Now militants are at war with ISI: Pakistani daily
With Islamists finally turning against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), their creator, no one is safe in Pakistan any more, a leading daily said 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.
