A most dastardly attack

There are no words enough to condemn the dastardly attack on the army mosque in Rawalpindi, leading to the death of 40 innocent people and injuries to nearly 80. With a number of injured persons in a critical state, the death toll is likely to rise. Nearly half of those killed were children and quite a few senior citizens.
The terrorists threw hand grenades into the Friday congregation as others fired randomly into the mosque. To kill as many worshippers as possible, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the midst of those offering prayers. The mayhem could have been choreographed only by a thoroughly pervert lot, more like wild beasts, than human beings. The act amply proves that the terrorists have no respect whatsoever for the teachings of Islam, which consider a mosque to be a peaceful place where no act of violence is to be permitted. Acting like monsters, they spared neither children nor old people. Among those killed were a major general, a brigadier, two lieutenant-colonels, a major and a number of soldiers. In no single terrorist attack were so many high-ranking army officers lost their lives before. The injured included retired Vice Chief of Army Staff.
The attack has stunned many in Pakistan for its brazenness and has raised disturbing questions. That it took place inside a supposedly, highly protected military residential area in Rawalpindi cantonment speaks volumes about the sad state of security arrangements. It was widely known that the terrorists were itching to take revenge from the army after their ignominious defeat in Swat and South Waziristan. They were particularly incensed at their bluff having been called in the Mehsud area, which was being projected by them as the graveyard of empires.
Here they lost their strongholds, caches of arms and ammunition and their leadership was forced to run for their lives. In a short period of three months, five terrorist attacks had already taken place in the twin cities and only a couple of days back, a suicide bomber had attacked the Naval Complex in Islamabad, killing two soldiers and injuring 11, after which security was put on high alert. The apparent ease with which a group of terrorists, armed with grenades and automatic weapons, and two of them wearing suicide vests, managed to circumvent the security measures and sneaked into the secure place is highly disquieting. The mosque, itself, was a high-security place, within a red zone. As the list of the casualties indicates, those who prayed at the mosque included high-ranking army officers.
Only serving and retired military officers and civilians, duly screened by the intelligence services, were reportedly allowed to enter the mosque. The choice of the venue indicates that the terrorists were fully aware of its importance as a high-value target. This raises the question whether they had inside information. That a group of seven terrorists could reach the target with ease, enter the mosque and carry out the mission efficiently, in a short time, indicates a full knowledge of the area, not possible without sufficient recce. The attack has left many Pakistanis wondering how all this was possible. A full-fledged inquiry needs to be conducted, responsibility for lapses fixed and punishment awarded.
The TTP, which has been badly defeated in Swat and South Waziristan, has shamefacedly accepted the responsibility of the attack. Speaking to the BBC the organisation's regional chief Wali-ur-Rehman Mehsud owned with callousness, that military officers were the primary target and that the civilians killed were the relatives of army personnel and their deaths "didn't matter". While the TTP ran away from the battlefield, it is now targeting innocent and unsuspecting people. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has called on the ulema to issue an edict against those conducting these attacks. While the ulema go ahead with the edict, what is urgently needed is to improve the working of the intelligence agencies and beef up security arrangements. It is here that the government reveals an Achilles' heel. Meanwhile, total attention needs to be focused on exterminating the highly pernicious terrorist group, which continues to enact gory dramas of the sort with impunity.