CIVILIANS are often the victims too but security personnel are particularly vulnerable. Anyone in uniform in fact, any symbol of the state however removed from the theater of war, is the preferred target of the hard-core extremists that operate under the Taliban umbrella. Be it day or night, it seems the assassins can strike anywhere almost at will. And now that they are on the back foot in the battlefield, the fear is that the Pakistani Taliban may increasingly point their suicide squads towards softer targets.
The latest victims include at least 20 dead in Khyber Agency who were in no way part of the military machine that is fighting the Taliban. They were members of the Khasadar Force, a tribal police unit that draws its manpower from the local population. Gathered at a checkpoint near the Afghan border on Thursday evening, the Khasadars were hit by a suicide bomber just as they were about to break their fast. For nearly two dozen men on official duty, this Ramadan proved to be their last. Who knows, the misguided man who blew himself up in search of eternal bliss may have been fasting himself.
Thursday’s tragedy was the first major suicide blast in Pakistan since the death of
Tehrik-i-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by a Taliban-affiliated militant outfit based in Orakzai, which borders Khyber Agency. A spokesman for the organization also warned of further attacks if the government persists with using the region as a supply route for Nato forces in Afghanistan. With the crackdown on the Taliban continuing in earnest, the militants perhaps feel they can force the government to change tack through random acts of savagery. Though nothing is set in stone and predictions can be premature, this policy seems destined for failure. Nor is the Taliban’s terror campaign likely to sway public sentiment, which is now firmly behind the military operation. In fact, every new act of violence strengthens the view that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes can no longer be tolerated.
With the power struggle in the top echelons of the Pakistani Taliban apparently over, there is a danger that the new TTP chief may unleash a fresh wave of terror to cement his credentials as a ‘worthy’ successor to Baitullah Mehsud. Hakimullah Mehsud is said to be a ruthless and highly ambitious young man, and could have a point to prove to more senior Taliban commanders and any detractors within his loosely knit organization. Unlike his predecessor he craves exposure. And for a mindset as warped as that of the Taliban, violence means publicity.
This news is taken from DAWN Pakistan’s Newspaper, after reading this news, that Muslims killing the other Muslims, on the name of same religion, I think nobody wants to adapt this religion, what do you think?