Lurking militancy.

WITH the din of politics drowning out everything else in Pakistan, the troubling reality that is emerging is that the country is facing an ever-present terrorist threat, primarily in the shape of the TTP. Though mercifully the violence perpetrated by the group has not reached the bloody levels of a decade ago, the situation is far from normal.

Take the twin attacks in KP on Tuesday, in which at least five security personnel, including a senior ISI officer, lost their lives. In one incident, Brig Mustafa Kamal Barki, who was attached to the intelligence agency, was martyred along with his driver in South Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, when he was ambushed by terrorists.

In the other episode, at least three troops were martyred in an encounter in Dera Ismail Khan. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for either attack, the TTP is active in both areas; splinter groups may also have been responsible.

The fact that militants can hit cities - as they have done in Peshawar and Karachi over the past few months - as well as target troops in the field in remote areas, indicates their reach and operational capabilities. It is these capabilities that need to be neutralised by the security forces before the TTP, or similar malign actors, gain the confidence to stage even more brazen attacks.

According to ISPR, over 140 militants have been killed over the past few months, while over 1,000 fighters have been arrested and thousands of operations conducted during the same period. While it does seem that counterterrorism efforts are having an impact...