RECENT terrorist attacks in Pakistan have once again exposed an uncomfortable reality: the fight against terrorism cannot be treated as a security operation alone.

It is a collective national responsibility that requires political maturity, institutional coherence, and social unity. At a time when violence is resurging across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the capital, the instinct to retreat into protests, partisan confrontation, and political point-scoring risks weakening the very foundations needed to confront this threat.

The scale and persistence of recent attacks, which have claimed the lives of civilians and members of the security forces alike, have plunged the country into mourning and unease. Each incident revives the same questions: how long will this cycle of violence continue, and when will the state and society succeed in containing it? Terrorism in Pakistan is no longer merely a law-and-order problem. It has evolved into a multidimensional crisis, intertwining security failures with political instability, social fragmentation, and ideological manipulation. Any attempt to address it through force alone, while ignoring these broader dynamics, is unlikely to endure. Militancy in Pakistan has deep and complex roots. Over decades, shifting regional geopolitics, global conflicts, and flawed domestic policies have all contributed to the rise of extremist violence. Acknowledging this history is essential, not to apportion blame, but to understand the present moment. In recent years, however, the state........

© Pakistan Observer