contentious issues. If the Afghan Taliban are providing an umbrella and sanctuaries for the TTP, Jamaatul Ahrar, ETIM, IMU, Chechen terrorists and Jundullah, why not confront them jointly, asked one official. For us there is no difference between the TTP, Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA), Al-Qaeda, Daesh/IS or Jundullah or Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan or East Turkestan Islamic Movement. Individually, they are a threat to the interests of Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China but for us they are all a collective threat, said an Afghan official We keep blaming each other but I think the issue is much bigger and requires detailed analysis by both countries, said a security official who is familiar with matters at the National Directorate of Security (NDS). I am ready to talk to anybody to thrash out this issue, they went on to say. It is not in the power of one country any more to deal with terrorist networks that are connected beyond national borders. For us there is no difference between the TTP, Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA),...
Despite Terrorism Incidents, Pakistan’s Economy on the Rise
Pakistan's economy is on the rise and the country presents a vital success story due to an improved security climate, relative political stability and a growing middle class, says an article in the prestigious newspaper the Washington Post published on Wednesday. The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army have gotten a reasonable handle on the deteriorating security climate, the opinion article said written by Afshin Molvai, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. The article says several factors are fuelling Pakistan's enormous economic growth which also attracts foreign investment. Three key factors driving Pakistan's economic awakening are: an improved security climate, relative political stability and a growing middle class. "These three interlocking pieces are fuelling Pakistan's growth story – a vital story given the size and geo-political weight of the nuclear-armed South Asian nation of nearly 200 million people," it added. The Washington Post says Pakistan boasted the best stock market in Asia in 2016. The high-flying Karachi Stock Exchange Index is up more than 52 per cent over the past year – and rising. The exchange broke through the vaunted 50,000 mark last month – a first in history. "What's more, Pakistan is winning plaudits from the International Monetary Fund, and its economy is forecast fora healthy 5.2 per cent growth rate in 2017, according to the World Bank," the article adds. It says in mid-May, the world's largest research-based provider of index funds, MSCI, will officially "graduate" Pakistan from its frontier-market category to the more prestigious – and well-capitalized – “emerging market” index. It will join 23 other countries on the index that represents10 percent of world capitalisation. In 2013, when Nawaz was elected, it marked the first democratic transition of power in the country. He entered office as the great global transformation...
Army Mounts New Nationwide Offensive
Following a sharp spike in terrorist attacks, Pakistan’s military announced on Wednesday the launch of a new nationwide military offensive, codenamed Radd-ul-Fasaad (suppressing mischief), with an aim to eliminate remnants of terrorists. The decision to mount the operation was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the corps headquarters in Lahore. Attendees included the head of Punjab Rangers and officials of intelligence agencies. “The operation aims at indiscriminately eliminating residual/latent threat of terrorism, consolidating gains of operations made thus far and further ensuring security of the borders,” reads a statement issued by the military’s media wing. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, civil armed forces and other security and law enforcement agencies would also participate and support the efforts to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country. Significantly, the focus of the countrywide offensive will be Punjab, which many observers believe has long been ignored when it comes to fighting militant groups due to political expediency and other reasons. The fact that the decision was taken during a meeting in Lahore also suggests that Punjab will be central to the Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad. The ISPR said broad spectrum security and counter terrorism operations would be conducted by the Rangers in Punjab in continuation of the ongoing operations across the country. Hours before the ISPR announcement, the federal government approved a request by the Punjab government seeking deployment of over 2,000 Rangers personnel in the province to carry out the anti-terror offensive. The paramilitary force will have the policing powers to conduct intelligence-based raids throughout the province. The initiative appears to be a part of efforts by the new army chief to show that he is determined to take the ongoing fight against terrorism to its logical end. Following the...
War of Sanctuaries
The latest spate of deadly violence and the military’s punitive strikes on terrorist camps across the Durand Line has caused tensions between Kabul and Islamabad to escalate. This time, matters have gone beyond the usual blame game that is witnessed after each terrorist strike on either side of the border. In an unprecedented move, Pakistan has closed its border with Afghanistan and has issued shoot-on-sight orders to be carried out against trespassers. What triggered this fury is the trail of the latest surge in violence leading to militant groups operating from Afghanistan. After being driven out of the tribal areas, several factions of the Pakistani Taliban have found a safe haven across the border. The latest bloodbath indicates how quickly the militants have regrouped to launch barbaric acts of terror across Pakistan. While such spectacular and synchronized terror attacks require support and facilitation of the militant networks inside the country, safe havens across the border allow greater freedom of movement for militants. The long, porous border has made it much easier for militants to escape any crackdown. The Jamaatul Ahrar, which is responsible for the recent attacks claiming over 100 innocent lives, is the largest and most lethal of Pakistani militant outfits currently operating from the Afghan border region. The network has pledged allegiance to the militant Islamic State group (IS) making the situation much more dangerous. The Pakistani military claims to have targeted some of the group’s hideouts along the border and killed some of its senior commanders. But one is not sure if such retaliatory actions could have destroyed the cross-border terror infrastructure that is believed to have the support of elements within the Afghan intelligence agencies. There is also some evidence of the group having links with factions of the Afghan Taliban. There is always a danger of escalation in such cases of cross-border actions. One cannot agree more with the...
