In the first attack of the year in Lahore on Monday, terrorists rammed an explosives laden vehicle into a building housing the office of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in the posh Model Town locality. Initial reports tell of 12 persons killed, including two women and a child who were presumably passers by and 61 injured, 29 of them reported to be in serious condition.
As several continue to be buried under the debris, the number of dead is likely to increase. Such was the severity of the blast, caused by 600 kg of explosives placed in a vehicle, that it totally demolished the building. The office is said to have over a hundred employees.
As the blast took place at 8:15 am it remains unclear if all were on duty at the time. The SIU was created to interrogate terror suspects. It is yet to be determined if the motive behind the attack was simply to create panic and intimidate the investigators, or those targeting the office wanted some key terrorist under investigation to be eliminated to deprive the investigation agency of important evidence.
Offices of intelligence and investigation agencies in Punjab and NWFP have come under attack at a number of times in the past raising similar questions. All these attacks were deadly and conducted by highly motivated operatives who sometime combined suicide bombing with sustained gunfire by terrorists on the target.
In Lahore terrorists twice targeted the FIA building in 2008 and 2009 while an investigation facility in Model Town was also attacked in 2008. The 2008 attack on the FIA building and the Model Town facility were conducted simultaneously, killing at least 25 including 13 FIA officials. Two FIA inspectors and four citizens died in the second attack. The ISI building in Lahore also came under a devastating attack in May 2009 and caused over 30 deaths.
While incidents of terrorism in Pakistan's major cities were at peak in 2009, there was a marked slow down during the first two months of the current year. Despite repeated attempts on their part, suicide bombers failed to penetrate beyond small towns or the outlying areas of NWFP cities. In Lahore there was no major terrorism related incident after the Moon Market attack in December 2009, which took toll of more than 45 lives. The only exception is Karachi where a number of mourners in a religious procession lost their lives when they came under attack.
The respite is generally attributed to the successful military operation in the tribal areas, which served as the training ground and staging post for the terrorists. With the TTP deprived of its facilities where it also maintained a control and command system, and its leadership on the run, it is finding it difficult to keep contact with one another and maintain co-ordination. Equally important have been factors like enhanced co-operation between the security agencies and measures taken by the provincial governments that include greater vigilance in major cities.
With some of the top terrorist leaders either eliminated or nabbed, the terrorist network is in shambles. To many the February terrorist attack in Swat that led to the killing of five civilians and two security personnel, and the present Lahore attack, would indicate two things, desperation on the part of the terrorists who are losing the battle and lowering of guards by government agencies.
With the security agencies' offices and strong houses located in residential areas, the rate of casualties tends to be high. This has led to a debate regarding the advisability of their presence in congested areas. There is a need on the part of the provincial governments to maintain a high level of vigilance, particularly in major towns.
The militants are gradually losing their strongholds, the latest to fall being Bajaur Agency. Their leadership is being gradually eliminated or taken into custody. Cornered as they are likely to commit whatever material or human resources they still posses to fight it out to the last. The government owes it to its citizens to ensure that the terrorists receive comeuppance without causing any major harm to the population.
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