EDITORIAL: Although TTP terrorists have been comprehensively defeated and their operational bases in North Waziristan destroyed, thanks to the military operation Zarb-e-Azb, there has been an upsurge in militant violence during the last few months. In the latest incident on Sunday, four terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Vezhda Sar near Miramshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan district. Four soldiers also embraced martyrdom. Later, the area was cleared by a 'sanitizing force.' Incidents of IED explosions and firefights have been occurring every now and then. Last month, in two separate incidents in the Razmak area, a captain and a soldier were martyred while three militants, including their commander, were killed. Press reports also speak of targeted killings and kidnapping of government officials and other civilians.
Notably, the North Waziristan tribal district is located right next to Afghanistan's south-eastern provinces where the TTP's terrorists and others of their ilk had taken refuge during the military operation. From the Afghan soil they have been making forays into the border areas attacking civilians and soldiers alike. The TTP terrorists have been considerably incapacitated after the loss of most of their top leaders in drone strikes, carried out by the US forces as a return favour for help from Pakistan in bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table; but the remainder have certain backers, such as elements in the Afghan intelligence agency, NDS, and Indians who are known to use these people in order to create tensions in this country. Their mission seems to have been made easier by the suffering the local people have endured on account of what has been going on in these areas, giving rise to an ethnically-oriented organisation, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). As the Prime Minister has acknowledged on more occasions than one, they have legitimate concerns which need to be addressed. The PTM leaders, nonetheless, do not help their cause as they openly maintain a liaison with the Kabul government, run a social media hate campaign against the military, or when they had their activists surround an army checkpost at Kharqamar that led to 13 people, including a soldier, losing their lives and injuries to several others. PTM says it wants the military out of North Waziristan, but the frequent firefights between the security forces and militants show the area is not ready yet for that.
It is imperative therefore that the issues of contention between PTM and the powers that be are resolved in an amicable manner, denying the outside forces any opportunity to exploit domestic frictions. In an encouraging development towards that end, last month Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak invited the PTM to discuss "all contentious issues" for the sake of peace and development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to which the latter seemed to have responded positively. In another important step towards reconciliation, the provincial government has decided to withdraw the Kharqamar incident case from an anti-terrorism court it had filed against two PTM MNAs, Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir. Considering that the group's leaders had earlier been complaining that the tribal districts' people bore the brunt of fighting from both the TTP militants and the soldiers, it is hoped they will join hands with the government to get rid of the common enemy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.