By Ghulam Haider Shaikh
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s move to release a list of 1,349 most-wanted terrorists, complete with monetary bounties on their heads, signals both the scale of Pakistan’s ongoing security challenges and the renewed resolve to confront them. With rewards ranging from one to three crore rupees, including high-profile figures such as Kazim Khan, Amjadullah, and Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, the initiative is designed to disrupt networks of militancy entrenched across KP, from Bajaur to Dera Ismail Khan.
The policy reflects a growing sense of urgency within Pakistan’s counterterrorism framework. In recent months, a resurgence in militant activity has once again threatened the fragile stability of the region. Targeted attacks, cross-border infiltrations, and renewed propaganda by extremist factions have challenged the writ of the state. By publicizing these names and attaching financial incentives, authorities aim to encourage local cooperation and signal that impunity will no longer be tolerated.
However, while the measure carries symbolic and operational weight, its long-term success depends on more than financial deterrence. Experience shows that such bounties can yield short-term gains, arrests, intelligence leads, or internal rifts, but they cannot alone dismantle the ideological and logistical networks that sustain terrorism. For lasting results, this effort must be paired with a comprehensive counter-extremism policy: enhanced border surveillance, strengthened intelligence coordination, and a community-level approach to rehabilitation and deradicalization.
The KP government’s coordination with federal and intelligence agencies marks a positive step toward national cohesion in the fight against terrorism. Yet, the challenge is not just to identify enemies but to eliminate the conditions that breed them, poverty, marginalization, and cross-border exploitation. A bounty list can serve as a tool of accountability, but real victory will come only when the soil that nurtures extremism becomes barren.
Pakistan’s resolve is clear; what remains essential is sustained execution, vigilance, and unity across all state institutions. The fight against terror is not won by numbers alone but by persistence, strategy, and the will to protect every inch of peace achieved through sacrifice.
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