MILITANCY and terrorism in Pakistan is a hydra-headed monster. Experience has shown that even when the security forces achieve success in one area, their efforts do not succeed in killing the monster. By necessity, therefore, countering the threat requires concerted, multi-pronged efforts that target various aspects simultaneously, across the law and order spectrum. How crucial this last aspect is can be gauged from increasing evidence about links between the Pakistani Taliban and street crime as described in a recent news report. Increasingly, insurgents are raising funds for their activities through bank heists, kidnappings for ransom and extortion. Drawing upon a network of malcontents and for-hire criminals across the country, they are blamed for masterminding or carrying out crimes to fund their insurgency. In doing so, they add to the crime wave and contribute to further erosion of the people`s confidence in the state and intensification of fear. The Taliban hand, through the `Black Night` group, is said to have been behind a June raid on a Dera Ismail Khan bank; in Karachi, the Taliban are thought to have been behind three of four bank robberies carried out this year which netted $2.3m. Similar links have been found in numerous abduction and extortion cases.
The shift in sources is a simple equation. US and Pakistani military offensives have killed or sidelined many mid-level and senior commanders who were, in a number of cases, men with links to international funding networks. Meanwhile, greater scrutiny of money transfers has made it harder to send funds around the world. Countering this phenomenon will require cooperation and intelligence-sharing between the civil and military law-enforcement agencies. Only if both are equally well-equipped and trained, and are working in tandem to combat a common enemy, can there be any hope. Without that, both arms of the security forces will continue to address the problem in a piecemeal and ultimately ineffective fashion. As for the Taliban, the logic under which they justify their turning to crime is despicable. Although they advertise their war as being one of a religious hue, their tactics expose the hollowness of their ideology.
New polio cases
A REPORT in this newspaper on Thursday says five fresh polio cases have been detected in Balochistan, bringing the number of children affected by the virus in Pakistan this year to over 100. Balochistan leads this unfortunate count with nearly 50 cases. Another alarming development is that a boy in Karachi`s Gadap Town, who reportedly received anti-polio drops seven times, is among the recent victims. It is worrisome that there are increasing reports of children in different parts of the country contracting polio despite receiving numerous doses of the vaccine. This raises questions about the efficacy of the polio vaccine; perhaps there are issues with the way it is being stored and handled. Reports that the virus has been detec-ted in Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi are also cause for concern.
The state`s health authorities as well as international experts need to investigate why there have been cases of infection despite the vaccine being administered multiple times. If the vaccine`s efficacy has been compromised, the problem must be rectified immediately. The state also needs to monitor migrant and mobile populations who play a major role in transmitting the virus from high-risk to hitherto `clean` zones. For example, the highest number of polio cases was reported from Balochistan`s Qilla Abdullah district which borders Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan — both endemic countries — re-infect each other due to the regular movement of people between them. The World Health Organisation has recommended that mobile and migrant populations be mapped in order to keep track of polio`s spread. The state needs to implement this recommendation to the fullest and plug the loopholes. Failure to do so will have consequences apart from the health risk: the World Bank has warned that a $40m grant will be converted into a loan due to Pakistan`s poor response to the fight against polio.
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