Unfortunate indeed was the incident on Monday morning in which a suicide bomber in Lakki Marwat rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the back of city police station thus dismantling the building in the resultant explosion and initially killing 18 and injuring 39 people. At the time of the blast about 45 police officials were said to be present in the building. On self-help basis the local residents acted as rescue and relief workers. They pulled out the casualties from under the debris and took them to the nearest hospital. This is the second time that a suicide bomber has struck Lakki. Some time back under identical circumstances, a militant on suicide mission brought his vehicle dumped with explosives in Hassan Khel village and rammed it into a wall thus killing and injuring between 100 and 200 players of volley-ball along with peaceful spectators watching the game on sidelines.
As expected, the latest strike by the anti-social elements created panic in the area and added to the sense of insecurity among the residents. Rightly or wrongly, the common people in the area got the impression that if armed members of the prime law enforcing agency and protectors of the general public could not save the biggest icon of state power – a well-staffed police station – how on earth they would protect the unarmed crowds in their jurisdiction. Partly for home consumption and partly to send out a stern message to the insurgents, the government spokesmen are often heard saying that the network of militants has been broken. With every such statement, the militants strike with a vengeance – like they did in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and now in Lakki – thus exploding the myth of the government’s writ. The common people are showing signs of exhaustion, if not impatience, with the prevalent situation. This is up to our decision makers to decide as to how long they want to prolong the semi-anarchic state of instability – Statesman
