Weeks after a deaAttack on KPOdly attack in Peshawar’s police lines, Friday’s terrorist attack on the building of Karachi Police Office (KPO) has also shocked and surprised everybody. Though the militants were killed, yet it is alarming and a matter of grave concern as to how they succeeded in sneaking into the police headquarters. It also raises several questions as if security places are not safe, then how vulnerable other places are – something the authorities concerned need to pay attention in order to avert such despicable incidents in future.
We see the assault on KPO’s as a serious security lapse. There is no doubt that it is our police which is fighting and bearing the major brunt, but there is a need to revisit as to how secure our security offices and buildings are. In this regard, the very decision by Sindh government and security establishment to carry out security audit of government buildings and installations is a step in the right direction which must also be emulated by the federal as well as other provincial governments. Those who have worked closely with security agencies and the provincial administration see the attack on KPO as a symbolic one and a kind of message from militants to the authorities about their preparations and next targets. The past wave of terrorism in the country when militant outfits often went for soft targets attacking public places, markets, mosques, shrines etc but the fresh one has started with a visible shift in their line of action. The militants are trying to give the message that how prepared and trained they are to even hit the hard targets in order to create an environment of fear.
Hence it is really important that loopholes are plugged and that too at the earliest before the terrorists resort to another such attack. Many things are needed to be revisited. From the security of our facilities to anti-terror training of our law enforcement agencies – everything must be rechecked and upgraded. Mere condemnation of terror acts is not enough rather there is a need to undertake a sustained operation against these elements with the cooperation of intelligence agencies.
