Pakistan’s internal turmoil exploded again on Monday when suicide attackers struck the Frontier Constabulary headquarters in Peshawar, killing at least three personnel and injuring many more. The blasts tore through a supposedly high-security compound and left the surrounding neighbourhood in panic. It is one more reminder that Pakistan’s crisis is not just about militancy. It is also about a state that has alienated its own citizens through decades of heavy-handed force.
For years, Pakistan’s government and security agencies have responded to unrest with repression rather than reform. Entire communities in Balochistan, the former FATA districts and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have faced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and collective punishment. Instead of earning trust, the state relied on intimidation. The result is a society that has grown increasingly resentful and, in many regions, openly hostile to the institutions meant to protect them.
The chickens have come home to roost. Pakistan is facing both an insurgency and a population that no longer believes in the state’s legitimacy.
A Country Turning Against Its Own Government
What unfolded in Peshawar cannot be viewed in isolation. Across Pakistan’s northwestern belt, anger against the state is at an all-time high. Local communities have repeatedly accused the security forces of violating their rights and treating civilians as collateral. Protests in Waziristan, Swat and Balochistan have grown louder, with families demanding accountability for missing loved ones and victims of military operations.
Rather than acknowledging these grievances, the government has often dismissed them as “foreign backed.” This refusal to confront its own failures has deepened the divide between the state and its people.
Three realities now define the crisis:
• Large parts of the population no longer trust the security forces.
• Government responses rely on force instead of political solutions.
• Militant groups exploit this resentment to recruit and operate freely.
Pakistan’s leaders created this environment through years of misgovernance, denial and militarised rule. Now the backlash is playing out violently.
A Military Installation Breached Despite Tall Claims
The twin blasts at the FC headquarters exposed the vulnerability of Pakistan’s security structure. A suicide bomber first detonated at the entrance gate, followed by another attacker who slipped deeper into the compound. Gunfire rang out as security personnel tried to push back the attackers.
This is a symbolically devastating strike. The Frontier Constabulary has been at the centre of counterinsurgency operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is also the same force accused by rights groups of abuses during operations in civilian areas. The attack therefore reflects not only militant capability but also widespread public resentment toward the state’s coercive tactics.
Morning routines and parade formations meant many officers were exposed and caught off guard. Ambulances rushed the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital as security forces sealed off the area. Roads were blocked and reinforcements moved in, highlighting the authorities’ fear that similar attacks could follow.
Pakistan’s Policy Failures Have Converged
Pakistan’s crisis is not driven solely by terrorism. It is the intersection of two long standing policy disasters.
The first is the patronage of militant groups for strategic depth. These proxies eventually turned inward once the state lost control.
The second is the state’s violent behaviour towards its own citizens. Communities that faced military operations without justice or relief eventually lost faith in Islamabad altogether. This breakdown in trust has given militant groups fertile ground to operate.
The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have repeatedly told the government that its heavy-handed operations have made life more dangerous, not safer. Instead of listening, authorities continued to suppress protests and silence dissent. Now the same regions are spiralling into violence that the state can no longer contain.
A Nation Paying the Price for Its Own Actions
Three paramilitary personnel have been confirmed dead. Many others are injured. Families across Peshawar are once again grieving and afraid. The government has imposed a security lockdown, yet the atmosphere remains tense.
The blast at the FC headquarters is more than a security breach. It is a sign of how deeply Pakistan has mismanaged its own population. When a state repeatedly treats its citizens as suspects or enemies, those citizens eventually stop defending that state. In many places across Pakistan’s northwest and southwest, that turning point has already arrived.
The chickens have come home to roost. Pakistan is now facing the consequences of years of state repression, militant experimentation and political denial. The violence in Peshawar is a loud warning that the country is increasingly losing control over both its people and its own security.
