Daily Times Editorial March 23, 2013

Jalozai camp attack A timer-detonated car bomb carrying up to 35 kilograms of explosives and mortar bombs went off in the largest Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the country at Jalozai, killing at least 15 people, including three women and two children, when the IDPs were lined up to receive rations and register new arrivals. Forty one persons were wounded, of whom four are reportedly in critical condition. The force of the blast can be estimated from the two-foot crater carved out by the bomb and the fact that the engine of the Suzuki vehicle used was flung 50 feet away. Clearly, the bombers’ intent was to inflict maximum casualties on the defenceless IDPs. Tens of thousands of IDPs reside in Jalozai, having fled from Akakhel, Bara and the Khyber Agency. The last in particular has been the scene lately of intense fighting between the military on an offensive to clear out the Tirah valley of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its ally the Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), which are also being confronted by the pro-government Ansar-ul-Islam (AuI) militia. The strategic significance of the Tirah valley, a redoubt of many rebel movements in the past, lies in the fact that it is less a valley and more a warren of ravines and caves that offer cover and a base to the TTP and its affiliates. It is also important as a conduit linking Khyber Agency to the neighbouring Orakzai Agency and Afghanistan. The Tirah valley provides access to the settled areas beyond FATA and even threatens Peshawar. It should not come as a surprise therefore that the TTP and the LeI are fiercely contesting the military and AuI’s efforts to clear the area of terrorists. The military’s strategy appears to be based on an ‘encircle and destroy’ strategy, which has the advantage over previous efforts of attempting to cut off the escape routes of the terrorists so they cannot slip through the net, a tactic they have employed in the past and which the forbidding terrain facilitates. While there has been no claim of responsibility so far, the TTP has denied it is involved. Police authorities suspect the LeI may be behind the carnage of innocents. Official reports say the authorities in the camp have been receiving threats for quite some time against the registration of new IDPs in the camp, more and more people being forced to flee their hearths and homes because of the fighting in their area. Four suspects are said to be under interrogation. The TTP and allies have attempted to take pressure of late against them in the Tirah valley by carrying out attacks in Peshawar and the settled areas. This is the pattern of the attacks on Bashir Bilour (in which he was killed), Ameer Haider Hoti (which he survived), the Khyber Agency Political Agent’s office, and last but not least, the Judicial Complex in Peshawar. While the military’s campaign is intended first and foremost to cleanse the strategically important area of the malign presence of the terrorists, it is also aimed at securing Peshawar and the settled areas environs in the light of the upcoming elections. Fears are being expressed across the board that the terrorists have launched a concerted campaign of bloody violence in order to sabotage the elections, with the TTP openly threatening people who may be inclined to attend the rallies of the mainstream parties opposed to the terrorists, such as the PPP, ANP, MQM, etc. The real test, and victory over the dark forces represented by the terrorists lies in ensuring the elections go through, ensuring to the extent possible that violence, if not eliminated, is kept to the minimum possible.