Express Tribune Editorials 19th September 2026

Sudden disappearances

A dozen kidnapping cases registered in Islamabad in a single day should alarm the capital's police authorities. The incidents involve a newborn taken from PIMS Hospital, a teenage boy allegedly abducted from his home, several young women who disappeared, and two drivers who went missing along with vehicles. Whether every case ultimately proves to be an abduction is for investigators to establish. What cannot be ignored is the sheer number of families who turned to the police on the same day.

The question is why so many people can disappear in a city that has invested heavily in surveillance and policing. Islamabad has a dense network of cameras and a police force that regularly highlights improvements in its crime-fighting capabilities. Yet technology is of little value if it does not translate into rapid intervention. In cases involving children, every hour matters. There are several possible explanations for the apparent rise in such reports. Some disappearances may involve family disputes, voluntary departures, elopement or other circumstances that are initially reported as kidnapping. Others may involve genuine abductions, criminal exploitation or attempts to obtain ransom. The police must establish these distinctions through proper investigation rather than allowing all missing-person cases to be treated alike. But neither should an abduction be prematurely reduced to a domestic matter simply because the circumstances are unclear.

Islamabad Police needs to tell citizens what is happening. A single day's cases may eventually prove to be unrelated. But when so many families report disappearances at once, the burden is on the authorities to establish whether there is a wider pattern. Residents of the capital should not have to wonder whether their police force is discovering crimes after they happen or preventing them before they do. Security is ultimately measured by how quickly the state responds when someone disappears.

Gender gap at crisis level

Pakistan continues to be ranked near the bottom of the table in terms of its gender gap, with the WEF's Global Gender Gap Report 2026 ranking only two nations lower than us - Iran and Chad. While spin doctors may try to highlight the ranking this year as an improvement, that is only true because we ranked dead last in 2025. Most of the structural problems that earned us last place are still there, and no government has been able to take substantive measures to address them. In fact, we have been so bad in recent years that this year's improvement - the one that took us from last place to third from the bottom - is also our biggest gain ever in the rankings.

The headline figures are terrible, and even then, they do not tell the whole story, because allocating reserved seats for women in parliament and government offices skews the numbers higher - at least some of these women would not have gotten their jobs in a competitive situation. Parliament is the most egregious example, as familial ties to any relatively prominent male politician are usually the only qualification required. The handful of women who do win direct elections, or who can genuinely be considered technocrats, end up having their reputations hurt by scores of unqualified reserved-seat holders. Despite the reserved jobs, female labour force participation remains astoundingly low, at a mere 28.2% against 81.5% for men, and barely 6% of all senior officials and managers are women.

Meanwhile, the one area where Pakistan is objectively doing well in the gender gap ranking - education - is also an area where Pakistan has consistently been among the worst across gender lines. Although we now have some of the highest tertiary enrolment rates for women, our overall literacy rate is among the worst in the world. Experts also say that having many people with higher education is unhelpful because a lack of economic opportunities will lead them to migrate to developed nations. Developing economies should instead focus on primary and secondary education, develop a productive workforce and let demand for skilled workers grow organically.

Another cross-border attack

Another attack masterminded in Afghanistan has led to the martyrdom of 21 people in K-P's Kohat division. The Ittehadul Mujahideen Pakistan of Hafiz Gul Bahadur has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing at Kohat Police Lines and subsequent rampage involving multiple attackers. This brazen operation underscores the extent of terrorists' penetration across the western frontiers and is an indictment of the regime in Kabul. Twenty-one of those martyred in the bombing included fifteen policemen. The terrorists detonated a device at a mosque before perpetrating further violence via a suicide bomber. This well-coordinated attack is a grim reminder that our kinetic and political responses are dangerously inadequate against a threat that is staring us in the face.

The Kohat mayhem is the latest addition to a string of similar attacks in the strategically vulnerable belt of Karak, DI Khan, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank. These areas have been on the receiving end since the Taliban took over Kabul five years back. Similarly, North Waziristan, the newly merged districts and Kurram bordering the reclusive Southwest Asian state have seen unprecedented upheaval, as cross-border infiltration remains the order of the day. The ground situation becomes more complex because these non-state actors have abettors and sleeper cells across the province. Likewise, Balochistan is simmering as the BLA, Majeed Brigade and the TTP have turned the province into what is virtually a no-go area for locals.

This delicate moment once again calls for serious introspection. Security forces are doing a remarkable job to stem the rot. However, a more coordinated socio-political response designed to reinforce the state's narrative is vital for a winning proposition. Also, the ongoing bloodshed must compel international attention toward the ruthless regime in Kabul, which routinely flouts the rules of interstate civility. That the terror nexus remains comfortably entrenched inside Afghanistan is a universal truth requiring a collective counter-terrorism strategy. Pakistan will not be the last to bleed if the Taliban continue to have their way.