IT is clear that the festering wounds inflicted by militancy and extremism are not going to heal any time soon. The alarming confession made the other day by a teenaged would-be suicide bomber who took part in the recent attack on the Sakhi Sarwar shrine shows that the enemy within is still alive and fatally dangerous. True, the boy in question is only 15 years old and he may not have a precise picture in mind of the real state of affairs. It is also well known that purveyors of hatred continue to go about their deadly business in parts of the tribal belt and elsewhere in the country. But still, what we have before us now is some rare insight from a person who has first-hand knowledge of the indoctrination or brainwashing programmes run by the recruiters, handlers and trainers of suicide bombers. Abhorrent as the idea might be to right-thinking people, 15-year-old Umer was told he would be sent to Afghanistan to kill infidels, or kafirs. Instead, he was dispatched to bomb a Sufi shrine near Dera Ghazi Khan. According to his own testimony, when Umer told his handlers “there are no kafirs here”, he was informed that “these people are worse than kafirs”.

These revelations are an eye-opener and negate the impression created by some religious groups that there is no sectarian element in militancy and acts of terrorism. Muslims at a Sufi shrine are seen as infidels by our home-grown extremists, simply because peaceful devotees do not subscribe to the brand of 'Islam' espoused by violent, heavily armed people with hate in their hearts. We have reached the point — indeed did so quite some time ago — where anyone who disagrees with the ideology of the Pakistani Taliban and their ilk can be considered worthy of death. And the truly alarming thought here is that the situation may get a lot worse before it ever improves.

Umer says that at least 400 suicide bombers are currently receiving training in North Waziristan's Mirali area. Again, given the boy's age, his assessment may not be entirely accurate. But even so there is no doubt that militant sanctuaries and training centres for suicide bombers are still very much a reality in that part of the tribal belt. The army chief said on Friday that he is satisfied with the progress made in the fight against militancy. That may be so but it is widely believed that militants pushed out of South Waziristan are now operating out of North Waziristan. The mayhem they can create must be checked.