by Chen Peng
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The year 2014 was marked by deadly attacks in Pakistan, the deadliest of which occurred on Dec. 16 in the northwestern city Peshawar where at least 132 school children and nine staff were killed and another 125 people, mostly young students, injured.
Seven Taliban attackers wearing bomb vests gained entry into the Peshawar Army-run public school and mercilessly gunned down hundreds of students taking an exam in the school's auditorium.
The attack, which has sparked national outrage, has prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to announce an end to the moratorium on the death penalty in his bid to "eliminate terrorism and violence" in the country.
The attack in Peshawar, where the Pakistani Taliban admitted responsibility, was the worst in Pakistani history, even deadlier than the twin bomb attacks against the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Oct. 18, 2007 where at least 130 died.
Despite the Peshawar bomb attack, the number of terror attacks and the death toll from such incidents dropped last year.
Although with lesser frequencies, the terrorists still managed to make headlines during the year.
On the night of June 8, 10 heavily armed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants raided Jinnah International Airport in the southern port city of Karachi. The attack left 40 people dead, including the 10 militants, and scores injured. The attack also suspended operation of the busiest airport of the country for more than 16 hours.
On June 14, Taliban gunmen opened fire at a passenger plane during its landing at the Peshawar airport on June 24, killing one passenger and injuring two crew members. Fortunately, the pilot managed to land the plane safely.
On Nov. 2, a bomber exploded his suicide vest in a crowd of over 200 people who were coming back after attending the "lowering of the flags" ceremony near Wagah crossing point at Pakistan-India border in the eastern city of Lahore. In this bomb attack, 60 people were killed and 118 others injured.
These bomb attacks only reinforced the general perception that instead of cooling off, the Taliban and other terrorists in the country are getting more brutal and now targeting public places and innocent civilians instead of military facilities or security personnel.
PEACE EFFORTS FAILED
The Pakistani government started the year with a policy of engaging the Taliban militants in negotiations to end years of fighting. Although the Taliban declared a 40-day ceasefire in March and April, terror attacks did not slow down during the period.
Both sides formed their respective dialogue teams to carry on the peace process and talks were held. However, the Taliban's unrealistic preconditions, including return of some areas in South Waziristan and the release of their prisoners, hindered progress in the peace talks.
The Taliban's deadly attack on the Karachi airport ultimately buried the fragile peace process. On June 15, only one week after the attack, thousands of Pakistani Army, backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, launched its biggest offensive against the Taliban and its affiliated groups in their last stronghold of North Waziristan, a tribal area in northwest Pakistan that borders with Afghanistan.
The operation, code-named "Zarb-e-Azb," has so far killed around 2,000 militants and destroyed more than 900 hideouts of suspected militants in various areas of North Waziristan.
The military offensive has destroyed the network of the Taliban as the country has seen substantial decrease in attacks and fatalities, while internal rifts caused by the operation also weakened the terror group.
With the operation still going on, most Pakistanis feel the country's security situation is taking a turn for the better. However, just as the sense of fear among the public of the Taliban attacks was fading, the terrorists carried out the Wagah border tragedy and the Peshawar massacre.
UNCERTAINTY AHEAD
After the horrifying atrocity in Peshawar, all political forces in Pakistan have shown a rare unity in condemning the Taliban and supporting the use of force against them.
The government has taken more tough measures to hit the terrorists. The moratorium on capital punishment since 2008 has been lifted, and the government is trying to quickly remove legal hurdles to execute over 500 terrorists who have already been sentenced to death.
Special courts headed by military officers will also be set up to speed up trials of hardcore terrorists, while another "Zarb-e- Azb" operation will be launched to deal with the terrorists hiding in cities and villages.
During his latest address to the nation, Prime Minister Sharif said the days of terrorists were numbered as he vowed to uproot terrorism in Pakistan.
But despite these bold moves by the Prime Minister and the outrage of the Pakistani people, there remains uncertainty in the security situation in the country.
As the Peshawar carnage has shown, although the Taliban and other militant groups are now on the run, they can still find ways to carry out terror attacks and pose serious security challenges to the country.
It is also widely believed that some Taliban militants have either fled to neighboring Afghanistan or moved to nearby tribal regions from North Waziristan, which leaves possibilities for them to reorganize.
The worst-feared scenario is that the Taliban would evade military targets where they can be challenged but attack "soft targets" killing unarmed innocent civilians, women and children.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has already warned of intelligence reports that militants are planning another attack like the school attack in Peshawar. If such attacks occur, the country's security situation will become more complicated in the future.
