The magnitude of Monday's suicide attack at a mosque on police lines in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has once again reminded many Pakistanis of the old era of extremism.

Around 100 people have been killed in this blast so far while dozens of injured are still under treatment.

The police force of the province has apparently been targeted in this attack.

This is not the first attack on the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as militants have successfully targeted many police personnel, police stations and outposts in various areas of the province over the past few months, causing massive casualties.

After yesterday's attack, the war of terror fought in the country for almost a decade and several military operations against militants in the past are also being discussed.

In such a situation, some basic questions are being asked regarding the new wave of extremism on social networking websites.

To examine these questions, the BBC has talked to some experts and tried to find out why the new wave of terrorism has increased so rapidly.


How did militancy return after the successful military operation in 2014?

In 2014, when the Pakistan Army launched military operations in the country's tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, many militants associated with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed and most of them crossed the border into Afghanistan.

According to experts, operations were also carried out against TTP in Afghanistan during the regime of President Ashraf Ghani, due to which the sleeping cells and network of this banned party in Pakistan were weakened.

But then in the year 2021, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the TTP was once again active. Meanwhile, during the Tehreek-e-Insaf regime, the civil and military leadership adopted the policy that if the TTP members in Afghanistan want to come to Pakistan unarmed, then they should come.


'It was a blunder to allow TTP to come unarmed'

Security analyst Aamir Rana says that militancy was never eliminated in the country, but it was definitely reduced.

He said that even after 2014, TTP has been carrying out minor operations in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has increased after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan and now this banned party is also carrying out major attacks.

On the decision of the civil and military leadership during Imran Khan's regime to allow the TTP to come to Pakistan unarmed, he said that 'I think this policy is the main reason for the recent wave of violence in the country. It was a strategic blunder that I allowed them to come into the country and they came here and started terrorist activities again.'

However, Barrister Saif, the coordinator of the government committee that negotiated with the TTP in the recent past, has a different opinion.

He says that after the Afghan Taliban came to power in 2021, their priorities have changed because before that they were attacking the American forces, but after the withdrawal of the United States, they told Pakistan that you should protect your own people. Withdraw and settle.

On the return of the disarmed TTP during the previous regime, he said, "This is a reason to see one side of the picture, because this is not the only reason for the return of extremism in the country."

He says that 'Pakistan is not the first country in the world which is fighting a war, if we look at the experience of many countries in the world, there are wars between the parties and there are also periods of negotiations.'

In the past, governments have signed agreements with militants long before Operation Zarb-i-Azb, declared ceasefires and ceasefires, and broken them.


Where was TTP after 2014 and when and how did it return to the country?

After the military operation against TTP militants in 2014, their central leadership fled to Afghanistan, due to which the organization's network in Pakistan was weakened for some time.

During this time, there were a few attacks on the TTP leadership in Afghanistan, which they blamed on Pakistan's security forces, and during this time, this organization was involved in crimes such as kidnapping for ransom in the border areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and according to experts. Such operations were being done while sitting in Afghanistan.

Amir Rana, an expert on security issues, says that the first thing Noor Wali Mehsud did after taking over the leadership of the TTP after the death of TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah was to unite and mobilize all the groups. And at the same time, after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, these two factors caused its strength to increase.

Why did the government's recent negotiations with the Taliban militants fail and why did the ceasefire end?

Many explanations are offered for this. Sometimes it was said to be the result of political apathy, sometimes internal and foreign policy was said to be the reason. But what is clear is that there were some demands of TTP which were not acceptable to the civilian and military leadership while the Taliban also remained adamant on those terms.

During Imran Khan's regime, when TTP-affiliated people were asked to come unarmed, they came to the country, of course, but they were not completely disarmed, and the new government also asked them to do so. They should accept the Constitution of Pakistan and be unarmed under the law, but the TTP did not do so and continued to demand the implementation of Sharia law in the country.

Aamir Rana says that these talks were bound to fail because 'they had many demands, including restoration of FATA's previous status, declaration of amnesty, non-surrender, which were not acceptable because it meant It was known that "the state of Pakistan has surrendered to the TTP."

Barrister Saif says that there were two main reasons for the failure of negotiations and the collapse of the ceasefire, one external and one internal.

The external reason for the failure of the negotiations was that the Afghan Taliban government was playing the role of mediator and reconciliation in these negotiations, but during this time, unfortunately, there were some incidents, including the drone attack on Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan, which directly affected the process and Afghan Taliban government's trust in Pakistan has decreased.

