By Jaime Ortega.
After the release on May 31 of U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl almost five years in the hands of the Taliban. A new resolution opened the door of hope for a possible negotiation with the rebels to end the conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan and therefore in return, the U.S. government would allow the release of five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo’s detention center. Even so the swap was encouraging: the dialogue and agreement with the Taliban seemed finally possible.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has also decided since coming to power last year to sit at and negotiate with the insurgency. The second strength of the Pakistani National Assembly of Pakistan Justice Movement, the popular former cricketer Imran Khan, has come to defend the “holy war” of the Taliban.
Yesterday all these hopes were dashed with the brutal attack in Karachi’s airport on southern Pakistan, in which at least 30 people died. Voices against negotiating with the insurgents have multiplied throughout the country, and the popularity index of Sharif and Khan began to plummet.
“If a dozen insurgents can paralyze an international airport for hours, how many will thousands of them be able to achieve?” Many Pakistanis wondered on social networks. The local media also added fuel to the fire.
Terrorists accessed the airport by eleven pm, local time, with false identity documents, uniforms and airport security emblems. They wore vests with explosives and opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers at a terminal used for VIP and cargo flights. Pakistani security forces failed to regain control of the airport five hours later. All flights were suspended or diverted, and passengers evacuated.
Objective: Destroy the aircraft
The insurgents aimed to destroy all aircraft parked at the airport, according to a report on the attack that Prime Minister Sharif received yesterday. Still, no plane was hit but a building that is used for loading was completely destroyed, according to Rizwan Akhtar, head of the Pakistani elite Ranger forces . “The terrorists were foreigners. Some seemed Uzbeks” he explained.
The known under the name Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, justified it as revenge for the death of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, killed in November by a drone. He also said that the attack was planned before the peace talks with the Pakistani government began, but was not carried out precisely because of these conversations.
The negotiations failed weeks ago. The Government representative at the roundtable, Rustam Shah Mohmand, said yesterday that from now unto the talks be conducted according to “the terms of the Government.” The problem is that few want now Pakistan to start a dialogue. We prefer the rod over the hand.
