The people of Swat are out on the streets protesting. Their one demand: peace in their area. The main trigger – though there have been many recent events that have led to such desperate pleas for peace – is the October 10 attack on a school van in Swat’s Charbagh tehsil. The incident took place right in front of the school when 15 students had boarded the vehicle. Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, locals insist it could be the TTP, since it has already reportedly been active in the area. Incidentally the latest attack in Swat took place a day after the 10th anniversary of the shooting of Malala Yousufzai by the TTP. From Chilas to Quetta and Swat, terrorism appears to be surging once again. In Quetta a former police officer of Afghanistan lost his life in an attack that unknown gunmen carried out on Oct 10. According to reports, the former policeman received bullet shots while riding on a motorcycle with his brother in the Eastern Bypass areas of the provincial capital of Balochistan. Just a few days back, we had the chilling incident in the Chilas area of Gilgit in which militants were able to hold hostage a sitting Gilgit-Baltistan minister and several others by blocking Babusar Road.
All these incidents indicate a new trend in militancy in Pakistan posing a serious threat to both civilians and security personnel. The sheer strength of protests in Swat shows the fear among people living in the area are under; trauma leftover from the previous TTP rule in Swat has no doubt come to the fore. A brand new militant outfit that goes by the name of Mujahedeen Gilgit-Baltistan and Kohistan has also surfaced; they are the ones that claimed to have kidnapped GB Minister Abaidullah Baig and blocked traffic on the road for several hours. His release became possible only after hours of negotiations.
The way various militant groups are emerging and striking should be a wakeup call for all. It has been nearly ten years since the deadly terrorist attacks on the Nanga Parbat base camp. Since then there should have been foolproof security arrangements in Balochistan and GB and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan has experienced relentless terrorism and violence for decades now. The TTP and its offshoots have had a love-hate relationship with the state, at times enjoying negotiated peace and at others indulging in combat with law enforcers. One thing is clear: Pakistan had sacrificed far too much to cave in to the demands of militants. For people of Swat, and every other place in Pakistan, this terror threat needs to be tackled now, before its too late.