By Faisal Shakeel

Karachi’s reputation as a relatively safe city was shattered again as terrorists detonated two bombs and wreaked havoc on the conclusion of Ashura, a religious event observed by the Shias. A little over a month back another Ashura procession was bombed in the same city in an apparent attempt to fan sectarian violence.

The merchants of death took 25 lives in the latest bombings, which coincided not only with Ashura but also the brutal killings of political workers, mainly from the MQM and PPP parties. Those behind the bombings obviously wanted to increase the chaos at a time when politicians had been breathing fire against each other over their respective workers’ killings.

The politicians from the ruling PPP party, appearing on television screens soon after the blasts, were quick to accuse the Taliban of executing the bombings, although the police were yet to cast suspicion on any group. The possibility Taliban involvement in the attacks should not be ruled out, but casting aside the possibility of someone else’s hand in the terror attacks could be a fatal mistake.

There are patterns behind bombings in different parts of the country. In Rawalpindi, attacks were carried out at the General Headquarters and inside a mosque where army officials prayed regularly. In conflict zones, falling under FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and the NWFP (North West Frontier Province), suicide hits are carried out on security personnel deployed at various checkpoints. Such attacks reflect the intentions of the attackers: kill the security personnel or be killed.

In other attacks, like those carried out in the busy markets of Peshawar, men, women and children were killed in their hundreds. Some of these attacks were the result of planted bombs and inflicted death upon unsuspecting civilians on a large scale.

One can draw a clear distinction between the two sets of bombings: one, intended to scare the security forces; the other, aimed at causing fear among the civilians. But in both the cases, business activity had been a natural victim irrespective of the target.

It is about time the law-enforcement agencies investigate the roots of every terrorist act and their local and foreign links. Unless the groups behind every attack are identified and their links established, it will be impossible for the government to wipe out terror and reactivate business activity.

The surge of violence, coupled with the bombings in Karachi, the financial hub of the country, should be seen both with and without the ongoing spate of terrorism in the country. Whoever is responsible should be made public and punished.