Inaction more dangerous than Peshawar carnage:Daily

Tehran, Dec 27, IRNA - 'Iran Daily' on Saturday urged politicians, regional and global powers to suggest a more concrete plan to address the problem of terrorism before it becomes more severe and spreads to other countries which will then be too difficult to handle. Such circumstances would then become more dangerous than last week's Peshawar school carnage, cautioned the English-language daily, underscoring that the label of “war on terror” is insufficient to eradicate terrorism from the region. The paper in its Opinion column was condemning the brazen attack by the Taliban on a military-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, which left nearly 150 people, mostly children dead, saying that this heinous incident 'cannot be simply branded as an act of terror.' The unprecedented assault is indicative of terrible catastrophe the region is grappling with, the paper underscored, describing that militants usually carry out three types of attack. They either ambush military and security forces and flee after the attack, or strike civilian and cultural centers with specific political purposes, or attack military or civilian targets through suicide or ordinary bombings, it said. However, this time six gunmen massacred scores of innocent children in an attack which drew international condemnations. Bear in mind that it is not easy to find people who are ready to slay defenseless folks, especially children with bullets, in cold blood. No doubt, the attackers loved their lives and knew that killing innocent people is a heinous act which is totally unacceptable, it condemned. What brings them to conclusion that butchering Muslim kids and defenseless people is okay and justifiable in the name of Islam? questioned the paper, pointing out that the roots of such a bloody attack should certainly not be limited to ideology. Militant groups operating in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan have been under fierce attacks by the army in recent months, it pointed out. The military offensive killed more than 1,000 militants and displaced tens of thousands. The tribal belt was also targeted by deadly US drone strikes. The militants, say the school attack was in retaliation for the army operation and that they wanted them “to feel the pain”, it noted. This horrific crime shows that a new kind of brutality and violence is taking shape which should be addressed seriously, cautioned the paper. Iran cannot remain a tranquil island while its eastern neighbors, namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, are plagued by violence and Iraq and Syria in the west are fighting ISIL terrorists and other militant groups. Iran should take the initiative and play a pivotal role in resolving these crises since they will not be eradicated automatically, concluded the paper./end