The blast in Lahore was perhaps made more frightening by the fact that it had taken place after some time, and the impression had been created that such horrific events had receded into the past. Three people were killed and 20 injured in the blast in Anarkali, this was not the worst blast in Lahore, it created an atmosphere of insecurity. There had also been the expectation that the Taliban takeover in Kabul would lead to a cessation of terrorist attacks in such large urban centres as Lahore. Clearly that was not justified.
A new dimension has been the claim of responsibility by the Baloch Liberation Army. Lahore is a new place for it to operate from. Evidently, claims that it had been crushed were a little premature. At the same time, there are reports of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan being involved in this incident. That would represent an alliance between organizations so ideologically opposed to one another, that they are mostly opposed to each other in Balochistan. If the two organizations are going to cooperate this way in the entire country, that would extend their range to virtually every city in the country, and they could inflict horrible casualties. This can be prevented, if intelligece agencies were to divert both attention and resources away from domestic politics, and focused on gathering the kind of intelligence needed to stop such incidents. The task of doing so in a way that would not gum up ordinary life too much, is not easy, but beats the dabbling in domestic politics that has earned not just the agencies, but the entire establishment, a bad name. Tracing the criminal through the Safe City CCTV footage is almost a matter of routine, and while detection is an important part of deterrence, the most important part is ensuring that there is no incident at all. For that, there is no shortcut but to focus on the target, and making sure that the agency regards this as its main function.
