THE Jaffar Express incident was yet another blow to our national security.

This is perhaps the first incident of a train getting hijacked in Pakistan. Pakistan Army soldiers remained busy rescuing passengers from the custody of the terrorists who reportedly fled to their hideouts in the mountains.

There have been several other incidents of terrorism in various parts of the country, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and many wonder why in this modern era when even a needle is visible from the skies using drone technology, terrorists in Pakistan are able to considertheirhideouts safe houses.

Why do we not spend a few more dollars to get rid of this menace, as the same technology has been successfully used to eradicate terrorists in the past in Pakistan? The argument does make sense.

Earlier, when drones were in operation, the current main opposition party whose leader is now in jail for corruption, actively opposed the practice, calling it inhumane and a violation of the country`s territorial integrity. This was a pathetic case of manipulating facts to promote one`s own agenda at the cost of the national interest.

Subsequently, the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution against drone strikes. Later, the same party, during its tenure in power, gave a new lease of life to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by allowing its terrorists to resettle in Pakistan after migrating from Afghanistan. This ill-advised policy is now bearing its bitter fruits.

Why is help from foreign countries during natural calamities acceptable, whereas the same is blamed as territorial interference in the fight against terrorism? And, by the way, how can the act of targeting known and acknowledged terrorists, who have killed thousands of innocent people, be termed inhumane? Malik ul Quddoos Karachi