The violence peaked during the current week in comparison to the previous one. The data collected through different sources suggest that 215 persons lost their lives across the country in different episodes of violence resulting out of, most of the times, frequent clashes between militants and security forces. During these clashes, 124 people also got injured. (See data sheet) In total, 55 violent attacks were reported during the week in different areas of the country and most of these attacks were reported in the militancy infested Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

During the course of week nine military vs. militant clashes resulted in the killing of 94 militants, while 11 security personnel also lost their lives. Meanwhile, 60 civilians perished during different episodes of violence and the major loss of civilian lives was witnessed during a suicide blast in KP, targeting deputy speaker of the provincial assembly. Unlike the preceding week, CIA operated drones struck thrice and killed 33 militants in different parts of North and South Waziristan. Furthermore, militants fighting against state and security forces in KP and tribal region blew up two schools in different areas as part of their sabotage campaign to dismantle state infrastructure.

Analyzing the chart, one finds that ongoing military operations against militants in KP, Balochistan and FATA resulted in the majority of causalities. Figures in the above chart show that almost half of the total deaths during the week were reported as a result of frequent clashes between militants and security forces, especially in KP and FATA regions. Meanwhile, five dead bodies were also recovered from different parts of the country and four of these were of civilians.

Looking at the tactics of the militants employed to project violence; one finds that militants banked on hit and run strategy most of the times during the reported period, as the pie chart above shows that the incidents of mortar and grenade attacks, firing and target killings dominated the violence landscape during the week. After military operations, the hit and run strategy was the second major cause of deaths, and number of dead stands at 44, and 30 out of these were civilians. Again, FATA and KP were the areas which witnessed bloodshed involving aforementioned tactics.

In sum, though the number of violent episodes was down to 55 (last week it was 80) during the week, yet the number of deaths escalated considerably (last week 182 were killed). Therefore, the staggering number of casualties suggests that actors involved in the violence are adopting more lethal means of preying.

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. Daily Mashriq (Urdu)
10. 10. Aaj (Urdu)