The killing of Idris Khan and his police guard in Swat indicates that the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may be launching a new sequence of terror attacks after the breakdown of its negotiations with the government. The reasons for that breakdown are as murky as the negotiations themselves. All that is known is that the Afghan Taliban have been brokering the talks, which have included visits by delegations, one of ulema, another of tribesman, to Kabul, where they met TTP chief Maulvi Fazlullah. The TTP had threatened a resumption of the terror attacks which had virtually paralyzed the country, and this attack may only be the beginning.
The problem has been such that former federal minister Murad Saeed has felt constrained to insinuate that the TTP has the support of powerful institutions, implying the intelligence agencies and the Army, with which his party has been clashing ever since its ouster at the Centre. He did not mention two things, however. First, that his party has been ruling KP since 2018, and if any institution has been giving the TTP support, it is with the support of the PTI’s provincial government. Second, that his party chief Imran Khan’s sympathies with the TTP were strong enough for him to be derided as ‘Taliban Khan’.
Having the matter thoroughly discussed in Parliament would not only be the principled thing to do, but is actually eminently practical. After all, the solutions proposed by the supposed experts have not worked, and Parliament may well provide new ideas leading to a solution. Or does someone want a repeat of the earlier episode in the district, in which law enforcement personnel were shown on video as captives of militants? Or must more lives be lost, as the TTP eliminates potential opponents, while spreading terror?
