SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
The suicide attacks against two churches in Lahore yesterday could have been just another gruesome incident in the long list of horrors that has been inflicted on this country in recent years. The death toll has climbed to 15 while more than 70 were injured. Two men said to have a connection to the bombers were beaten to death by an angry mob, though there is no conclusive evidence as to their connection. It is reported that one of those slain by the mob was set on fire. Water cannon were deployed on Ferozepur Road and protesters vandalised the Metro Bus system, forcing its closure. There were protests in Karachi and the mayhem following the attacks in Lahore is an unwelcome development as most of those involved in the destruction are themselves from the Christian community. Christian leaders have called for calm. The attack was quickly claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar and there is no reason to dispute the claim. Accusations of failure are flying on all sides, with the Christian community alleging that the police failed in their duty and instead of guarding the gates of the churches were instead in a shop watching the Pakistan-Ireland cricket match. The bombers were stopped at the gates of the churches by their own security guards, not the police, which might add credence to the claims. The churches were packed at the time and had the bombers got inside, the death toll would have been far greater. Once again a minority group has been targeted and once again there is at the very least a strong suspicion that the state failed in its duty to protect it. The state and the security establishment in particular will likely point to the fact that the group which has claimed responsibility, the Jamaatul Ahrar, is under renewed pressure both inside Pakistan and in Afghanistan, at the urging of the state here.
The next phase of Operation Khyber-I does appear to place the militant group in the military’s crosshairs and the announcement of a re-merger between the TTP and the Jamaatul Ahrar over the weekend suggests that the groups are under significant pressure. As in the past, when hard security targets become more difficult to attack and a militant group is in the throes of being significantly diminished, strikes on soft targets such as places of worship or markets have spikes. Perhaps, then, that is what the latest attack in Lahore indicates: a desperate effort by the militants to try and stoke a societal backlash and in doing so put pressure on the state to curb its anti-militant operations.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
