SUNDAY’S 12-hour gunbattle between security forces and wanted Al-Qaeda terrorists in Al-Rass in Qasim region was the most ferocious yet in this country’s war against terrorism. It demonstrates very strongly and once again the authorities’ utter determination to eliminate terrorism. There will be no let-up in the continuing fight against terror.
No one imagines that this is an easy war to win. By its very nature the war will be long and arduous. We are dealing with people who have a warped and twisted vision of Islam and who do not care whom they kill — most of the dead so far have in fact been fellow Saudis and fellow Muslims: Security forces, people at work in offices, innocent bystanders. Killed too have been innocent foreigners but of course they were the targets because they have skills to help this country grow and prosper. And those who target them want the opposite; they want to destroy the Kingdom’s economic stability and prosperity; they want to frighten foreigners into leaving and other foreigners from coming. Chaos, bloodshed and misery are the goals of the terrorists.
Some people believe that militants do not care what happens to themselves but this is not quite true. Some apparently do or they would not have given themselves up.
The figures tell their own story. Of the list of 26 wanted terrorists issued over a year ago, almost two-thirds have either been killed by security forces or are now in custody. Some nine are still at large. Moreover, these nine are not the only terrorists in the country. In the past 12 months, the security forces have shot dead 32 suspects, not including those killed on Sunday. Of the 32, only 13 were on the wanted list. The others were previously unknown to the authorities. The sad reality is that there are a number of young men who have a mindlessly twisted and bloodthirsty view of Islam. They are very few, but it only takes one suicide bomber to kill a crowd of people. The destruction the bombers can cause is out of all proportion to their numbers.
What is happening in Saudi Arabia is, of course, part of a bigger international struggle; we all know that the terrorists here, even when acting on their own, are part of a web of evil spanning the globe. But in the Kingdom at least, this is a war that is being pursued with ruthless determination. The authorities promised they would stop at nothing to root out this cancer and they are doing precisely that. Sunday’s shootout, despite being the most ferocious yet, is therefore cause for satisfaction. The terrorists may launch occasional lightning strikes but they are on the defensive. As this latest shootout shows, the war is being taken into their court. Improved intelligence, improved coordination, improved counter-measures are gradually containing them. The struggle is not over but the terrorists cannot win and they know it well.
There is an overriding lesson here for all of us. It was good information that allowed the security forces to trap the militants in Al-Rass on Sunday. Much of that information will always have to come from the public. We all have a duty to provide intelligence that will keep the terrorists on the run. We are all involved because this war is our war as well.
