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There should have been a committee set up to investigate what went wrong; and how it could be avoided in future. We know it won’t happen. Last time it was Prime Minister Junejo who set up a committee to find out who was responsible for Ojeri Camp explosions. The men in Khaki did not like this, and his government was dismissed before the report could be completed. No wonder every politician is congratulating the army for this ‘victory’ instead of asking for any investigation. To make things worse for Pakistan their one time ‘blue eyed boy’ and famous commander, Ilyas Kashmiri is still alive. He was thought to have been killed by a drone attack on 14th September 2009 in a village of Turikhel near the town of Mir Ali in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan. Ilyas Kashmiri is a former commando of Special Services Group of Pakistan army. He has promised retribution against the ‘U.S and its proxies,’ According to the US intelligence reports, Ilyas Kashmiri is one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous commanders. At one time he was operational chief of the Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, an Al Qaeda-linked terror group that operates in Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
He was listed as the fourth most wanted terrorist by Interior Ministry of Pakistan.Some analysts believe that Ilyas Kahmiri could also be behind the attack on the GHQ. Dr Usman, commander of the attack on the GHQ, is also a member of Harkat ul Jihad Islami and served under Ilyas Kashmiri.

He is a commander of Brigade 313 which is thought to behind many of the high-profile attacks and bombings inside Pakistan. ILyas Kashmiri dropped out of favour with the Pakistan military after he refused to join Jaish e Mohammed. After army attack on Red Mosque, he set up a camp in Ramzak, North Wazirstan, where many people were recruited.

It is believed that many radical army officers were among those who joined him. This week alone Pakistan has lost more than 125 people in terrorist related incidents, and yet Rehman Malik,Interior Minister of Pakistan has guts to say that he and his strategy was working. I don’t know how many times he has claimed that his strategy has broken back of the terrorists; and each time terrorists come back with vengeance and bigger attack to humiliate him and Pakistani efforts to fight terrorism. Attack on GHQ has hurt Pakistan and its pride, but Rehman Malik defends his intelligence services, even though they failed to stop the attack despite reports of the attack in advance. The report of the attack was even published in a newspaper on 5th October.

Once again he has boasted to ‘wipe out Islamist extremists’; I am not sure how many people will take that statement seriously. If Pakistan seriously want to combat terrorism then first things they want to do is to change Rehman Malik. Since he has taken over there has been increase in terrorist attacks, and Pakistani image has been tarnished. It shows the man doesn’t know what he is doing. One cannot root out terrorism with slogans and bragging.

Terrorism has become very sophisticated; and to root it out one needs more sophisticated planning and determination. Secondly they need to realise that terrorism of all kinds is bad. Combating terrorists at home and supporting them elsewhere gives contradictory signals.

If terrorist act is condemnable if it takes place in Islamabad it should also be condemnable if it takes place in Srinagar or Jalalabad. Thirdly they need to look at causes which breed terrorism. Is it poverty which forces people to join ranks of these? Do they join them for ideological reasons? Are Madrassas churning out religiously motivated graduates who become easy target for the recruiters? Are these people taking revenge because their love ones have lost lives as a result ofdrones attacks or some aerial bombardment? Or spirits of innocents died during the assault on Red Mosque are haunting those responsible for that ‘crime’? (ANI)