Parachinar carnage

The horrific terrorist strike in Parachinar's vegetable market that left 25 people dead and 87 others injured raises inevitable questions about the ability, even willingness, of those responsible for internal security to take necessary preventive measures. So far, it is unclear whether the carnage was caused by an improvised explosive devise hidden in a vegetable box or a suicide bomber. Whatever the terrorist modus operandi, the fact is that so many innocent lives have been lost. The city is capital of the Kurram Agency which abuts three Afghan provinces, and hence is particularly vulnerable to such violence as TTP terrorists and their sectarian associates use Afghan territory to launch cross-border attacks in this country. Even so, considering that Parachinar's population is less than four hundred thousand, better intelligence, perhaps, could have helped avert the massacre.
Sectarian tensions have been running high in Parachinar and surrounding villages for nearly a decade, resulting every now and then in outbreak of violence, and at one point in imposition of a virtual siege on a section of the population. Back in 2007, following bloody clashes, the soldiers moved in to restore peace. Security forces since have a heavy presence in the area, still sectarian terrorists have succeeded in their purpose. A proscribed sectarian outfit, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Alami, as well as the TTP have claimed responsibility for the atrocity, which confirms, if any confirmation is required, that sectarian organisations are engaged in perpetrating terrorism in this country, and also have a nexus with the Taliban terrorists. It is worth noting that following the latest attack, while claiming responsibility for it alongside Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Alami, a TTP spokesman named three prominent sectarian leaders killed in encounters with law enforcement agencies, saying its suicide bombing was retribution for the killings of its associates.
Unfortunately, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan refuses to recognise the facts as they are. Only a few days ago, while responding to PPP Senators' objections over his meeting with the leader of a banned sectarian outfit he had called for making a distinction between proscribed sectarian groups and organisations banned for their links to terrorism, implying that they are not involved in any terror campaign. After what has happened in Parachinar, the PPP issued a statement rightly pointing out that "it is one of the biggest dilemmas of the country that the interior minister has no awareness [of] what is terrorism." The minister has not commented on the incident yet. Meanwhile, one can only iterate a tired reminder that the federal government needs to fully implement the National Action Plan which, among other things, calls for dealing firmly with sectarian terrorists, and also make the National Counter-Terrorism Authority fully functional.