Threat Looming Large As Terrorists Increase Activites in Pakistan
Muhammad Khurshid
March 01, 2008
Terrorists have been trying complete control of Pakistan as they increased their activities, but the rulers and politicians are busy in power game. There is complete confusion and choas in the whole country. A Levies official and a suicide bomber have been killed and 20 injured in A suicide attack at the convoy of Bajaur Levies on Saturday.
Assistant political agent Bajaur Agency Iqbal Khatak said that a convoy of Bajaur Levies that comprised of two cars was traveling to Tourmandy check post from Khar when a suicide bomber hit his car into the convoy from the opposite lane at Hajilong area. An official of Bajaur Levies and suicide bomber killed in the attack.
The injured were shifted to Agency headquarter Khar .Ten Levies personnel included among the wounded among which a subadar in a critical state has been shifted to Peshawar.
The head of the attacker has been found at the scene and investigations have been started.
According to a newspaper comment, in a new incident in the troubled tribal area of South Waziristan, at least 12 people, including some foreigners believed to be militants, have been killed in an explosion at a house in Kaloosha village. As has happened before, there are conflicting accounts as to what happened precisely. Local people have stated that a pilot-less spy plane fired three missiles at the house, also damaging adjacent homes. The spokesman for the ISPR has however maintained explosives dumped within the house caused the explosion. He has emphatically denied the possibility that any foreign aircraft were involved.
This version of events may well be accurate. The problem is that so much that is happening in Waziristan is shrouded in mystery, and so little official credibility remains, that accounts by military or government spokespersons tend not to be believed. The issue of which tribal leaders are associated with which group, and how dubious alliances reached with some by the government are working, adds to the mystery surrounding the whole issue. Even after years of conflict in Waziristan, it is still not known how many civilians have died in the area, how many people have been displaced, how many children forced to abandon schools or how many homes destroyed. The bar on media access to the area, and the fact that local journalists operating there face an extreme threat, contribute to the uncertainties and doubts. The murder of Hayatullah Khan in 2006 is just one example of the degree threat to basic safety of journalists.
But if the war in Waziristan is ever to be won and normalcy restored to an area which has been in constant turmoil for months, there is a need to tell people the truth. The support of citizens in combating the militant threat in the area is essential. In the absence of this backing, the war in the area may linger on for yet more years and tempt foreign forces based just across the border in neighbouring Afghanistan to intervene. The suspicion that they have already done so only complicates the situation. The new government, of course after consultation with the Pakistan military which has faced so much loss of life fighting militants in the tribal areas, needs to consider putting the picture before Pakistani people. The evil deeds of militants operating there must be made known; humanitarian assistance must be made available to women and children caught up in the conflict.
The danger is that, with only a few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to put together, people may reach a wrong conclusion as to the actual picture. They may see villains as heroes. For these reasons, the full facts need to be made known to them and some media access permitted, so people can glimpse reality as it truly is and place their unflinching support behind the Pakistan military in attempting to end the conflict in Waziristan that has already claimed far too many lives.
The End
Assistant political agent Bajaur Agency Iqbal Khatak said that a convoy of Bajaur Levies that comprised of two cars was traveling to Tourmandy check post from Khar when a suicide bomber hit his car into the convoy from the opposite lane at Hajilong area. An official of Bajaur Levies and suicide bomber killed in the attack.
The injured were shifted to Agency headquarter Khar .Ten Levies personnel included among the wounded among which a subadar in a critical state has been shifted to Peshawar.
The head of the attacker has been found at the scene and investigations have been started.
According to a newspaper comment, in a new incident in the troubled tribal area of South Waziristan, at least 12 people, including some foreigners believed to be militants, have been killed in an explosion at a house in Kaloosha village. As has happened before, there are conflicting accounts as to what happened precisely. Local people have stated that a pilot-less spy plane fired three missiles at the house, also damaging adjacent homes. The spokesman for the ISPR has however maintained explosives dumped within the house caused the explosion. He has emphatically denied the possibility that any foreign aircraft were involved.
This version of events may well be accurate. The problem is that so much that is happening in Waziristan is shrouded in mystery, and so little official credibility remains, that accounts by military or government spokespersons tend not to be believed. The issue of which tribal leaders are associated with which group, and how dubious alliances reached with some by the government are working, adds to the mystery surrounding the whole issue. Even after years of conflict in Waziristan, it is still not known how many civilians have died in the area, how many people have been displaced, how many children forced to abandon schools or how many homes destroyed. The bar on media access to the area, and the fact that local journalists operating there face an extreme threat, contribute to the uncertainties and doubts. The murder of Hayatullah Khan in 2006 is just one example of the degree threat to basic safety of journalists.
But if the war in Waziristan is ever to be won and normalcy restored to an area which has been in constant turmoil for months, there is a need to tell people the truth. The support of citizens in combating the militant threat in the area is essential. In the absence of this backing, the war in the area may linger on for yet more years and tempt foreign forces based just across the border in neighbouring Afghanistan to intervene. The suspicion that they have already done so only complicates the situation. The new government, of course after consultation with the Pakistan military which has faced so much loss of life fighting militants in the tribal areas, needs to consider putting the picture before Pakistani people. The evil deeds of militants operating there must be made known; humanitarian assistance must be made available to women and children caught up in the conflict.
The danger is that, with only a few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to put together, people may reach a wrong conclusion as to the actual picture. They may see villains as heroes. For these reasons, the full facts need to be made known to them and some media access permitted, so people can glimpse reality as it truly is and place their unflinching support behind the Pakistan military in attempting to end the conflict in Waziristan that has already claimed far too many lives.
The End
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