Lahore attack
Another ‘safe house’ has been struck in Lahore and once again more
questions than answers are available in the immediate aftermath.
Who did the suspected interrogation centre belong to? Who was
responsible for its operation and security? The focus seems to be on the
Punjab government, but responsibility was disowned all day. Warnings
that the centre was a grave security threat to residents were ignored.
A Pakistani doctor examines a child brought to hospital after
being injured in a car bomb attack on a law enforcement building
in Lahore. AFP |
Who was responsible for that failure? The chief minister’s office
blamed the governor’s, the governor’s office blamed the chief minister’s
and everyone else ducked any semblance of responsibility. Given that
Monday’s attack was not the first against a ‘secret’ intelligence
location in the city, it seems staggering that there still exist such
centres in urban residential and commercial areas. Can such suspects not
be detained at police stations, prisons or military centres? Why are the
lives of civilians being endangered for what appear to be
counter-terrorism shortcuts?
The list of questions goes on. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
spokesman, Azam Tariq, has already claimed responsibility for the attack
and promised there will be more if the drone strikes and military
operations in the tribal areas do not cease. But was Monday’s attack
purely about avenging losses suffered by the militants or was it meant
to try and prevent more intelligence being extracted from some of their
own by the intelligence agencies?
It would have been relatively easy for the militants to surmise that
something intelligence related was going on on the premises (area
residents, as has been noted, had expressed their concerns about the
‘secure’ facility in their midst), and hence attacked it. But there is
also the possibility that the militants themselves had intelligence
against the intelligence agencies and picked yesterday to strike for
some specific reason. Will we ever know? More importantly, will the
intelligence agencies be able to determine if there was some ‘leak’ to
the militants?
The attack has also inevitably raised questions about the general
state of security in Lahore and the upcoming by-election in NA-123.
Over the weekend, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif toured the
city, ostensibly with minimal security in tow, to prove that Lahore is a
safe city. On Monday, the militants shredded that claim. True, it is
impossible to prevent every incident of terrorism, however, there is a
nagging doubt that the law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are not
doing everything possible, even within their limited abilities, to stop
such acts. (Prevention also includes minimising the risk of attacks by
relocating vulnerable targets.) With a National Assembly by-election to
be decided in the next few days, the city must remain on the highest
state of alert.
Dawn.com |