Changing the Militant Landscape in Pakistan
Since its establishment in 2014, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has proved to be a lethal terrorist group, by perpetrating some of the most brutal attacks in Pakistan. While the leadership is currently based out of Afghanistan, Ahrar has networks in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies of the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas, as well as support structures in others parts of the country. The militant outfit is the brainchild of Omar Khalid Khorasani — an ambitious Taliban commander and a former member of the Pakistani Taliban’s Shura - who parted ways with the Taliban after they pursued peace talks with the government. From August 2014 to date, the group has been found involved in 116 terrorist attacks in Pakistan, against diverse targets ranging from security forces, tribal elders, and minorities to sectarian communities. Last year, Ahrar launched an operation titled “al-Raad” (Thunder). Shortly after, it orchestrated attacks on the Charsadda University, the Christian community on Easter Day in Lahore, Quetta’s Civil Hospital, Session Courts in Mardan and on an FC camp in Mohmand Agency. Earlier this month, it launched “Operation Ghazi”, and has since planned and executed eight gun and bomb attacks. The group’s strategy, it seems, is to employ back-to-back attacks, to create more impact and panic, rather than long intervolved attacks. In the last few years, the Pakistani Taliban’s seemingly weakening capabilities has strengthened Ahrar, although the group has a tendency to accommodate new ideological, political, and operational trends. Khorasani is among the ideologues of the tribal Taliban movement; he also worked as an editor of the Taliban’s quarterly magazine Ihya-e-Khilafat. Previously, he was associated with several Pakistan-based militant organisations, including the banned Harkatul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Muhammad. For the young leader, the siege of the Red Mosque was a turning point. (He even renamed a mosque in his native village Ghaziabad in Mohmand Agency after it...
Pakistan aware of designs behind ceasefire violations: COAS
In yet another loud and clear message to India, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said that Pakistan was fully aware of Indian designs behind unprovoked ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) as well as New Delhi’s support for terrorist elements in Pakistan and the region. Targeting of civilians along the LoC is deliberate, under a design and highly reprehensible,” said the army chief during his visit to the restive dividing line in Mattewala and Munaawar sectors, located in Barnala tehsil of Bhimber district in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). It was Gen Bajwa’s second visit to the LoC in Bhimber district, where three army soldiers were killed on Feb 13 and seven on Nov 13 last year in Indian shelling. Earlier, he had visited the area on Dec 2. “On one side it is an effort to divert world’s attention from her [Indian] atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris, and on the other, it is an attempt to dilute our response against terrorism and militancy,” Gen Bajwa said, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations. He said Pakistan was fully aware of Indian designs and its support for terrorism in Pakistan and the region. The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav was evidence of these Indian efforts and his case would be taken to its logical conclusion, Gen Bajwa said of the Indian secret agent who was arrested in March last year. The COAS, who was received on the LoC by Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen Nadeem Raza, also attended a briefing by the General Officer Commanding on the operational situation. Praising the operational readiness of the troops, he said: “Pakistan army soldiers are known for their professional competence, motivation and selfless devotion for defence of their motherland and are the backbone of the armed forces.” He ordered that unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian troops be responded to effectively. The COAS made it clear that the army would do its duty to protect the people of Pakistan and...
With Afghan Cooperation
As the state struggles to contain and put an end to a continuing spell of violence, the military leadership has emphasised that Pakistan and Afghanistan must “fight [a] common enemy, i.e terrorists of all hue and colour”. In comments attributed to Gen Qamar Bajwa by the ISPR, the army chief asserted in a security meeting that border cooperation and coordination between Afghanistan and Pakistan is essential. Gen Bajwa is also reported to have reiterated that “Pakistan and Afghanistan have fought against terrorism and shall continue this effort together”. The evident shift in tone of the military leadership from anger and the threat of unilateral action across the Pak-Afghan border to coordinated action against the mutual threat of terrorism is precisely the bedrock on which long-term policy needs to be built. The past is a clear indicator of the futility of unilateralism or the pursuit of policies by either country that the other does not support. Clearly, a bilateral framework of cooperation must accommodate exigencies and there is an urgent need to address the current spate of violence inside Pakistan. As the Charsadda attack yesterday indicates, Pakistan is facing a wave of terror attacks that is reminiscent of the very darkest days in the long fight against militancy. The ebb and flow of militancy in the two countries requires flexible priorities and Pakistan is right in insisting that the anti-Pakistan militants who have found sanctuary in Afghanistan be targeted urgently. If Afghan security forces or the US-led foreign military contingents are unable to act decisively against them, then Kabul should consider allowing Pakistani forces to operate in the border regions where those militants are believed to have found sanctuary. What Pakistan should be mindful of is to not conduct operations, especially putting boots on the ground, in Afghan territory without Kabul’s consent. Difficult as the border region is, mutual respect for territorial integrity and...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.