In a welcome development, the Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has not only denied any formal talks with the banned TTP but has also assured of hard action against them and a severe response by security apparatus to eliminate terrorism from the country.

He made this announcement in the wake of continued terror attacks in the country with the latest being claimed by Taliban, in which as many as our precious lives were lost in Quetta. In fact, Balochistan and KP provinces have been suffering badly due to terror threat from the TTP and other militant outfits, which have become active after the Taliban government in Kabul last year. Talking to media men, the Interior Minister said that the military leadership had been empowered to hold talks with the TTP under the Constitution, but only with those elements who want to lay down arms, and after parting ways with extremism become a part of a peaceful society, abiding by law of the land.  He said that door of talks are open for those who want to lay down arms and become part of the peaceful society, but he also made it clear that those who want to sabotage peace will be crushed with an iron hand by the security apparatus. He also termed the recent attacks by the TTP across the country as 'alarming' in Quetta and said that it should also a cause of great concern for the Afghan government, which last year had promised the world nations that Afghan soil will not be used for terror outfits. Meanwhile, security experts are of the opinion that the ongoing wave of terrorism in the country should be dealt with an iron hand.

In fact, time has come for decisive action. It is very unfortunate that militants have not only resurfaced and regrouped but they have also started challenging the Writ of the State across the country, mainly the KP and Balochistan provinces and also GB.  The KP and Balochistan province have witnessed  series of attacks during the last one year and it seems that the attacks are on the rise with the passage of time. This is the height of their extreme activism and boldness to be challenging the Writ of the State at will.  These militants have also demanded imposition of 'Islamic Law' in GB recently and also a total ban on women's sports in the mountainous region. Not only GB, Swat has also reported resurfacing of militants in the area, carrying out their nefarious activities in full swing since August.

The residents are perturbed over the rise in terrorists' activities in Swat and have demanded of the Centre to initiate decisive action against the militants or they themselves will take arms to tackle the militants in case the Govt fails to come to their rescue. The Swat residents have been holding continuous protests against the re-emergence of terrorists in the Valley and till now they have organized as many as six major protests attended by a large number of Swat residents mainly youth and also the supporters and workers of all political parties except the PTI which did not turn at these protests. The activists of the outlawed TTP  were not only seen in several parts of the valley but one incident they also clashed with security personnel last year.

On the other hand, their activities have also been rising steadily in not North and South Waziristan tribal area where the incidents of attacks on security personnel, killings and kidnappings of the citizens have risen sharply in recent months.  Every now and then, we hear about the attacks on security personnel and on security check posts in KP and Balochistan provinces in which a number of security personnel are also martyred.  Various blasts and attacks on the civilians have also been noticed across the country, mainly the KP province where the terrorists seems to have regrouped after the Taliban take-over in Afghanistan.

It may be recalled here that the interior ministry had already alerted the LEAs and security agencies about the impending threat and danger of terrorist acts by the outlawed TTP and its related factions after the failure of talks with the TTP  recently. Meanwhile, the lawmakers are seriously perturbed over the TTP activists taking the law into their hands at will. Speaking at the Senate session recently, the Senators from both the ruling and the opposition side said sounded alarm over the surge in the outlawed outfit TTP activities.

The PPP senator Raza Rabbani has also sought a detailed briefing in the Parliament's upper house about the recent threat alert issued by the interior ministry about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks by the banned outfit. As a matter of fact, the time has come to deal the militancy and terrorism with an iron-hand before it is too late. Their activities are increasing at a very fast pace across the country mainly after the taking over of the Taliban in Afghanistan as it was after the Taliban Govt in Afghanistan that the militants' outfits like the IS, the TTP, and BLF have not only regrouped but also started striking at will across the country. It may be recalled here that the Pak army high command while speaking at the 250th Corps Commanders' Conference in August last, had also hinted at strict action against the TTP as it stressed on the continuation of counter-terrorism operations in the violence-stricken Balochistan and KP provinces where the banned outfits and militant organizations are busy in terrorist activities. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 03 2022

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