As the country remains distracted by Imran Khan’s ‘Independence March’, the military continues a battle against terrorism that has been all but forgotten even while worry grows about operation Zarb-e-Azb’s success. The military encountered pockets of resistance in North Waziristan (NW) but it otherwise appears to be empty of militants. This is not surprising since the army went in with trumpets blaring. Most militants have melted away either to other tribal Agencies or Afghanistan. There have subsequently been several attacks on posts along the Afghan border. Similarly, no mention is made by politicians of the devastating attack on Karachi airport that took place only two months ago even as smaller attacks continue. The same month, international airlines suspended flights to Peshawar after an attack on an Emirates airliner ended with a woman being killed while still on the plane, which had six bullet holes in it. On Thursday terrorists again struck airport facilities in Quetta when a group of armed men tried to force their way into the heavily guarded Samungli and Khaled air bases, next to Quetta airport. According to ISPR, 11 militants were killed, five near Khaled and six near Samungli base in a joint army, Frontier Corps and police action. Three terrorists were captured while eight policemen were injured after a battle lasting an hour. Reports say that like the attack in Karachi, the militants in Quetta were Uzbeks, who appear to specialise in attacking airports. Pakistan Air Force and Army Aviation assets remained safe, but arguably this materiel was not the terrorists’ primary target.After the going down of two Malaysian Airlines aircraft in six months, airlines have become hesitant to travel to or over conflict zones. Recently US airlines suspended flights to Israel’s Ben Gurion airport after a Hamas rocket landed near there. Now a pattern is emerging of terrorists in Pakistan striking civilian airports and the reasoning behind it is clear. In the same way that the polio epidemic made Pakistanis persona non grata in nearly every county in the world, attacks on airports are meant to discredit Pakistan’s international image and make it a no-go zone for international carriers. This indicates a long-term strategy designed to bring Pakistan to its knees economically and diplomatically, isolating and thereby destabilising it. This is a worrying idea, since our political leadership is notably devoid of long-term thinking. The government has failed to take concrete measures to improve airport security and we are witnessing Imran Khan’s unsettling antics. The dangerous fallacy in his stance on terrorism is that the Taliban are Pashtun warriors. It ignores that terrorists in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and other places are linked ideologically, financially, and through transfer of manpower. As guerrilla movements they are built to outlast an enemy, and hence long-term thinking is inherent to their way of fighting. It requires an equally forward looking strategy to defeat them and the political will to carry it out. *