PUTTING collectively an correct risk evaluation calls for intelligence nuggets to be assembled collectively to type a coherent image. If too many items of the jigsaw are lacking, the consequence could be disastrous. Seen on this gentle, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s go-ahead for organising the Nationwide Intelligence Coordination Committee is a logical step — not less than on the face of it. Helmed by the DG ISI as its chairman, the NICC will serve to coordinate quite a lot of intelligence organisations within the nation. The Abbottabad Fee investigating the US raid to seize Osama bin Laden in 2011 had famous the absence of a mechanism whereby civil and army intelligence could possibly be built-in and had really helpful that such a physique be arrange.
An absence of synchronised intelligence can certainly compromise the readiness of safety operations. The raison d’être for organising the Abbottabad Fee was itself the results of a large intelligence failure by Pakistani authorities. A lot of large-scale terrorist assaults have additionally been efficiently carried out due to an absence of intelligence integration between totally different companies. For instance, the storming of Bannu jail by the TTP in April 2012 resulted in 384 prisoners being sprung from jail. With some hard-core terrorists among the many freed inmates, the incident marked a big setback for Pakistan’s conflict towards militancy. There was additionally the horrific APS Peshawar assault on Dec 16, 2014, additionally carried out by the TTP, wherein practically 150 folks misplaced their lives. Regardless of the varsity being positioned in a high-security zone, the terrorists managed to reach on the vacation spot undetected and launch their murderous assault with out dealing with resistance. Nonetheless, whereas there may be sound arguments for the institution of the NICC, it’s worth noting that the Nationwide Counter Terrorism Authority will come below it. Established through an government order in 2009, Nacta was conceived as a physique that will coordinate the counterterrorism efforts of civilian and army intelligence companies — in brief, the function that the NICC will now be enjoying. A turf conflict between the varied companies that had been unwilling to share info, and a tussle over its management left Nacta moribund for a number of years. One wonders why it has now been relegated to a decrease rung on the intelligence ladder. In any case, it’s to be hoped that the mandate of every company will probably be effectively outlined within the new set-up and that none will probably be used to encroach on civil liberties.
Revealed in Daybreak, November 25th, 2020
