Opinion: Pakistan Is On The Edge of An Abyss

Hours before Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng landed in Islamabad for an event marking a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), another reminder came about the perpetual abyss that Pakistan has been staring at for the past several years. At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a suicide bombing at a political rally earlier this week.

The rally was called by the Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in the tribal district of Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan. JUI-F is part of the governing coalition in Pakistan, the Pakistan Democratic Alliance, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif underlined his government's commitment to eliminate terrorists "from the face of existence" as they have "targeted those who speak for Islam, the Quran and Pakistan".

While the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, have been carrying out a spate of attacks across the country after ending their cease-fire with the Pakistani government in November, they were quick to respond after the latest attack and said it was aimed at setting Islamists against each other. The Afghan Taliban also criticised the bombing. It is the Islamic State Khorasan in Pakistan (ISKP) that finally took the responsibility for the attack, which it said was part of an "ongoing war against democracy." The ISKP has been quite active in the region and has targeted JUI-F's officials in the past.