Before the military launched its biggest offensive, in South Waziristan — the centre of gravity of Taliban and Al Qaida militants — the militants succeeded in bringing the war to the doorsteps of every Pakistani right in the centre of the country. Now, Punjab is the battlefield.
The recent string of attacks speaks volumes about the fact that the Taliban "sleeper cells" have been activated in the country. People in the ‘sleeper cells' are none other than militants of banned extremist like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Sipah-e-Sahabah — all were based in Punjab. It was a serious mistake on the part of the federal government and the Punjab government to overlook their activities. It was an even bigger failure on the part of the intelligence agencies for not uprooting the links with the Taliban.
Now, it is fashionably said after every attack that "there was intelligence before the attack". The million dollar question is: Why was an appropriate action not taken to thwart such attacks? There is no way to stop such attacks because these terrorists don't come from abroad or outside the cities, they are living everywhere and much closer to high-value targets in big cities.
It was quite obvious that the extremist groups would penetrate in urban areas after they came under fire from the US drone attacks in the tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghan border. They joined hands with Punjabi militants, who were "jobless" after their organisations were banned, and were ready to take up another job, this time to ignite insurgency in the heartland of Pakistan.
These are the same militants who were trained for the "Afghan Jihad" and "Kashmir Jihad". Now they are called "Punjabi Taliban", posing a serious threat to the stability of Pakistan. The Punjabi militants went underground or migrated to the tribal areas after the previous government of Pervez Musharraf clamped down on them under US pressure following 9/11.
Oversight
The government's oversight of mushrooming madrassas (religious schools) is yet another blunder. The number of Madrassas has increased from only 300 some eight years ago to 3,000 across the country and mainly in Punjab. Many of them are breeding grounds of extremists who want to impose their own version of Islam and consider Pakistan's liberal forces and the US their enemy number one.
After the Swat offensive and the death of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone attack, the militants are bound to fight back and the new TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud had warned of this in his October 5 public appearance.
Areas in South-western Punjab, such as Deira Gazi Khan, are safe havens of Taliban militants as they managed to mix with the poverty-stricken local population.
Hakimullah is now hitting in the heart of Pakistan to avert an impending military strike. He knows that the destabilisation of Punjab can pose serious threat to Pakistan because more than 60 per cent of the country's population lives in this province.
India should also now cooperate with Pakistan because "Punjabi Taliban" can also be a serious threat to them, considering the Indian allegations that the Mumbai attackers came from Punjab.
The Punjabi militants can provide logistical help within the province, including major cities like Lahore and Rawalpindi, including the handling of bombers and target reconnaissance.
There are reports that Taliban insurgents are making inroads into Punjab not only for a safe haven but also to seek revenge against the Pakistan government and its security agencies. They have melted into the civilian population and are now striking at high-value targets with the help of the Punjab Taliban, who are experts at guerrilla warfare. They are a highly trained lot who had kept the India border forces engaged for a long time until they lost support following 9/11.
The military should launch its offensive in South Waziristan to crush the Taliban. Once they are defeated in their sanctuaries, all their allied groups will die a natural death. At the same time, security agencies must succeed in counter-intelligence measures and launch pre-emptive strikes.
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