Unrelenting Terror Spree

Pakistan is facing relentless terror assaults, with repeated attacks exposing security failures, emboldening extremist groups like IS and TTP, and deepening instability amid mounting civilian fears and military struggles to control the situation

- SHANTANU MUKHARJI

Today, Pakistan is afflicted with terror. Terror assaults are happening on Pakistani soil with fury and ferocity. The message from the terror outfits is loud and clear. Repeated terror strikes have exposed chinks in the armour of the Pakistani establishment. The security and intelligence agencies are demoralized and frustrated, with the successive deadly strikes proving devastatingly fatal.

The last week of February saw a lethal suicide bombing terror attack in the Darul Uloom Haqqania Madrassa, killing its head of institution, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani. The madrassa, which was the prime target, is located in Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. This madrassa is well known for having educated a series of Taliban leaders, imparting theological teachings to them. It is also pertinent to mention that the slain madrassa Maulana's father, Samiul Haq Haqqani, was also murdered in 2018. It is a well-known seminary where hundreds of students are lodged free of cost, given religious education, and provided with clothing and other basic needs.

As this madrassa is known to have links between the Haqqanis and the Taliban leadership, it is strongly believed that this act of terror was carried out by the Islamic State (IS), which often leaves its footprint with deadly terror assaults in KP as well as in parts of Afghanistan. This appears to be an attempt to register its presence and send a signal that IS is not yet finished and is still alive and kicking.