Targeting Civilians

The Dawn's Editorial on the murder of Mian Rashid Hussain by the Pak Taliban, HT Pakhtunkhwa Peace Forum

Monday’s suicide attack in Peshawar near the home of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain comes on the heels of the gunning down of his only son, Mian Rashid Hussain, outside his house in Pabbi.

The tragedies are further evidence of the fact that, increasingly, it is innocent civilians who find themselves in the cross-hairs of the terrorists. The deadly attack on Mian Rashid Hussain left another person injured while the suicide bombing, which appears to have targeted the mourners who had gathered at the minister’s house, left at least eight people dead, among them two children and three policemen. Responsibility for the suicide attack was claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The group had also claimed responsibility for the fatal attack on the son of the ANP minister who has been amongst the most outspoken voices in the campaign against terrorism.

The TTP-led militant nexus has frequently claimed that it does not target civilians. This blatant lie is exposed with every new attack launched in areas where civilian casualties are bound to occur, where the ones to die and be injured are ordinary people. There is no shortage of examples, amongst the grimmest being last October’s bombing in Peshawar’s Meena Bazaar which killed well over 100 people, and the bombing of Lahore’s Moon Market in December. Across the country we have seen attacks on educational institutes, places of worship and commercial areas. Responsibility for many of these incidents of terror and murder has been claimed with impunity by TTP-led militants. Battling the Pakistan military in its strongholds in the north-western parts of the country, the terrorist network is evidently turning its guns increasingly towards ‘soft’ targets. Therefore, every effort must be made to protect the people. While law-enforcers cannot seamlessly secure all potential targets, more effort must be made towards creating coordinated response networks.