Terrorism

COMPREHENDING the nature of a terrorist threat is essential for countering or physically eliminating it, as well as for preventing its recurrence.

The CTDs are a special and dedicated force, but still follow the practices of normal policing. The mindset behind establishing a national CTD is the same, despite thinking about improving the investigation techniques, analysis skills, and understanding of the whole phenomenon of terrorism. This is one of the weakest areas of the CTDs despite their visible progress on the kinetic front during the last few years. It is also crucial to enhance the capacity of the Counter-Terrorism Departments. The issue is one of focus. However, police commandos and paramilitary soldiers cleared the building by killing the terrorists in an hours-long operation and foiled the plot of the terrorists. According to the report, the TTP uses the tribal belt along the Pak-Afghan border to train and deploy its operatives. Similarly, a group of three TTP militants, equipped with explosives and weapons and bags of food, stormed the Karachi Police Office last month. Still, the militants’ strength is intact, and despite their human and physical losses, they are maintaining the momentum of their terrorist activities. It seems that the security forces had killed more militants, compared to the losses they suffered at the hands of the militants, which could be interpreted as an effective response. The TTP and similar groups launched 14 attacks in KP, four in Balochistan, and one in Karachi. In February alone, the TTP and other religiously motivated terrorist groups carried out 19 attacks in the country, which claimed 23 lives and wounded 79 people.