At least four people including Khasadar force personnel were killed, and 55 others injured when a suicide bomber allegedly exploded his vest outside the gate of Jamrud tehsil office couple of days ago. Immediately after the attack, both the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliated group Lashkar-e-Islam claimed responsibility and called it a revenge for the government operations against them. The attack occurred outside a government compound, with the bomber reportedly failing to gain entry, thereby allowing the alleged intended target (that is, the resident political agent) to remain unharmed. The suicide bombing may be part of an emerging pattern that can be traced to an increase in IED attacks in the Mohmand and Bajaur agencies and an uptick in attacks on members of so-called pro-state peace committees. The fact that elements of militancy can still launch attacks despite being under a full-scale offensive and outnumbered by a much better equipped military in areas where control has been presumed to have been wrested from their hands suggests that it is premature to contend that the back of the extremists has been broken. The most likely candidate for orchestrating the recent attacks is the Ahrar faction of the banned TTP, which is believed to have found sanctuary on the Afghan side of the border. That the military operations in the upper reaches of Fata, and indeed in North Waziristan Agency too, have dislodged militants and caused them to flee to Afghanistan is not really news. The new aspect may be the effect that the deteriorating Pak-Afghan relationship is having on the ability of anti-Pakistan militants to hide in Afghanistan and strike inside Pakistan.Has the nosedive in Pak-Afghan relations, the increasing hawkishness on display in Kabul when it comes to Pakistan and a sense of pessimism that the bilateral relationship won’t stabilise anytime soon contributed directly or indirectly to the uptick in militant violence in parts of Fata? Put simply, are the Afghan authorities either turning a blind eye to or possibly encouraging attacks in Fata to retaliate to the surge in bombings and attacks inside Afghan? Tit-for-tat attacks are not unheard of in the region and it does appear that they may be at play once again. If that is indeed the case, great caution — and an even greater degree of frank discussions — will be needed to help stabilise the Pak-Afghan relationship and clamp down on cross-border militant movements.
pk.shafaqna.com
