22 January 2016•Update: 22 January 2016
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistanis had barely recovered from the 2014 massacre of over 140 students and teachers in Peshawar, when Wednesday’s gruesome attack at Bacha Khan University sent shockwaves nationwide.
The deadly attack in the northwestern district of Charsada clearly demonstrates that the country’s ongoing war against terrorism is far from over.
Seen by experts as a change of strategy, the militants targeted a civilian institution, killing 22 people, mostly students.
After an hours-long gun battle, the army assumed control of the campus, located approximately 40 kilometers from Peshawar.
Mullah Umar Mansoor, the mastermind of the 2014 Peshawar massacre, and a dissident commander of the Pakistani Taliban’s mother group, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The main TTP group, however, condemned the violence.
Pakistan’s ongoing military operation in the northwestern tribal belt, focusing on the former TTP stronghold of North Waziristan, has reduced the number of attacks by 60 percent in 2015, giving hope for a more stable future.
However, 2016 began with a return to violence. Over 50 civilians and security officials have been killed in four major attacks during the first three weeks of January alone. The year began with a massive suicide bombing near an anti-polio vaccination center in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.
The blast killed 15 people, including seven security personnel. The deadly attack was quickly followed by another suicide bombing at a security checkpoint in Peshawar that killed 12 paramilitary troops.
A subsequent blast near a security vehicle in Quetta killed six more troops.
The deadliest incident of 2016 has been the Bacha Khan University campus attack in Charsadda, which claimed the lives of 22 people.
Intelligence agencies and security analysts believe that, although the militants have been largely dislodged from their traditional stomping grounds, they are in the process of regrouping and planning more attacks.
“The game is not over yet, although the security forces have done a remarkable job,” Kamal Hyder, an Islamabad-based security analyst, told Anadolu Agency. “It seems as if the militants have regrouped, found logistic and financial support, and have a new sanctuary after being pushed out of North Waziristan.”
“We should get ready for more bloody attacks,” he added.
