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Strengthening Pakistan's Counterterrorism Efforts

The establishment of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre (Niftac) under Nacta is a positive step for Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts amid escalating violence from militant groups. However, past initiatives have often failed due to lack of implementation and continuity, highlighting the need for a more robust and committed approach. To effectively combat militancy, the government must empower Nacta, address root causes of violence, and invest in long-term community development and reconciliation efforts.

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Muhammad Awais
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6 views1 page

Strengthening Pakistan's Counterterrorism Efforts

The establishment of the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centre (Niftac) under Nacta is a positive step for Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts amid escalating violence from militant groups. However, past initiatives have often failed due to lack of implementation and continuity, highlighting the need for a more robust and committed approach. To effectively combat militancy, the government must empower Nacta, address root causes of violence, and invest in long-term community development and reconciliation efforts.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Awais
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Following through

Editorial Published April 9, 2025

THE government’s decision to establish the National Intelligence Fusion


and Threat Assessment Centre (Niftac) under the National Counter
Terrorism Authority (Nacta) is a positive move — on paper. With violence
escalating in KP and Balochistan and the TTP and BLA continuing their
campaign of terror, Pakistan cannot afford to delay action. The deadly
ambushes on security forces in North Waziristan, targeted attacks in Dera
Ismail Khan and Gwadar, and the Jaffar Express hijacking in Balochistan
demonstrate the growing sophistication and reach of militant groups.

Nacta’s fifth Board of Governors meeting, where Niftac was approved, also laid out plans
for Provincial Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Centres (Piftacs), a promising
attempt to streamline threat analysis across federal and provincial lines. But Nacta has
seen hopeful launches before. The Joint Intelligence Directorate approved in 2016 was
hailed as a game-changer in intelligence coordination — until it faded into irrelevance.
Similarly, past counterterrorism frameworks, including the National Internal Security
Policy (2018–23), with its emphasis on non-kinetic measures, were left unimplemented.
Now, faced with another wave of militant violence, officials have returned to old plans
with renewed urgency.

The situation demands more than bureaucratic reshuffling or new acronyms. Pakistan’s
CT response has too often consisted of making new bodies, issuing fresh mandates, and
calling for coordination — without addressing the root causes of militancy or ensuring
continuity in policy execution. If the government truly wishes to fortify the internal
security apparatus, it must do more than approve plans. It must execute them in all
earnest.

This means empowering Nacta to function as the country’s lead civilian CT authority. It
also means breaking the cycle of sidelining Nacta after every surge of violence. It means
funding and strengthening provincial CT departments to detect and disrupt militant
networks before they strike. The ideological dimension of this war must also be tackled.
As highlighted in the National Action Plan — the government’s central policy document
on countering terrorism — long-term peace depends on addressing deep-rooted local
grievances in restive areas like Balochistan and the merged districts of KP.
Reconciliation, development, and deradicalisation initiatives cannot remain dormant
words in a policy document.

As this newspaper argued last year, the state must prioritise reforms in regions that have
long suffered from poverty, marginalisation, and security operations devoid of political
will. Moreover, extremist and sectarian outfits that still operate in the public sphere
must be dismantled. They feed the very ideologies that produce suicide bombers and
armed groups. Reviving Nacta is important. But so is recognising that CT is not just
about hardware and coordination cells. It is about political resolve, long-term investment
in affected communities, and an unwavering commitment to implement what has
already been promised. The question is whether this government, like others before it,
will once again stop short of following through.

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