Militancy may be making resurgence. Though the grenade attack on Sunday in Rawalpindi has not been claimed by any group, its being the second in a week gives rise to fears that it might have been carried out by terrorists. After all, they have been making resurgence in Waziristan, which was formerly their stamping-ground. There is a suggestion that as both attacks were carried out against street vendors, there might be an attempt to extort protection money. This seems an excuse by investigators to fool the public. Such ingenuity would be better showered on tracing the actual culprits, and preventing the resurgence of a menace which was suppressed by the Army at the cost of much effort and many lives. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that militants have tried to start an extortion racket, but there are a number of things working against it, not least that Rawalpindi is not really large enough for racketeering and the gangs that crime implies. Also, militants have historically gone in for drugs.
Rawalpindi should be crawling with intelligence gatherers, with the headquarters of Military Intelligence in that very city, while Naval, Air and Inter-Services Intelligence have their headquarters in the twin city of Islamabad, as does the Intelligence Bureau. That grenade attacks take place there, is a stinging reminder that someone seems to have been asleep on the job. Though neither attack seems to have targeted the military specifically, GHQ has led to a very strong military presence there. Did the agencies have their attention more focused elsewhere? That would be unfortunate, for agencies must concentrate on obtaining knowledge which can prevent attacks, whether by arresting perpetrators and thus taking them off the streets, or by dissuading them.
It is bad enough that the country’s military is threatened, but it is also worrisome that militants may have found a new modus operandi, which is both low-cost and simple. Throwing a grenade while pillion-riding does not require any particular skills. A supply of grenades, while not easy, is far from impossible. If this is the militant action it seems, and spreads to other cities, then there are rough days ahead indeed’
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/14/attacks-in-rawalpindi/
Attacks in Rawalpindi; Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 15th, 2020
Militancy may be making resurgence. Though the grenade attack on Sunday in Rawalpindi has not been claimed by any group, its being the second in a week gives rise to fears that it might have been carried out by terrorists. After all, they have been making resurgence in Waziristan, which was formerly their stamping-ground. There is a suggestion that as both attacks were carried out against street vendors, there might be an attempt to extort protection money. This seems an excuse by investigators to fool the public. Such ingenuity would be better showered on tracing the actual culprits, and preventing the resurgence of a menace which was suppressed by the Army at the cost of much effort and many lives. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that militants have tried to start an extortion racket, but there are a number of things working against it, not least that Rawalpindi is not really large enough for racketeering and the gangs that crime implies. Also, militants have historically gone in for drugs.
Rawalpindi should be crawling with intelligence gatherers, with the headquarters of Military Intelligence in that very city, while Naval, Air and Inter-Services Intelligence have their headquarters in the twin city of Islamabad, as does the Intelligence Bureau. That grenade attacks take place there, is a stinging reminder that someone seems to have been asleep on the job. Though neither attack seems to have targeted the military specifically, GHQ has led to a very strong military presence there. Did the agencies have their attention more focused elsewhere? That would be unfortunate, for agencies must concentrate on obtaining knowledge which can prevent attacks, whether by arresting perpetrators and thus taking them off the streets, or by dissuading them.
It is bad enough that the country’s military is threatened, but it is also worrisome that militants may have found a new modus operandi, which is both low-cost and simple. Throwing a grenade while pillion-riding does not require any particular skills. A supply of grenades, while not easy, is far from impossible. If this is the militant action it seems, and spreads to other cities, then there are rough days ahead indeed’
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/12/14/attacks-in-rawalpindi/
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan