Terrorism

“What is Terrorism”?

Definitions:

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. At present, the
International community has been unable to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding, and
criminal law terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which
are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal, and deliberately
target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).

Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The history of terrorist
organizations suggests that they do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness. Individual
terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their
organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and
undefined.

The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the
difficulty of providing a precise definition. The concept of terrorism may itself be controversial
as it is often used by state authorities to delegitimize political or other opponents, and potentially
legitimize the state's own use of armed force against opponents (such use of force may itself be
described as "terror" by opponents of the state). A less politically and emotionally charged, and
more easily definable, term is violent non-state actor(though the semantic scope of this term
includes not only "terrorists," while excluding some individuals or groups who have previously
been described as "terrorists").

Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations for furthering their
objectives. It has been practiced by right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic

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groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments. One form is the use of
violence against noncombatants for the purpose of gaining publicity for a group, cause, or
individual.

Introduction

As an increasing number of suicide attacks rock Pakistan's major cities, concerns for the
country's security are rising. In recent years, many new terrorist groups have emerged, several
existing groups have reconstituted themselves, and a new crop of militants has emerged, more
violent and less conducive to political solutions than their predecessors. Links between many of
these new and existing groups have strengthened, say experts, giving rise to fresh concerns for
stability. A failed bombing attempt in New York's Times Square in May 2010 with links to
Pakistan also exposes the growing ambitions of many of these groups that had previously
focused only on the region.

Pakistani authorities have long had ties to militant groups based on their soil that largely
focused their efforts in Afghanistan and India. But with Pakistan joining the United States as an
ally in its "war on terrorism" since 9/11, experts say Islamabad has seen harsh blowback on its
policy of backing militants operating abroad. Leadership elements of al-Qaeda and the Afghan
Taliban, along with other terrorist groups, have made Pakistan's tribal areas (the semi-
autonomous region along the Afghan border) their home and now work closely with a wide
variety of Pakistani militant groups. Security concerns are reverberating beyond Pakistan.  In
April 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said deteriorating security in nuclear-armed
Pakistan "poses a mortal threat" to the United States and the world.

Suicide bombing in Pakistan

What is suicide attack?

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A suicide attack (also known as suicide bombing, homicide bombing, or "kamikaze") is an attack
intended to kill others and inflict widespread damage, in which the attacker expects or intends to die in
the process.

An increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan triggered a sharp rise in the number
of civilians killed or wounded there last year, pushing South Asia past the Middle East as the
top terror region in the world, according to figures compiled by a U.S. intelligence agency.

Thousands of civilians — overwhelmingly Muslim — continue to be slaughtered in extremist

The struggling nations provide havens for terrorists who are increasingly targeting the U.S. and
other Western nations. At the same time, U.S.-led operations against insurgents increased in
both countries.

"So, to the extent we are seeing more attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it's a reflection of
resistance to U.S. policy and presence as well as a strategic shift by groups like al-Qaida and
foreign jihadis to concentrate where they think they will be most effective.

Pakistan Terrorist Groups

Of the various ideological streams that currently inspire and provoke political violence and
terrorism in South Asia, the most destabilizing and lethal, and the one with the greatest extra-
regional impact, is Islamist terrorism. A multiplicity of sub-sets and a complex, sometimes
conflicting scheme of inter-linkages, has been documented in connection with the extended
range of Islamist terrorist groups operating in the region.

Various shades of radical political Islam color, indeed define, the Pakistani identity and nation,
even as the country is positioned at the heart of contemporary Islamist terrorism. Extremist
Islam is, and has long been, the state’s principal tool of internal political mobilization and of

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external projection in an extraordinary and audacious enterprise of strategic overextension.
Crucially, the footprint of almost every major act of international Islamist terrorism, for some
time before 9/11 and continuously thereafter, invariably passes through Pakistan. After 9/11, the
U.S. campaign in Afghanistan, and the stark choice given to the Pakistani leadership, the
dynamics of the Islamist terrorist enterprise in South Asia have undergone dramatic adaptive
adjustments and modifications. Essentially, however, this dynamic, its underlying ideologies,
and its motivational and institutional structures, remain intact.

There is strong and cumulative evidence that the Pakistani power elite, located in the regressive
military-mullah-feudal combine, is yet to abandon terrorism as a tactical and strategic tool to
secure what it perceives as the country’s quest for ‘strategic depth’ in the region. This remains
the case despite the increasing ‘blowback’ of Islamist terrorist violence within the country, and
the progressive erosion of the Army’s status and control in expanding areas of the country.
While the Pakistani Army has taken selective action against particular groups of Islamist
terrorists – particularly those who have turned against the state, who have attacked President
Musharraf and senior Army and Government functionaries, who have engaged in sectarian
terrorism within the country, or who are targeted specifically on behalf of, and under pressure
from, the US – it is the case that Pakistan continues to support and encourage the activities of a
wide range of terrorist and Islamist extremist organizations. This is particularly the case with
organizations that are active in Afghanistan – including remnants of the Taliban – and in India.

Despite cosmetic policy changes and some tokenism – including formal bans on a number of
terrorist organizations – many prominent Islamist terrorist organizations continue to operate
with a high measure of freedom in and from Pakistan.

Effects of terrorism

Pakistan is a country that has only recently had serious problems with terrorism, largely because
of the government allying itself with the United States in the global war on terror. Currently
however, the biggest threat to the state and citizens of Pakistan emanates killing civilians and
policemen to achieve their political ends, origination of which can be attributed to General Zia
ul-Haq's controversial "Islamization" policies, the president of the country in the 1980s. His

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tenure saw Pakistan's exceeding involvement in Soviet-Afghan War, which led to greater influx
of ideologically driven Afghan Arabs in the tribal areas and the explosion of kalashnikov and
drugs culture. The state and its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence in alliance with
the United States and Central Intelligence Agency encouraged the "mujahideen" to fight the
proxy war against the Soviet Union, most of which were never disarmed after the war. Some of
these groups were later activated under the behest of the state in the form of Lashkar-e-Taiba,
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and others were encouraged like Taliban to achieve state's agenda in
Kashmirand Afghanistan. The same groups are now taking on the state itself.

From the summer of 2007 to late 2009, more than 5,500 people were killed in suicide and other
attacks on civilians. The attacks have been attributed to a number of sources: sectarian violence
- mainly between Sunni and Shia Muslims - the origin of which is blamed by some on initiated
from 1911 to 1988; the easy availability of guns and explosives of a "kalishnikov culture" and
influx of ideologically driven "Afghan Arabs" based in or near Pakistan, originating from and
the subsequent war against the Afghan communists in the 1980s which blew back into Pakistan;
Islamist insurgent groups and forces such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba; Pakistan's
thousands of fundamentalist madrassas which are thought by some to provide training for little
except jihad; secessionists movements - the most significant of which is the Balochistan
liberation movement - blamed on regionalism problematic in a country with Pakistan's diverse
cultures, languages, traditions and customs.

Conclusion

Terrorism is a complex problem with many diverse causes. Consequently no single effective
method to counter it exists. To combat terrorism, one must first understand the underlying
motivations for each particular group's actions. Then a strategy needs to be developed based
on those findings. Regardless, it is difficult to fight terrorism without endangering civil
liberties, such as is the case in Northern Ireland. Many innocent people get caught in the
cross-fire. Ending terrorist threats requires imaginative and fluid thinking, whether to attack
the roots of terrorism or neutralize a particular group.