A recent report of the KP government has indicated a significant upsurge in terrorism across Erstwhile FATA and settled districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the current year wherein 7 areas have been specifically targeted by the miscreants during that time. According to the statistics, Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan Districts remained on the hit list of terrorist outfits throughout 2023. A total of 1,050 incidents of terrorism took place in the province, 419 in settled districts and 631 in the newly merged areas bordering Afghanistan. These terrorist attacks led to 470 casualties including security personnel and civilians.
Terrorism has shaped into a grave challenge for the people and state of Pakistan over the past year after the government-TTP peace deal collapsed and insurgent groups relaunched their terrorism offensive against the public and Security Forces of the country. Since then a death dance and bloodshed continuously pouring down in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Erstwhile FATA while hundreds of innocent civilians, and Security personnel embraced martyrdoms in acts of violence and terrorism in the past months. The country has faced significant challenges, particularly along its western border with Afghanistan as the border belt area has been the most vulnerable and terror-hit region in Pakistan.
Historically, Pakistan has been engaged in counter-terrorism campaigns over the past two decades to weed out its homegrown terrorism which no doubt had always enjoyed foreign funding and sponsorship throughout the past. Our valiant security forces successfully defeated the menace of terrorism from Pakistani soil through a series of operations in Swat, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Khyber, and other border regions. Unfortunately, those hard-earned successes could not be consolidated by the successive governments largely due to lax border management, security lapses and nonimplementation of crucial anti-extremism and counterterrorism measures under the National Action Plan (NAP). Pakistani leaders did not learn from the world’s experiences failing to tackle terrorism and violent extremism through repeated mistakes and nonseriousness in sensitive national security affairs. An important truce with terrorist outfits was conceived secretly by a few individuals without national deliberation and taking Parliament into confidence, that treacherous act not only revived terrorism but pushed the nation into a fresh quandary.
Presently, the evil of terrorism has resurfaced in the country, while the numbers and severity of terrorist attacks clearly illustrate the magnitude and volume of the risk that confronts our nation. The current situation is complex and multifaceted, with ongoing efforts to address the root causes of extremism, strengthen national security, and promote regional stability. The effectiveness of those strategies is of utmost importance and needs continuous debate and evaluation that reduces the scope of failure and increases the chances of lasting success agaisnt evil doers.
There is a dire need for a multiprong approach along with a ruthless Counterterrorism campaign and international cooperation on terrorism, which includes strict border management, enhancement of border security, Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) measures, deportation of illegal migrants, and stern punishment of the perpetrators of terrorism. So that, the Security Forces could eliminate the armed rebels through full military might, and the government and national institutions play their due role in the consolidation of strategic gains, this evil could not rebirth in the country anytime in the future.
