The recent wave of coordinated attacks across Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has brought immense grief to Pakistan. From the blowing up of a critical bridge in Harnai and an ambush in Lasbela, to the tragic storming of a police post in Ziarat and attacks in Bannu, we are losing our brave personnel and citizens at a rate that should alarm every single one of us.

In response, the state has launched a large-scale military counter-offensive named Operation Shaban, which has reportedly neutralized over a hundred militants. Alongside this, the top military leadership has taken a much tougher stance against the Afghan Taliban, directly accusing them of hosting and directing terrorism against Pakistan, and warning that future cross-border responses will be unyielding and disproportionate.

As a Pakistani who loves this country and works to analyze these threats, I believe it is time for an honest, heartfelt conversation about our approach. Naming a new operation or holding a strong press conference is a familiar pattern. But if we want to truly break this cycle of violence, we have to look closely at what is failing on the ground and change how we fight.

For a long time, we treated religious militancy in the northwest and separatist groups in the southwest as two entirely separate problems. That is no longer the case. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have formed a dangerous operational alliance. The TTP has expanded its footprint deep into Balochistan, allowing both groups to share logistics, coordinate simultaneous attacks, and exploit our fragmented security lines.........

© The Friday Times