The bomb blast in Quetta, in which four members of law enforcing agencies were killed and 20 others injured, indicates that while the USA has withdrawn from the War on Terror, it has left Pakistan to deal with the messy aftermath. Responsibility for the attack was claimed almost at once by the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan, which indicates that that particular group has not been inspired by the success of the siser organization in Afghanistan, in regaining power there 20 years after having been ousted, to give up its campaign of terror attacks upon the law-enforcing agencies. That the Taliban of Afghanistan have more or less washed their hands of the TTP, whose chief Maulvi Fazlullah was holed up in Afghanistan, is shown b6y their blithe declaration ot assdsld that the TTP was Pakistan’s problem.
That the blast took place the3 day after DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed visited Kabul, cannot be entirely a coincidence. That means the blast was not just meant to spread terror, but was also meant to convey a chilling message: that just because the Taliban had taken Kabul, Pakistan should not assume that its enemies had lost the ability to strike at will.Perhapsit would be best to begin by taking note that terrorists have begun to focus on Baluchistan, not least because they want to sabotage CPEC.
It would thus only be logical to work on improving the security of Quetta, which should not be that difficult a task, considering that it is not that large a town, and is relatively well-planned, besides having a large cantonment. This would require increasing the patrolling of the city by the law enforcement agencies, but would also require intelligence agencies to concentrate both attention and resources on the terrorist threat, away from the time-honoured task of keeping tabs on the regime’s political opponents. The intelligence agencies have been lavishly equipped at the taxpayer’s expense for the task of gathering intelligence so that terrorism can be stopped. Also, while Quetta might be a good place to start, there is a need to ensure safety vans security throughout the country. That may mean that the Afghan government must use its good offices with those who claim to be inspired by them.