"At the time of this attack, our negotiating delegation was in Kabul, and after the attack, the federal government of Pakistan did not have the kind of contact it should have with Afghanistan."

Barrister Saif says that after the attack, Afghanistan's Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob accused Pakistan of allowing Pakistan to use its airspace.

He says that in the Doha agreement, the Afghan Taliban had given an assurance that they would not allow their territory to be used against Pakistan, but such incidents gave them the justification not to bother them (on behalf of Pakistan). should be done

According to Barrister Saif, during the last negotiation process, floods and political instability were the internal reasons that neglected the process and as a result of the stalling of the negotiations, misunderstandings increased on both sides and the situation reached the point that the ceasefire An end was reached and operations and counter-operations began on both sides.

He says, "One of the reasons for the failure of these negotiations is that instead of handling this issue by the political parties, it was exploited politically."

"Political parties at the center adopted a double standard on these talks, publicly criticizing them and supporting them in national security meetings."


Who are TTP extremists and what do they want?

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban is an organization that has been active in the tribal districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, especially in North and South Waziristan, and has been harboring criminals and extremists for decades.

They demand that Shariah should be implemented across the country including the tribal districts, the army should withdraw from these areas and the previous status of the tribal districts (FATA) should be restored.

Aamir Rana says that they want an Islamic system in Pakistan similar to the Taliban government in Afghanistan, but there is an outline of its leader, Wali Mehsud, which he has also mentioned in his book, that he wants to establish the style of Afghanistan in the tribal districts of the country. But want to establish an Islamic Emirate.

Barrister Saif says that first of all what TTP extremists want should not be our problem but we should think whether we want to fight this war more or we want a solution to this problem.

"The question is, if possible, will we be able to resolve this issue peacefully, if our answer is yes, then it comes to their demands."

He says they had a few demands, some of which were not entirely acceptable to us, including restoration of the erstwhile FATA status.

He says that this demand may not be accepted by Pakistan and the people because it has been approved by the country's parliament through a constitutional amendment.

Barrister Saif said that the rest of their demands were that if they return, how will they be treated, will they have a dignified return and will they be protected?

He says that these were demands on which conditional negotiations could take place.

Barrister Saif said that we had demanded that if they come back, they will come unarmed like a common Pakistani under the constitution of Pakistan and not as a group or group under the banner of TTP. They will live like ordinary citizens.

The police are especially targeted by these extremists, what is the reason for this?

Be it the attack on the compound of the Counter-Terrorism Department in Bannu or the hostage-taking of police personnel in Swat and Lakki Marwat, TTP militants have targeted the police force as an easy target. Although in the past the main target of these extremists has been the Pakistani army and they have caused a lot of damage to the security forces in several attacks.

But recently the army has reduced its numbers in the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan and strengthened the defense of its bases and outposts there. It has been entrusted with the responsibility of security and law and order in the former tribal areas.

Therefore, the police force is not equipped with modern defense weapons and ammunition like the army and they are also not trained so they are an easy target for extremists.

Aamir Rana says that the police have always been an easy target for the TTP as they do not have much training and facilities.

The second reason is that whatever arrests are made at the state level, the police and the counter-terrorism department look after them, so the police are also targeted.
What should the government do to stop this latest wave of terrorism?
Barrister Saif says the government must first decide whether they want to fight it or use it for their political advantage.

What should the government do to stop this latest wave of terrorism?

Barrister Saif says the government must first decide whether they want to fight it or use it for their political advantage.

He says, "If there is an attempt to take political advantage from it, there will be explosions and the situation will deteriorate, but if there is to be a fight, the government will have to use 'stick and caret'." Where they take aggressive action, a strong response should be made, and where negotiations are concerned, a soft policy may be adopted. For this, the nation will have to be on the same page and fully follow the points laid down in the National Action Plan.

While Amir Rana says that the government has two ways to stop this fresh wave of terrorism, one is to talk to the Afghan Taliban about it. And secondly, the existing counter-terrorism mechanisms in Pakistan should be activated and used effectively.

He said that now is the need of the hour that the establishment and the political leadership of Pakistan should not only identify and discourage those who have a soft corner against extremism in the country but also eliminate them. Now the distinction between 'Good Taliban and Bad Taliban' has to be ended in the country.