Pakistan not doing enough to protect foreigners from terrorism

Pakistani authorities should learn from the recent attacks in Swat and realise that if one of the diplomats had suffered casualty it would have tarnished the image of Pakistan globally.

After the Swat incident, foreign nations should rethink their position on Pakistan and question whether keeping their diplomats in the country is safe.

There has been a spike in terror activities in Pakistan in recent times but when a convoy carrying diplomats of various nations was targeted this week, it laid bare the inability of the country to even provide security to foreign envoys.

The shocking attack took place in Swat this Sunday though the diplomats luckily escaped unhurt. One policeman died in the explosion.

Diplomats from various nations, including Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Portugal, were part of the convoy which was travelling to Swat to attend a business meeting when it hit a roadside bomb.

In a startling revelation, the foreign office of Pakistan revealed that it was not aware of the recent visit of about a dozen ambassadors to Swat where they narrowly escaped death, according to the Express Tribune.

Swat remained a hotbed of terror activities for several years now.

Terrorism escalated further after a ceasefire with the government ceased in 2022.

In its country report published in 2022, the USA had acknowledged the spike in terror activities in the country when it wrote: “Pakistan experienced increased terrorist threats in 2022. The number of attacks and casualties was higher than in 2021. Major terrorist groups that focused on conducting attacks in the country included the TTP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and ISIS-K.”

“Separatist militant groups conducted terrorist attacks against varied targets in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh provinces. TTP posed a significant threat to Pakistani police, military, and security services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,” the report said.

“In attacking various targets, terrorists used a range of tactics, including IEDs, VBIEDs, suicide bombings, and targeted assassinations,” the report had said.

The attack on the convoy is a grim reminder that the situation did not improve in Pakistan even after a new government came to power earlier this year following a long political slugfest that even saw its former Prime Minister Imran Khan landing in jail.

After the attack, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was asked a series of questions about the incident, protocols and the role of the foreign ministry.

To the utter surprise of many, the spokesperson said the foreign was not informed about the visit, Express Tribune reported.

“With regards to this particular incident of 23rd of September, this was a trip which was organised by the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and not by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any government institution,” the spokesperson revealed.

The Pakistani Taliban has meanwhile denied attacking the convoy of foreign ambassadors.

The time and efforts the current government is dedicating to keeping the political opponents behind bars should have been used to fight terrorism and organisations that are paralysing the country’s internal peace and stability. The attack on envoys shames Pakistan, a country known for exporting cross-border terror.

Pakistani authorities should learn from the recent attacks in Swat and realise that if one of the diplomats had suffered casualty it would have tarnished the image of Pakistan globally.

Attack on foreigners is not new in Pakistan and the fresh incident shows the country has not taken lessons from its previous mistake.

Earlier, Baloch separatists and terrorists mostly targeted Chinese nationals and projects but Swat’s event was an exception.

In this case, a large number of diplomats were probably the target of the attackers, pointing to the failure of the administration and security forces in the face of terrorists who are slowly strengthening their grip on Pakistani soil.

In its Editorial, Dawn News said: “Investigators need to look at all angles; there is also a possibility that hostile foreign actors were involved. As mentioned earlier, the targeting of so many foreign dignitaries would have resulted in massive worldwide humiliation for Pakistan.”

“Our counterterrorism and counter-intelligence apparatus needs to pre-empt such attacks and explore how such sensitive information was leaked. Whether such attacks are the handiwork of militants or hostile external forces, the state needs to do a much better job of neutralising violent actors,” the Editorial said.