Attacks on holy sites: what should government and people do?

Although Afghanistan has lived through violence for about half a century, it has taken on an extremely dangerous form in recent years. Some parties to the conflict seem not committed to any values. They are indiscriminately targeting Afghan citizens, and their only goal is to kill and terrorize people. Their savagery has gone as far as that even places of worship are not safe from it.
The latest incident in the bloody wave of violence was an attack on a Shia mosque in southeastern Paktia province. Two suicide bombers, who were reportedly donning burqas, had slipped undetected through the mosque in Gardiz, the provincial capital, at the time of Friday prayer. They had detonated their explosive-laden vests after shooting to death scores of people. More than 30 people, including children, were killed and over 80 others wounded in the terror attack.
Despite all the woes, Afghanistan had been free of sectarian violence. Even during the civil war, Afghans were not witness to any religious killings. No one in those dark years could imagine that religious and holy sites would be attacked. Besides causing other damages, the protraction of Afghan conflict unfortunately also led to the desecration of these important values. To achieve their malevolent goals, the parties to the conflict not only attack civilians but also do not shy away from targeting people in places of worship, which should be the safest sites on earth.
The goal behind such acts of violence may be to plunge Afghanistan into a sectarian war like Syria and Iraq. Therefore, Afghan government must not show indifference towards such incidents. Moreover, Afghan people should also get wise to the scheme. If such form of violence carries the danger of dividing a nation, it also brings forth an opportunity to unit people. Such coward attacks should infuse Afghan people with the spirit that they own the country and they have a shared destiny. They live for it and if necessary, they should die for it. Therefore, all people should swing into action and explore logical ways for bringing an end to the ongoing cluster of violence and bloodshed, otherwise they will sink together.