Politics
Why Pakistan’s endless war on militants fails to break the cycle
Key Points
Why Pakistan’s endless war on militants fails to break the cycle Tactical wins and retaliatory strikes have not delivered peace, even as two separate insurgencies appear to be converging Scores of soldiers, policemen and civilians are killed every month in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, where near-daily attacks on security personnel, government officials and other prominent figures are carried out by militants to undermine the state’s...
Why Pakistan’s endless war on militants fails to break the cycle
Tactical wins and retaliatory strikes have not delivered peace, even as two separate insurgencies appear to be converging
Scores of soldiers, policemen and civilians are killed every month in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces, where near-daily attacks on security personnel, government officials and other prominent figures are carried out by militants to undermine the state’s authority and credibility.
Insurgents target patrols, checkpoints, police stations and administrative centres with roadside bombs, explosive-laden drones, coordinated ambushes, suicide attacks, large-scale raids, assassinations and kidnappings.
Pakistan’s military regularly hails the success of its counterterrorism operations, touting the eradication of hundreds of perpetrators each month. Its press releases often read like scoreboards, listing the number of insurgents “sent to hell” – with only a handful surviving to be interrogated.