At least 42 people, including 13 terrorists, were killed as the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) camp at Inqalab road in Peshawar’s Badaber area came under attack by Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants early Friday.Thirteen terrorists were killed by security forces, Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Asim Bajwa said on Twitter. Sixteen people offering prayers at a mosque inside the airforce camp were killed by a group of militants, Bajwa said. Addressing a press conference later during the day he said that seven other people were killed in the ablution area of the mosque. To begin with, while the Badaber area is close to the tribal region and is densely populated, it is also a sensitive location where past attacks, including the ones on planes landing at the Peshawar airport, have been launched from.Surely, for more than a dozen armed militants to disguise themselves as security personnel, travel through the Badaber area and arrive undetected at the entrance to the PAF camp is a security failure of some degree.Moreover, it has already been claimed that there were intelligence reports of a possible strike in the area — who then was responsible for failing to tighten security quickly and adequately enough? While the ISPR was live tweeting the military’s response to the attack, the banned TTP was seemingly live blogging it — repeated messages were received by journalists from Khurasani giving an obviously one-sided though blow-by-blow account of what was allegedly taking place inside the PAF camp.The basic question then, how were the militants able to use uninterrupted lines of communication to, firstly, communicate between themselves and, secondly, to communicate with the media? Why was all of that able to take place unhindered? If there is a plausible answer, the technical and physical limitations should be explained to the public. It is disturbing that the TTP spokesman or his counterpart in other militant groups can continue to conduct communications with such ease inside Pakistan.Finally, there is the issue of the National Action Plan. While the KP government and the provincial police leadership provide frequent updates about alleged terror suspects rounded up and various raids made, it still remains fairly obvious that the desirable level of cooperation and coordination between the civilian and military arms of the security apparatus is not there. Will anyone explain why and suggest immediate fixes? In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the army and air chiefs rushed to Badhaber. Their visit will come as some consolation to those who lost comrades in the attack. But we also need a longer-term strategy. In the first place, Pakistan intelligence networks need to be able to gather more information in a timely manner. There clearly also needs to be better coordination among the various military and civilian agencies in this regard, so that advance warnings about planning and tactics of terrorists can be generated, and effectively countered. This is an area Pakistan has floundered in.
pk.shafaqna.com
