More blood

We have seen yet another massacre, more blood has spilled, more lives been lost – this time in the Mohmand Agency where two suicide bombers struck at a gathering of some 100 people at an anti-Taliban lashkar’s meeting held at the offices of the local political agent. More than forty lives have been lost. The toll may climb. The attack emulates what has happened in other places in the past. As before, the lashkars set up by the government are a key target for the anger of militants who clearly wish to dissuade anyone who dares oppose them. We are told that security was in place at the venue. It was quite obviously not sufficient. If even after an effort that has continued for so many months the militants are still unbowed, it reflects a situation that is extremely dangerous and extremely challenging.
The fact of the matter is that security operations alone can never be enough to get rid of the militants. One point of the kind of attack we saw on Monday may be to demonstrate just this. The suicide bombing not only decimates lives but also makes it quite apparent that the Taliban remain intact and that their suicide squads can still be sent out at will. For authorities it is time to think. We need to do a lot more to root out militancy. Regional cooperation is one facet of this. The proximity of the tribal areas to Afghanistan makes it too easy for bands of militants to slip across the mountainous border and back. There is also evidence that there are pockets in the north where the Taliban continue to hide and it is possible they have support on the ground. From what we see before us, it is obvious that much needs to be done; the training centres for bombers need to be located and hierarchies of power dismantled. Until this happens there can be no real victory against a force that has proved to be far more tenacious than was first thought.