Imran Khan and Attack on Kamra Air Force Base
By Dawar Naqvi
Yorba Linda, CA
The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take stringent action to foil the evil designs of saboteurs.
Once again a Pakistan air force base has come under attack.
There have been at least three attacks in the vicinity of the Kamra base since 2007, but all of them took place outside the bounds of the installation. In 2009 a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bicycle, killing seven people. A year earlier three rockets were fired at an area near the base but no one was hurt. In 2007 a suicide car bomber wounded five children commuting on an air force bus to school near the base.
In 2009 militants attacked the Army Headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi and took 30 people hostage. Pakistani commandos responded. Four militants were among those killed and three were taken captive.
Half a dozen Taliban militants attacked a major naval base in the southern port city of Karachi in May 2011, killing at least 10 people and destroying two US-supplied surveillance aircraft. It took Pakistani commandos 18 hours to retake the Mehran naval base but two of the attackers managed to escape.
What are we waiting for? We need to take action against the perpetrators of such attacks with due promptitude – without any delay. We may wait but the terrorists will not wait to harm us. Nothing is more important and pressing than to take measures to ensure the security of our beloved country. Elections, public gatherings, parliament, judiciary are small issues. The security of our country is far more important. I request all our politicians to unite against the enemies of the country. An all-parties conference should be convened to debate the issue.
Our forces need to launch an operation against the extremists. This operation should not be limited to the northern part of the country. We have witnessed many acts of extremists in other parts of the country, including Karachi, too.
Unfortunately, Imran Khan has linked the attack on the Kamra base to the planned Waziristan operation. He remarked, “I fear that today’s attack on the army is a reaction to Pakistan’s decision to carry out a military operation in North Waziristan.”
Such statements only serve to encourage the militants. Imran Khan should remember that in no circumstances would a Pakistani or Muslim attack a Pakistan Air Force base. Only our enemies could do so.
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