Pakistan battling Da'esh-inspired terrorism

Foreign delegates salute their national flags at the flag-raising ceremony at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard in Karachi on Feb. 10, 2017, to mark the opening of the multinational naval exercise AMAN-17. [China.org.cn / file photo by Guo Xiaohong]

Pakistan is again in the grip of terrorism. The fresh wave of violence has claimed more than 100 lives and injured hundreds of others. This is nothing new as far as the ferocity of bloodshed is concerned, as Pakistanis have been grappling with it for well over a decade.

The disquieting aspect of the gory business is that it surfaced after a relative calm of several months and following repeated claims by government officials that Pakistan has made significant ground against insurgents.

The most sinister part of the tragedy is that the new wave of militancy is either inspired by the Middle Eastern group Da'esh or is directly executed by operatives of this terror outfit. For example, Da'esh claimed responsibility for the attack last week at the shrine of a 13th century Muslim saint that killed more than 85 devotees.

The brand of Islam espoused by violent groups like Da'esh considers mystic or Sufi traditions and their followers as heretics, and hence believes that it is religiously justified to kill them.

Another major attack within the last 10 days was in the eastern city of Lahore, which killed more than a dozen people, including two senior police officers. It was claimed by Jamatul Ahrar, a Taliban breakaway faction that owes allegiance to Da'esh. The deadliest attack so far in Pakistan was also by Jamatul Ahrar, when the group hit a school in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, and killed more than 150 people, a majority of them students.

When Pakistan launched a major military operation in 2014 against militants in their stronghold of North Waziristan, one of seven tribal regions along the Afghan border, the militants fled in disarray. It was a time when the star of Islamic State was in the ascendency. As the command and control system of militants fell apart, dozens of militants rushed to join Da'esh to keep them relevant.

The new brand name helped them get together at a crucial time. They used the instability in Afghanistan to hide in its mountainous border region. The political tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan also helped the rebels to regroup and launch reprisals.

According to various reports, Pakistani militants are an important part of Da'esh in this region. They have a lot of experience in terrorism, as they have fought with rebels from al-Qaeda and other regional groups for years. They can also use local connections to carry out militancy. This was visible during the recent back-to-back attacks in Pakistan and was a sign of the strength of the rebels, who are still powerful enough to disrupt civic life in Pakistan. These attacks are troubling, as Pakistan has been in the denial about the threat of the Islamic State.

Even after the current setbacks, Pakistan blamed Afghans for failing to curb militancy. There is also a widespread view here that India was using Afghan soil to carry out subversive activities inside Pakistan. It might be true, but the important thing is to stabilize the border with Afghanistan and plug the loopholes in the security policy.

Da'esh is a real threat to Pakistan and the region as a whole. It is vital for us to look into the factors that are helping this group survive and energize at a crucial stage of Pakistan's fight against extremism. There is no doubt that external factors are aggravating the situation, but domestic factors should not be overlooked.

First, the issue of exhaustive administrative and religious reforms is long overdue. Second, there are people in Pakistan with sympathy for groups that espouse violence. We should identify them and hold them responsible. The bombers might by trained in Afghanistan with Indian money, but those who transport them, give them shelter and identify targets are based in Pakistan.

Third, the intelligence agencies should work in a highly professional and focused manner to identify the specific threats. Fourth, politically, anyone showing any kind of support for extremists and militancy should be pointed out and punished. Fifth, security officials should think of preemptive measures to neutralize threats across the border.

Finally, Da'esh and similar groups will continue to play havoc until the networks of their facilitator and sympathizers in the country are broken. Hence, this should be a time of comprehensive actions.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.