Pakistan's counter-terrorism strategy Challenges and way forward

Abstract

This paper will focus on the problem of terrorism in Pakistan. Pakistan has been the primary victin1 and thereby the key player in Global War on Terror. The paper will discuss the historical realities and policies which have led to fermentation of terrorist and extremist tendencies in the country. The focus was drawn to this phenomenon after the 9/11 incident and the geopolitical and geostrategic position of Pakistan was highlighted. There is a detailed picturization of the strategies employed; be them military or nonmilitary. Pakistan with the help of the United States became a significant actor in the Global War on Terror. As the Pakistani population witnessed the firsthand experience of terrorism, Pakistan had to alleviate its security situation. Pakistan sacrificed many of its soldiers, policemen and civilian while fighting terrorism and bore heavy losses; in terms of both human and material resources. To combat terrorism, Pakistan devised elaborative mechanisms to contain terrorism. Further, the paper analyzes the outcomes of the strategies and their loopholes. Despite more than a decade of war against terrorism, the success index has not gone much high. Terrorism has no doubt been contained but complete cleansing of the country has not been achieved yet. There still are dormant entities which are working on the terrorist agenda clandestine. And this is owing to the shortcoming in the policies and strategies chalked out for the purpose.