Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

Terrorist attacks will continue to plague the country unless the state takes action against their common denominator: religious extremism.

Talks with the TTP, for example, allowed some factions to return to Pakistan and gain legitimacy as well.

Why would the TTP, which was rejuvenated by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, subsume itself into a group that is ideologically and operationally weaker?

The attack on a Jamiat Ulema Islam political rally in Bajur district was aimed at weakening political Islamists.

Despite a new counterterrorism push announced in April, the Pakistani Taliban continue to extend their reach. 

The prospect of Islamist organizations toppling the state remains remote. But the real threat is the violence and destruction they might perpetrate in the process.

Ten people were killed in two separate attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a traditional stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

Troops have been deployed in cities to quell violent protests. Militant groups could target them.

At first, a Taliban victory in Afghanistan was considered synonymous with Pakistan’s victory. But disappointed hopes on both sides now have the neighbors at loggerheads.

Data on the number and location of terrorist attacks in Pakistan show a concentration near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

It is time for Pakistan’s political and military establishment to wake up and reconcile with the fact that they can’t negotiate their way to peace.