The wave of violence subsided considerably across Pakistan during the current week. The spate of ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, also continued unabated during the week, wherein 26 persons (twenty five were in the last week) were perished and another nine got injured. Also, the wave of bomb blasts across the country, spree of target killings and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies continued to pile up the death toll. The data collected through10 newspapers, that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 57 persons lost their lives as a result of 44 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 42 people injured.

During the week under review, civilians again endured the maximum loss as they accounted for63 percent of the total death toll across Pakistan. Numerically speaking, 36 civilians lost their lives and 41 others were wounded in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The second highest number of fatalities was ofmilitants, wherein 11 militants got killed in violent clashes. Furthermore, like the preceding week, two CIA operated drone strikes were recorded this week, killing eight militants in Mubarikshi and Tappi villages of North Waziristan Agency (FATA). Militants also blew up a veterinary hospital, a mobile telephone tower and three government schools in Mohmand and Khyber Agencies (FATA).

Meanwhile, four sectarian attacksleft seven persons, all belonging to Shia minority community, dead in different areas of Karachi (Sindh), Quetta and Zhob (Balochistan). Moreover, the loss of lives due to target killings further surged by 13 percent, (53 percent of the total dead against last week 40 percent) during the current week. Overall, 61 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature(seethe pie chart below).

Furthermore, the data underlines that of the total 27 incidents of target killings; a staggering 70 percent took place in Karachi alone, decimating 21 persons (70 percent of the total dead in target killings). No military operation was recorded this week. Meanwhile, ten security personnel were killed and another got injured during the week.

Also, four dead bodies were recovered from Karachi (Sindh) and Miranshah-Ghulam Khan road (North Waziristan Agency, FATA) areas. In sum, the number of violent incidents dropped from last week 49 to 44 during this week, the resultant death toll, hence decreased from 78 to 57, while the number of wounded decreased from 89 to 42. A concise look into the trends and territory of violence suggests that sectarian and ethno-political violence continues to grip the country.

Sources

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