The Taliban massacre of 148 people – 132 of them children – at an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, (which overshadowed the terrible killing of two hostages by a deranged Muslim cleric at a café in Sydney, Australia) has sent shock waves throughout the world. What can be worse than deliberately killing children in a conflict?
The terrorists who broke into the school went there with the explicit intention of murdering children and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the official name for the Pakistani Taliban, immediately claimed responsibility for the massacre, saying it was in revenge for a major military offensive in the region launched against them in June.
A number of horror stories emerged after the massacre: some of the surviving students, for example, said that female teachers were doused in petrol and burned alive by the terrorists. It is not surprising, therefore, that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the slaughter a “national tragedy unleashed by savages” and ordered a moratorium on the death penalty to be lifted for terror-related cases.
Even the Afghan Taliban condemned the attack as “against the basics of Islam’’.
Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai who was shot in the head by the Pakistan Taliban two years ago for campaigning for the right for girls to receive an education, said: “I am heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror in Peshawar that is unfolding before us. Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this.”
Mr Sharif immediately promised to step up military action against Taliban strongholds in the federally administered tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan’s chief of staff, General Raheel Sharif, tweeted that “massive air strikes” had been carried out against targets in the Khyber region, a tribal agency adjacent to Peshawar.
General Raheel Sharif said: “These terrorists have struck the heart of the nation but our resolve to tackle this menace has gotten a new lease of life. We will pursue these monsters and their facilitators until they are eliminated for good.”
Pakistan’s determination to take on the Taliban in the aftermath of the school massacre is a good first step, but what is also needed is an end, once and for all, to the double game that elements within the Pakistani intelligence agency, (ISI), the army and successive governments have played with regards to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Islamic extremists in Kashmir in an effort to contain Indian influence.
A nightmare scenario is Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban
It is absurd for Pakistan to still consider India its enemy and to actually tolerate (some would say support) the Taliban in Afghanistan as a means of diminishing Indian influence there.
There is no doubt that the Pakistani Taliban has links with the Afghan Taliban and that it is given sanctuary in Afghanistan by its fellow jihadists – from where it can plan terrorist attacks on Pakistan. The Peshawar school massacre has proven, beyond any doubt, that Pakistan’s ambiguous policy towards various jihadist groups is extremely dangerous and has completely backfired.
Will this terrible massacre in Peshawar mark a turning-point in Pakistan’s approach to Islamic extremists? The speed with which Pakistan’s army chief, General Sharif, visited Kabul after the mass killing is significant.
Perhaps Pakistan and Afghanistan will now cooperate with each other against the Taliban – the Pakistani Taliban hides on the Afghanistan side of the border while the Afghan Taliban often finds sanctuary in the border areas of Pakistan. The Taliban (in both countries) can never be defeated unless there is genuine collaboration (and trust) between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
What is needed is a new spirit of cooperation by all the regional actors, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan – with US support – which will lead to an adoption of a clear strategy against Islamic extremists and the end of double games. Pakistan must end its outdated enemy mentality towards India while New Delhi must be willing to show some flexibility over Kashmir.
It is in everyone’s interest for Pakistan to be a stable country and to defeat the Taliban. Let us not forget that Pakistan is a member of the nuclear club and a possible nightmare scenario is the country’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban. No wonder when President Obama was once asked what keeps him up at night he replied “Pakistan”.
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Well done to US President Barack Obama for announcing his intention to normalise relations with Cuba, a courageous act indeed.
Well done also to Canada and Pope Francis for brokering a dialogue between Havana and Washington which led to this welcome announcement by the two countries.
The US is to ease travel restrictions to Cuba, allow companies to sell certain goods to it and establish full diplomatic relations. A full removal of the US embargo against Cuba requires the approval of the Republican controlled Congress, which is not guaranteed, but Mr Obama has certainly done his part.
The US isolation of Cuba, which has lasted for over five decades, neither ended communism there nor did it promote democracy.
Engaging with Cuba and helping it liberalise its economy has a better chance of promoting political reform. This should be coupled by the rest of Latin America encouraging Cuba to embark on the path towards democracy.