Peshawar attack

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan attack on a hostel at the Agricultural Training Institute in Peshawar on Friday – the day people across the country were observing Eid Milad-un-Nabi – served a deadly reminder of how we are still far from extinguishing the militant threat. At least three militants, disguised in burkas, attacked the hostel with guns and grenades, killing nine people and injuring at least 37 others. The casualty count would have been much higher were in not for the fact that it was a long weekend due to the 12 Rabiul Awal holiday and so many of the students had returned home. The immediate response from the state was to deflect the blame to Afghanistan. ISPR DG Asif Ghafoor said the attackers were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan during the attack while the police also claimed that the attackers had crossed the border the night before the attack. This may well be true. It is no secret that the TTP, driven out of the country by military operations, has mostly relocated to Afghanistan. The Afghan government has been curiously uninterested in taking any action against the group, which has set up bases in the country. But, much as we criticise Afghanistan, India and the US for accusing of supporting the likes of the Haqqani Network and Afghan Taliban, we should not rush to pin blame. The fact is that both Afghanistan and Pakistan are busy fighting militant groups that threaten their respective countries and so both have not prioritised those groups whose targets are elsewhere.

The government’s focus after such attacks should be on its own inability to protect its people. It is hardly a surprise that the TTP went after an educational institution. From the APS attack in Peshawar to the destruction of girls’ schools in the tribal areas to the attempted assassination of Malala Yousafzai, militants have continued to target students. While it is certainly commendable that law enforcement was quick to respond and was able to take out the militants before they could kill even more people, the question of how the attackers were able to gain such easy access to the hostel. The government also needs to explain what measures it has taken to secure the border. It has constantly promised to build fences and make the border impenetrable. In this it has clearly failed. Perhaps, with Afghanistan we need to try a more diplomatic approach. Trying to work with Afghanistan, where we take on groups like the Haqqani Network in return for help in dealing with the TTP, may be the only way to finally eliminate the threat of militancy from the region.