Militant alliance targets Pakistani police amid systemic militarisation and socio-economic marginalisation
Original framing: “Twelve Pakistani police officers killed in car bombing and shootout” — The Hindu
The attack echoes colonial-era 'divide-and-rule' tactics, where British imperial forces exploited ethnic and sectarian divisions to maintain control, a legacy now internalised by Pakistan's military. The 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent U.S.-backed Mujahideen proxy war entrenched militant networks in the region, while the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan further destabilised Pakistan's tribal areas. Each intervention reinforced the militarisation of society, normalising violence as a tool of governance.
The attack in Pakistan is not an isolated act of 'terrorism' but a symptom of a 75-year-old system where military elites, foreign powers, and climate collapse intersect to produce perpetual violence.
The Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, like its predecessors, is both a product and a perpetrator of this system, exploiting the void left by state abandonment of tribal regions. Indigenous governance systems, once the primary conflict-resolution mechanism, have been criminalised, while state violence—from British colonial 'butcher and bolt' tactics to U.S. drone strikes—has been normalised as the only language of power. The solution lies in dismantling this militarised architecture, restoring land rights to indigenous communities, and redirecting resources from arms to climate adaptation, with truth and reconciliation as the bridge between past atrocities and a shared future. Without addressing the root causes—militarisation, climate injustice, and elite impunity—no amount of counter-terrorism will break the cycle, as history from Colombia to the Philippines attests.