Author: IANS
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 15, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/215930/Now-militants-are-at-war-with-ISI-Pakistani-daily.html
With Islamists finally turning against the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), their creator, no one is safe in Pakistan
any more, a leading daily said on Sunday.
The Daily Times said in an editorial: "ISI's
role in the past as a supporter of militancy is no secret, but now the tables
have turned. The ISI is therefore pitted against the militants and vice versa."
The security and law enforcement agencies
were being targeted "left, right and centre" by terrorists following
the military offensive against them in Swat and South Waziristan.
More than a dozen people - military personnel
and civilians - were killed Friday when a suicide bomber targeted the regional
headquarters of the ISI in Peshawar.
"It is by now crystal clear that the
militants are out for blood, which is why it is doubly unfathomable that no
proper security arrangements were made for the ISI (office) in Peshawar."
The earlier Oct 10 attack on the Pakistani
Army General HQ in Rawalpindi was the "most significant terrorist attack
in the history of Pakistan" and shows that the militants have now declared
"open war against the state of Pakistan and its military and intelligence
agencies".
The editorial pointed out that without good
real time intelligence, no military operation can be successful, especially
when the enemy is engaged in guerrilla and asymmetrical warfare.
"In the past, both the military and the
intelligence agencies have tried to pacify the militants by playing the 'good
Taliban, bad Taliban' card. It has not worked. The penny has finally dropped
and the military has realised that there is no such thing as a 'good' militant."
It said that those saying that this is the
US war should now take a good look at all the terror attacks in Pakistan.
"If it ever was the US' war exclusively, by now there can be little doubt
that this is our war now.
"The zealots are not only targeting military
and security personnel but also ordinary citizens. They have killed scores
of women, children and men all over the country," it said. "By attacking
the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this year, they made it clear that they
would not spare anyone."
It concluded by saying that no one in Pakistan
was safe any more.
