Daily Times Editorials 20th September 2026

Another Attack

Twenty-three people, including 17 policemen and six civilians, were dead by Saturday after militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle near a mosque in Kohat’s old Police Lines during Friday prayers and then stormed the compound. More than 100 people were wounded. By the time an overnight clearance operation ended, police and security forces had killed eight attackers. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Ittehadul Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

The choice of target left little room for ambiguity. This was an assault on the institutions holding Pakistan’s western security front together. Police personnel, the Counter-Terrorism Department and Special Branch were all caught in an attack designed not simply to kill, but to penetrate a heavily guarded security complex and demonstrate that militants retain the ability to mount coordinated, multi-stage operations.

Furthermore, Karak, DI Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank have repeatedly come under attack, while North Waziristan, Kurram and the merged districts remain exposed to infiltration and militant movement. The problem has deepened steadily since the Taliban returned to Kabul five years ago, turning what Pakistan once hoped would be a more manageable western frontier into one of its most persistent security challenges.Compare Security Systems

Those early expectations have aged badly. The latest UN monitoring findings are particularly difficult to ignore. Afghanistan’s de facto authorities continue to insist that no terrorist groups operate from their territory, yet the UN monitoring team reported that no member state supported that position. It also found that the TTP had been afforded greater liberty and support in Afghanistan and that its attacks against Pakistani security forces and state institutions had become increasingly complex.

Kabul’s position is consequently becoming harder to reconcile. Its foreign ministry condemned the Kohat attack and expressed sympathy with the victims. Yet Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had also threatened Pakistan with a “crushing response” to further cross-border action. If Afghanistan is entitled to defend its sovereignty, Pakistan is equally entitled to demand that Afghan territory not provide sanctuary, logistical depth or freedom of movement to armed groups attacking Pakistani citizens.

Islamabad has already tried talks, mediation and almost every available channel. Qatar, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and China have all figured at different stages in efforts to arrest the deterioration. Pakistan has also carried out military action across the border and repeatedly intercepted infiltration attempts. Yet six soldiers were killed in Hangu a day before Kohat; southern KP remains under pressure, and militant operations are becoming more ambitious. That should end the illusion that dialogue or force, used separately, can settle the problem.Regional news alerts

Afghan sanctuary is an important part of the problem, but it cannot explain the whole chain. Every facilitator, financier and sleeper cell inside Pakistan gives an external militant network an internal reach.

Kabul must be pressed for verifiable action against TTP and allied groups. However, Pakistan also needs to steadily reduce the space in which those groups operate at home. *

Birds for Sale

Thirteen people were arrested across Punjab this week in the latest round of action against illegal hunting and bird trading. Wildlife officials recovered 90 live quails, 12 parrots, a crane, trapping equipment, a gun and ammunition. Seven suspects were fined while FIRs were registered against six.

Five days earlier, nine challans were issued over illegal hunting and trade involving partridges, quails and ducks. Earlier in the month, another 19 suspects were arrested and more than 700 yellow wagtails allegedly being smuggled towards Lahore were recovered and released.

Two days before that, wildlife teams had arrested another dozen hunters, while the department reported the return of cranes and flamingos to protected habitats.

It goes without saying that Pakistan sits on the Central Asian Flyway, one of the great migratory corridors connecting breeding grounds in the north with wintering areas across South and West Asia. It carries waterbirds, landbirds and raptors across dozens of countries. Many winter migrants begin reaching Pakistan from September onwards. What happens in Punjab during these months therefore concerns far more than one operation.Book Wildlife Safaris

There has been a welcome change in enforcement. Punjab says it has deployed 544 wildlife rangers equipped with drones, body cameras and night-vision equipment. The wildlife helpline is operational, an AI-based animal census system has been introduced, and recent legal amendments have strengthened penalties, including non-bailable treatment and much heavier punishment for serious wildlife offences.

The steady stream of seizures, however, also says something about the demand keeping this trade alive. The arrest in Model Town of a suspect allegedly buying and selling wild birds online shows how easily an old trade can find new marketplaces.

There is also a wider contradiction as Punjab cannot invest in rangers to protect wildlife with one hand while weakening habitats with the other. Earlier this year, the provincial assembly amended wildlife, forest and protected-area laws to permit mineral extraction in protected forests and conservation zones, despite strong objections from environmentalists.Explore Hunting Gear

The authorities would therefore do well to follow the trade beyond the poacher, make commercial trafficking expensive enough to stop paying, and protect the habitat to which confiscated birds are released. *