IT is a video recording that would make not only the apologists but also the most vocal Taliban supporters cringe. On Monday, the army declared as authentic a video released by the terrorists showing the execution-style murder of 17 Pakistani security personnel taken prisoner by the Swat branch of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The men, including policemen and levies manning a check post in Shaltalu town, had been taken captive by armed militants in an attack from across Afghanistan on June 1. The disturbing images show the men being mowed down ruthlessly, following the spine-chilling words of a Taliban commander: “They are enemies of the religion of Allah. They are apostates. Allah orders us to kill such people.” This then is their concept of the Muslim faith which, because of the terrorising tactics of a handful of its adherents, has come to be regarded with suspicion by many in the West and elsewhere. This is how the Taliban justify murder.

Given a series of similar incursions from across the border over the past few weeks there have been relevant questions pertaining to the identity of the raiders. All evidence points to the same group of Pakistani Taliban who were flushed out of Swat and other Malakand areas two years ago following an army operation. The military operation had taken out many militants but several, including some among the top leadership, had escaped presumably into neighbouring Afghanistan. They are now resorting to frequent cross-border raids in relatively less secure areas to take revenge on the security forces and perpetrating unimaginable atrocities.

For nearly a decade now, there has been a debate in this country about the nature of the conflict and the players involved, whether Pakistan is fighting America’s war or taking on internal non-state actors. The latter are bent upon imposing their narrow vision of religion and power on society and prepared to act with utmost cruelty against those who oppose them or do not conform to their ways, be they security forces or ordinary people. Indeed, apologists for the Taliban linking the latter’s actions to American highhandedness in the region, forget that the Malakand episode did not involve foreign militants who have a more international agenda. Instead of continuing to turn a blind eye to them and refraining from issuing a strong condemnation of the ruthless militia, they should awaken to the unpalatable truth that the militants have an agenda to capture state power. It is only if all sections of society raise a united voice against terrorism and its perpetrators that militancy can be defeated and peace restored