The month of February witnessed unprecedented surge in violence across Pakistan. Ethno-political violence in Karachi, religio-terrorism in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and nationalist-separatist violence in Balochistan, meanwhile continued unabated. The deadly wave of target killings in Karachi, started in the last week of March previous year, continued to mount death toll during February. This deadly wave left almost 181 persons dead during the current month. In total, 214 persons perished in Karachi during February under different circumstances. The data collected throughten newspapers, that CRSS uses as the source, suggests that some 731 people lost their lives in 343 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 573 people injured.

A concise look into the casualty figures underlines that the civilians remained the major target of violent actors accounting for major loss of lives.. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians were 64 percent of the total dead in February. The share of the civilian deaths is nearly the same as in the last month with slight decrease in civilian deaths, wherein 64 percent of the dead were innocent civilians. On the whole, 472 civilians were killed in different circumstances during the month. Moreover, the data also suggests that the militants fighting against the state remained the second major target i.e. 28 percent (203) of the total dead. Clashes also left 56 security forces– personnel (eight percent of total deaths) dead that were mostly recorded in insurgency infested areas of FATA, Karachi and Balochistan. Furthermore, during February, two CIA operated drone strikes were reported in different areas of North Waziristan Agency (FATA), leaving as many as 14 suspected militants dead. Between March 2012 and February 2013, 51 drone attacks have killed almost 351 suspected militants. Meanwhile, continuing their sabotage campaign to demolish state infrastructure, militants blew up seven state run and private schools and 48 other sort of infrastructure in different parts of FATA, Balochistan and KP during the course of month.

As in case of preceding months, in February again, target killing was the major cause of deaths. Pie chart II below shows that 54 percent of all the violent incidents were of target killing in nature, accounting for 29 percent of the total death toll. Numerically, 214 persons were shot dead across Pakistan, as a result of 186 incidents of target killing. Karachi witnessed the major loss of lives as a result of target killing, wherein 181 persons were assassinated during the month. Meanwhile, suicide attacks were the second major cause of deaths resulting in deaths of 145 persons , including 127 civilians, eight militants and 10 security forces personnel in different parts of the country. The second major cause of the violence was military operations. In total, 137 persons including 135 militants and two security personnel perished in this form of attacks. Meanwhile, in February, 67 dead bodies were also recovered from different parts of Pakistan, most of them, were found in Karachi, Peshawar, FATA and Balochistan. Likewise, 11 suicide attacks left 127 civilians dead.

A peer into the territory and intensity of violence underlines that Sindh witnessed major loss of lives during the current month (as shown in bar chart below). After Sindh, Balochistan turned out to be the second major hub of violence, where national- separatist and sectarian violence left almost 147 people dead during the current month. Meanwhile, violence across FATA and KP subsided significantly during the course of the month.

Moreover, the sporadic waves of sectarian violence continued to pile up misery in Pakistan. In February 146 people (20 percent of all the dead) were killed in sectarian attacks; majority belonging to Shia minority sect, in different areas of Balochistan, Sindh, KP and Punjab as a result of 43 violent incidents. Of the total 43 attacks, 36 attacks that is, 83 percent, took place in Karachi alone killing 31 percent (46) of the total dead in sectarian violence. Latest trends in sectarian violence across Pakistan underscore the fact that this sort of violence is on the rise, once again. Shia sect people based in Quetta and Karachi are among the frequent targets of sectarian terrorists.

Meanwhile, data relating to the nature of violence suggests that almost 46 percent of the total loss of lives was the direct consequence of religio-terrorism. The epicenter of faith-based violence continues to be FATA and KP. Ethno-political violence involving political parties, meanwhile, led to the decimation of 20 percent of the total dead. While both nationalist-separatist violence in Balochistan, criminal activities in Punjab and sectarian violence across Pakistan accounted for almost 34 percent of the total fatalities. Accumulative data of last six months (September-February) shows that 3303 persons have perished across Pakistan as a result of the ongoing wave of violence. Among these, February was the most violent month.

A precise look into the trends and territory of violence across the country underscores that the law and order situation across Pakistan continues to deteriorate. Meanwhile in February, ethno-political and sectarian violence in Karachi and Quetta led to the decimation of majority of the dead. Shias belonging to ethnic Hazara community in Quetta continue to seethe under the deadly spate of violence unleashed by Lashkar-i-Jhangivi in recent months. The security situation in Balochistan, even after the removal of provincial government, continues to reel under the specter of multiple threats i.e. nationalist-separatist, sectarian, criminal, etc.

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