The Chief Minister of Sindh Province, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, admitted, "They were well trained. Their plan was very well thought out." Indeed, one senior Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that some of the terrorists tried to hijack a plane, but were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, claiming responsibility for the attack, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'spokesperson' Shahidullah Shahid declared that the attack had been planned much earlier, but had been 'postponed' due to the peace talks.
Karachi, the port city which has been on the boil since long, had been on tenterhooks for last three days after the British police arrested Altaf Hussain, the leader of the Muhajir Quami Movement (MQM), the city's biggest political party, who lives in London, on suspicion of money laundering on June 3, 2014. Hussain was, however, released on June 6, but remains under investigation.
Pakistan's fragile security environment was equally evident in another attack on June 8, 2014, which occurred in the neighboring province of Balochistan, in which at least 23 Shia pilgrims returning from Iran were killed in a terrorist assault on two hotels - Al-Murtaza hotel and Hashmi hotel - located in Taftan tehsil (revenue unit) of Chaghai District, near the Iranian border. The terrorists attacked the pilgrims when their convoy of 10 buses stopped at the two hotels. Four of the attackers were later killed by the Levies Forces, after a heavy exchange of fire. A banned outfit, Jaish-ul-Islam, claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 1,895 people, including 859 civilians, 759 terrorists and 277 SFs have been killed in 593 incidents of killing in the first five months and eight days of the current year. Of these, 593 incidents of killing, 152 were major incidents (each involving three or more fatalities), resulting in 1312 deaths. The number of suicide attacks and resultant fatality during this period stands at 18 and 12, respectively. These fatalities occurred in incidents of explosion, sectarian attacks and other terrorist violence, across Pakistan.
The violence is all pervasive, with Sindh, primarily Karachi, being the worst hit, recording at least 389 civilian fatalities, followed by Balochistan, at 192 civilian fatalities; and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 166 civilian fatalites. In terms of overall fatalities, FATA was at the top, registering 594 fatalities (including 477 terrorists).
Despite this unabated terror within Pakistan, there is an ongoing attempt at the highest echelons of power in the country, both in the military and the civilian establishment, to appease the 'good terrorists'. A series of talks have been held between a faction of the TTP and the civilian Government in the recent past, even as terrorist violence has persisted. The talks have now been suspended, but a claim made by a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen (Retd.) Mirza Aslam Beg, once again confirms that the military-mullah combine remains at the core of terror in Pakistan, and any respite from this menace can only be achieved, if ever, by rupturing this bond. In a media interview, Beg stated,