Knowing that it is not just the cost of human lives but the resolve in people that must be hurt the Taliban mindlessly blew up a girls' school in Pakistan's Khyber district.
What is significant is that this was the ninth educational institution that was blown up in the Khyber in the past six weeks.
This illustrates that the perpetrators are well aware that the war against them will not just be won with tanks and bombs but by the promise of security, jobs and schools to the people.
The Taliban's main weapon is spreading fear and this can unsettle the hearts and minds of simple people. But perhaps what the Taliban fear most is economic progress and education. The two are interlinked. And work and education among women is something that they frown upon. The attack on educational institutions thus reveals the Taliban's deep insecurity. But the people's resolve must hold firm.
