That there is a great deal more to the sudden spurt of terrorism in the country should not be in doubt, not only because of increasingly heinous strikes under an ill-contrived cover of sectarian conflict but also because of targeting of new areas.
This has reference also to timing of the current upsurge so close to the fasting month of Ramazan. Starting from an Imambargah in Sialkot, and quickly following up with a more ghastly pre-dawn attack in Multan at the end of memorial service for an earlier slain Sunni religious leader in Multan, the killings had already created a lot of confusion, when the terror-mongers had the temerity of gunning down Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat central vice-president Mufti Mohammed Jamil Ahmed Khan and Sindh Amir of the organisation Maulana Nazir Ahmed Taunsvi, in Karachi, last Saturday.
And before the nation could absorb the shock from it, they shifted their focus on to Lahore the very next day. On Sunday evening, at least four people were killed by a suspected suicide bomber who is stated to have shot himself into a mosque during Maghrib prayers, again giving it a sectarian dimension.
Earlier, reacting to the targeted shooting in Karachi enraged protestors on Saturday had resorted to pelting stones at Guru Mandir roundabout, Patel Para, Jehangir Road, and Jail Road, resulting in the closure of shops and the suspension of traffic.
On Sunday, it was a mourning day all over the city when all commercial activity remained suspended and the law enforcing agencies (LEA) had to be called in to ensure normality. Some idea of the ghastliness of the Karachi tragedy may be had from the prompt reaction of President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who strongly condemned the killings of the two eminent Islamic scholars, and reiterated the government's resolve to root out the menace of terrorism from the country.
Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said all escape routes from Sindh province had been sealed and police had been directed to arrest the two terrorists believed to be responsible for the murders and that it would take all measures to apprehend all the terrorists involved in the incidents in Karachi, Sialkot and Multan.
He also pointed out that all provincial governments had already been directed to ensure that police remain on 'high alert'. However, notwithstanding all this, the terrorists did manage to strike in Lahore.
It appears that the government has yet to find a clue to the real motive or the actual modus operandi of the terror mongers. After doing one thing to mislead the people and the authorities in one series of operations, they can quickly shift the thrust and act on quite a different strategy.
For, while the sectarian dimension was manifested on Saturday last, a group of five masked gunmen abducted two Chinese engineers along with their five Pakistani guards, on way to the Gomal Zam Dam project in South Waziristan Agency. It is, however, just another matter that the abductors have since been identified as the men from a tribe battling the army in the troubled region.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has assured the Chinese government of 'all possible efforts' to recover the kidnapped engineers, at any cost.
The abducted engineers are said to be safe with the elders of the tribe and negotiations are continuing for their release. However, according to one report, China has appealed to Pakistan to strengthen security at project sites where Chinese nationals are working.
The incident of kidnapping is reported to be the latest in a series of attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan this year. The terrorists are out to harm the nation's interest from whatever approach that suits them. Again, since they seem to have a knack of exploiting religious sentiments of the people, the need for greater vigilance during the coming month of Ramazan can hardly be over-emphasised. And as we have repeatedly pointed out, this is one occasion, when the government, given the will, can start mobilising the people for strict vigilance against the merciless merchants of death and destruction.
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