The Pakistani Spectator

I still remember the dark days of General Ziaul Haq, when first time the car bomb blasts in busy markets of the Pakistan became a routine. At that the Afghan intelligence agency Khad was carrying out those attacks with the backing of the USSR.

In Pakistan, once again the car bomb blasts have become a norm. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the recent spate of terrorism, which has shifted from being primarily suicide blasts to the targeting of important personalities and the army officials. Another terrifying aspect is the remote controlled and car-installed bombs in different cities of Pakistan, especially in the Peshawar area.

In July 1987 two car bombs went off in Karachi Saddar area killing 72 people and wounding 250. During the same days, there were three bomb blasts in Lahore. Then there were multiple car bomb blasts in Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.  All these attacks were carried out through cars, and all of them were in crowded, busy commercial centers. Pakistani ISI and American CIA declared at that time that these blasts were the product of joint venture between Russian KGB, Indian RAW and Afghan Khad.

Russia hasn’t forgotten and forgiven the humiliating defeat it received by the hands of Mujahideens sponsored and trained by CIA and ISI. It was the primary reason why USSR disintegrated. There is every possibility that the Russians are once again, with the help of some elements in Afghanistan are behind these gory attacks in the Peshawar and Pindi areas. Right now the Taliban are on the run, chased by Pakistani forces and also CIA is against them. It is logical to say that Taliban would welcome the support of Russia for arms, ammunitions, other supplies and in return it’s not hard for them to help Russians in these car bomb blasts. Russians could also do it bypassing Taliban, just by their Afghan help.

Our security forces consider themselves to be absolved of any guilt or responsibility by declaring any terrorist activity as the suicide attack and they say that it’s a universal truth that the suicide bombings cannot be stopped, which is hogwash, because proper intelligence cannot only minimize the impacts of such attacks, they can also prevent them from happening altogether. But car bomb blasts are not that difficult to be stopped. Proper scanning and checking through trained dogs at all the entry and exit points of cities, important roads, and busy areas can thwart such attacks.