Pakistan: Looking to the Domestic Threat
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 27 February 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 4 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Pakistan: Looking to the Domestic Threat, 27 February 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 4, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/58b407064.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Pakistan regularly blames neighboring Afghanistan for harboring militants that carry out attacks on its soil, but a recent series of suicide blasts has prompted the authorities to launch a major counter-terror offensive at home.
The Pakistani militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed a suicide bombing that left at least 13 people dead at an anti-government rally in Lahore, in Pakistan's Punjab province, on February 13 (Dawn, February 14). Officials said the blast was intended to target Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab's chief minister (Dunya, February 14). Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said the attack was retaliation for raids against militants in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.
The next day, the group carried out a suicide attack on the Mohamand Agency administration's headquarters in Pakistan's tribal region, killing five people (Geo TV, February 15). With another devastating bombing (claimed by Islamic State) just days later at the Lal Shabaz Qalandar shrine in southern Sehwan, which killed at least 70 people, most of them sufi devotees, it has been a bloody few weeks for Pakistan (Dawn, February 17).
The recent death toll has left the authorities jumpy, particularly in Lahore where counter-terrorism officials quickly declared a blast in a commercial district on February 23 that killed 10 people a terror attack (Dawn, 23 February). It later emerged the explosion had been the result of a gas leak (al-Jazeera, 24 February).
One of Pakistan wealthiest cities with few of the tensions that surface elsewhere, Lahore for years avoided major attacks, but in recent years it has become a target for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. The group, which split from the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan in 2014, is not the only Islamist faction operating in Lahore. It is, however, one of the most violent groups active in Lahore, carrying out a suicide bombing last year in the city's Gulshan-i-Iqbal park that killed more than 70 people (Dawn, March 29, 2016).
Pakistan's immediate response to the Lahore and Sehwan attacks was to close border crossings and shell areas in Afghanistan where it claims Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is holed up (Dawn, February 18). It claims the shelling has had some success, but bombing its neighbor is of only limited use. Pakistan needs to crack down on Islamist militants closer to home.
The authorities say they are doing this. On 22 February, the government launched operation "Radd-ul-Fasaad," which is expected to see security forces deployed on counter-terrorism missions across the country (Dawn, February 22). The government also approved a request by the Punjab administration to deploy 2,000 Rangers – a Pakistani paramilitary force – across the province. It remains to be seen how effective these efforts will be.
