Against the backdrop of ongoing military operations in different parts of Pakistan, persistent state of violence has become a routine in the country. Thus, current week was no exception and violence continued to undermine the security landscape. The data collected through different sources suggests that 182 people lost their lives across the country in different kinds of violence resulting out of, most of the times, frequent clashes between militants and security forces. During these clashes 139 people also got injured. (See data sheet) In total 80 violent attacks were reported during the week in different areas of the country and most of these attacks happened in the militancy stricken Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

During these incidents 87 civilians and 75 militants lost their lives. Meanwhile, 20 security personnel also fell prey to different attacks perpetrated by the militants, mostly during the ongoing military operations in FATA. The militants fighting against state and security forces in KP and tribal region blew up five girls– primary schools in different areas as part of their sabotage campaign to dismantle state infrastructure and deny education facilities to the women.

Furthermore, ongoing military operations against militants in KP, Balochistan and FATA resulted in the majority of causalities during the week. Figures in the above chart suggest that 82 persons including 72 militants and 10 security personnel were dead in five violent clashes. While second major cause behind the deaths was the ongoing spree of suicide bombings, especially in KP and FATA regions and it was the civilians who bore the dreadful brunt of this form of violence. Figures in the chart shows that 30 people died as a result of four incidents of suicide bombing, and 26 out of these were civilians. Twelve dead bodies were recovered from different parts of the country and five of these were of security forces men.

Looking at the tactics of the militants employed to project violence; one finds that militants banked on hit and run tactics most of the times during the reported period, as the pie chart below that incidents of mortar and grenade attacks, firing and target killings dominated the violence landscape during the week. After military operations, hit and run strategy employed by militants was the second major cause of deaths, and number of dead stands at 47. FATA and KP regions saw the most number of such attacks. Meanwhile, no drone attack was reported in the tribal area during the week.

Moreover, bomb blasts against civilian and military targets were the third major tactic of the militants to undermine the prevailing security in the country and to create fear and fright among the masses. In sum, the persistent pattern of staggering violence and its sheer ferocity in the country is witness to the fact that ¿reign of terror– has become ¿order of the day– across country and currently prospects of stemming it are daunting.

Sources

1. 1. The News
2. 2. Dawn
3. 3. The Express Tribune
4. 4. Pakistan Today
5. 5. Daily Times
6. 6. Dateline Islamabad
7. 7. Frontier Post
8. 8. Jang (Urdu)
9. 9. Mashraq (Urdu)
10. 10. Aaj (Urdu)