THE bloody terror attack on a seminary in Peshawar, in which 10 people were martyred and more than 110 were injured, should serve as a wake-up call for those at the helm.

The attack is the grim reminder that we still have a long way to go to provide a safe and secure learning environment to our children. For the barbaric perpetrators of such heinous crimes, the educational institutions are a soft target and whenever they get an opportunity, they unleash terror against innocent children.

The brazen assault shows that the dormant proscribed groups are once again getting ready to inflict harm upon the people. The security forces should increase their intelligence-based operations so that the enemies of peace can be stopped from carrying out their cowardly attacks on unarmed civilians.

Also, back in 2014, the Army Public School (APS) terror attack claimed the lives of almost 147 innocent individuals; mostly students. Following the horrific APS tragedy, the military and civilian leadership got together, chalked out a well-deliberated National Action Plan, and initiated operation ‘Zarb-i-Azb’ to eliminate terrorism from Pakistani soil once and for all.

There is no denying the fact that our security agencies succeeded in eliminating the banned terrorist groups from across the country to a large extent. But to end such barbaric actions by the obscurantist elements, we need to be on guard until we get rid of the last terrorist from our land.

The attack in Peshawar has underscored the need for implementing the NAP in letter and in spirit.

Muhammad Fayyaz Nawrha
Mianwali

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2020