Unity and alertness are key to countering the runaway universal terrorism.
In 2004, a terror attack at a school in Beslan, Russia, led to 300 people losing their lives. It included 186 children. Since then, mass-fatality terrorist attacks on schools, universities, malls, embassies and of late, shockingly, on military barracks have incessantly been on the rise and are getting out of hand.
A recent study by the University of Maryland reveals that between 1978 and 2013, fatal terrorist attacks occurred on an average of just over four times a year. But in 2014 and 2015 alone, the number stood at 26 and 32 fatal attacks respectively.
The extremist groups responsible for this sharp surge include the usual suspects - Islamic State, Taliban, Boko Haram and the Al Shaabab.
The stark figures show that these groups have developed a sordid propensity to target schools and universities, leaving a wake of terror behind.
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The Wednesday was a dark day in Pakistan as the Taliban launched an attack at Bacha Khan University killing 30. Kenya lost 147 students in April 2015 to the Al Shaabab in the Garissa University attack. Nigeria lost 276 schoolgirls to Boko Haram in 2014 and Pakistan lost 150 pupils in 2015 during a Taliban assault.
There are hundreds of other violent incidents directed at educational institutions worldwide which have not been reported.
Terrorists have found schools an easy target because they are mostly always unprotected. This is after they found embassies, military bases and even hotels difficult to hit after years of rolling waves of terrorist violence.
The other major reasons are that terrorism aims to undermine the legitimacy and authority of a state, and schools exude a tangible presence of the state.
SHELVE IDEOLOGIES
Another pragmatic aim may be to send a message to policymakers or even the public of their dissatisfaction with Western education.
The only way to counter the rise of the lethal militancy that left 67 people dead in Westgate Nairobi, is by the international community uniting and forging a united front to take the militant groups head on.
The duty of fighting worldwide terrorism cannot be left to a few select countries in the pretense that some countries are immune to these attacks.
These radical lunatics who are hell bent on finishing humanity and imposing their insane creeds on free men will stop at nothing to attack any country, as they have shown.
In this regard, all States in accordance with their obligations under international law must co-operate actively in the fight against radical militancy.
Military agencies must remain vigilant and be ready if called to action in the protection of their citizens against these terror groups.
This vile curse that has befallen man and that is threatening to tear the world apart cannot be left in the hands of a single power, the police.
For the sake of all the blood that has been spilled to terrorism, let the world unite in this fight so that not a soul more is lost to terrorism.
{Alwin Abok, Maseno University}
For the past few years, terrorist attacks have dominated mainstream media world over.
From the look of things, there is a need for the international community to work together and defeat terrorism. Those with different social, political and economic ideologies should shelve them and work together to make the world a better place to live.
