Terror in Karachi

The national focus has turned to Karachi once again after an eventful day on the terrorism front. On a day when three grenades were thrown into the city’s schools, DG ISPR Lt-Gen Bajwa announced that security forces had busted three major terrorist gangs. Three of those arrested were reported to be planning a jailbreak in the Hyderabad jail where the mastermind of American journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder is being held along with other convicted terrorists. Among those arrested are the alleged head and deputy head of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Karachi and a deputy of the Afghanistan-based leader of Al Qaeda South Asia. The DG ISPR stated that six of the probable attackers had been arrested along with 19 facilitators. The group had been using the business of plastic drums and washing machines as a front for transporting weapons. The security forces must be hailed for taking preemptive, intelligence-based actions against terrorist groups, but the arrests raise concerns that major terrorist networks are still functioning with relative impunity inside the country’s financial capital. The group, which has confirmed that a nexus between the LeJ and Al Qaeda is still operational, has been accused of being involved in major attacks including the Karachi Airport, PNS Mehran, Kamra Airbase and ISI Sukkur office attacks.

The three grenade attacks on schools the same day in Karachi only confirmed that there is a long road ahead. Just a day earlier, Pakistan’s civilian spymaster, DG IB Aftab Sultan, had claimed that the Islamic State poses a significant threat to Pakistan. The presence of strong recruitment networks across the country for would-be terrorists has been well documented. The confirmation that terrorist groups are forging alliances inside Karachi, which is already in a state of high tension, is a matter of concern. Moreover, the school grenade attacks will further fears of another attack like those on APS Peshawar and the Bacha Khan University. The arrests will have eased the fears of parents of school and university going children but we must remember that these militants are still organised enough to orchestrate attacks in broad daylight. The security of our schools is by no means guaranteed and it would be legitimate for parents to ask what has been done to protect their children. We know that the security forces and government are tackling the terrorism problem. But the reality is that much more needs to be done. We are in this fight for the long haul. More intelligence-based arrests would do well to dismantle existing terrorist networks.