The assassination of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa law minister Sardar Israrullah Gandapur, who was killed along with seven others in a suicide bombing at his home, illustrates the security challenges that the PTI government has simply been unable to meet. This is the third provincial lawmaker to be killed after the assassinations of Farid Khan and Imran Khan Mohmand, both of whom were also from the PTI and killed in separate attacks in June. The Ansarul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was carried out in retaliation for the deaths of some of its members in a daring jailbreak in July. This supposed rationale for the attack shows just how difficult it will be to ever come to a peace agreement with the militants. Not only are there now so many different groups with diverse tactics operating under the Taliban umbrella but they have become so audacious as to actually feel outraged when their militants are killed when trying to break out of a jail! Imran Khan, in the meanwhile, has remained inflexible, insisting that such attacks have taken place because the PML-N government has stalled on holding talks with the TTP. This is an unfair accusation to make since Hakeemullah Mehsud has refused to come to the negotiating table as long as drone attacks continue, something Nawaz Sharif has no control over.
Despite Imran Khan’s protestations, militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will continue even if talks are being held. And since virtually every politician, law-enforcement official and government building in the province is a potential target, there is simply no way to provide security to them all. What needs to be done is to gather reliable intelligence before an attack takes place so that there is a better chance of thwarting it. The decision by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet to set up an anti-terrorism task force, which will be headed by the IGP and include members of the army, the Frontier Corps and the Frontier Constabulary could be a step in the right direction. The anti-terrorism task force will only be successful if it is given the authority to handle all terrorism-related matters and does not end up having to fight turf battles with all the other law-enforcement agencies. A centralised force that can rapidly respond to attacks, be given all intelligence and coordinate with the federal government may just end up being what the province needs. Even such steps, though, can only reduce the impact of terrorism; they cannot tame the beast itself.
