Islamabad, Pakistan: The God is Great Who saved an entourage of diplomats from a disaster at Malam Jabba Road that cost the martyrdom of a policeman on Sunday.
Malam Jabba Road is too narrow at several places that any physical attack of terrorists could leave nobody unhurt. The damage was not so much because the entourage was targeted through an improvised explosive device (IED).
This attack left several questions unanswered. The foremost question is how the Pakistan Foreign Office allowed such a high-profile entourage of diplomats to the troubled region of Swat in the middle of the situation when terrorists are grouping in the area and their presence is known to everybody dealing with law enforcement. The second question is approval given by the law enforcement agencies for such an entourage.
It may be mentioned that a mobile van from the Mangalor Police Station was patrolling Malam Jabba Road when the vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb at Jahanabad and a policeman namely Burhan was martyred while constable Hussain Gul, Sarzameen, and Amanullah were seriously injured in the blast. After the incident security forces cordoned off the area and started a search operation. It is a standard procedure that security forces cordon off the area after every unfortunate incident of terrorism.
Police confirmed that the police mobile van was part of an advance party of the protocol of nearly a dozen diplomats who were unharmed because their vehicle was behind the van at a distance.
The Foreign Ministry in its statement said that a group of diplomats traveling to Islamabad after their trip to Malam Jabba and Swat witnessed an incident. “An advance scout police vehicle was hit by an IED which resulted in a casualty of the police. All members of the diplomatic corps have returned safely to Islamabad,” said the statement. “Our sympathies are with the families of the Shaheed policeman and three injured in the incident,” the statement continued.
K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi confirmed that diplomats from 11 countries were in the entourage. The critical question arises how could the Foreign Office endanger the lives of diplomats by allowing them to visit Malam Jabba because major terrorist attacks on a hotel in Malam Jabba and a police station in Banjot were reported in the recent past?
