Three bloody incidents involving at least 50 deaths within first ten days of 2012 underscore the perilous security conditions that still prevail in northwestern parts of Pakistan. As many as 35 deaths in a car bomb that ripped through a bus terminal in the town of Jamrud in Khyber agency on Jan 10th , as well as confirmation of execution by militants of at least 25 para-military troops earlier in the month serve as a stark reminder that despite statistical improvements i.e. lesser number ofterrorism incidents during 2011, Pakistan remains hostage to radical anti-state purported Islamist militants, led by the vicious Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan(TTP), and apparently inspired by Al-Qaeda.
While no group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Jamrud , the TTP had owned up the executions of 25 para-military soldiers. Authorities in Peshawar believe the latest attack could be the work of the TTPin retaliation against the pro-government Zakhakhel tribe for the killing by Pakistani security forces of a TTP commander, Qari Kamran, in Khyber last week. Fifteen of the para-military soldiers had been abducted on Dec 22nd in an armed raid on their post in Tank, near the border region, while bodies of the other ten were unearthed at a location in the Orakzai tribal region. They had gone missing in a clash with the militants in Upper Orkzai Agency.
During the course of 2011, 24 suicide attacks claimed 388 lives. These included 160police and para-military personnel. The number of human losses off suicide attacks in 2010 stood around 444, according to the statistics compiled by the Home Department in Peshawar.
Pakistan semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) ´ spread over about 27,200 sq.kilometres bordering Afghanistan ´ remained embroiled in the military-militant hostilities. Known abroad as the world ‘most dangerous place,’ FATA is home to some of the most lethal militant organization like the Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkare Jhangvi, and the Afghan Haqqani Network ´ which , according to US military and intelligence officials, are the local supporting arms of Al Qaeda.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan Army media wing, almost 473 military men were killed and 1543 injured in ongoing military operations in the volatile tribal regions (FATA) of Pakistan during 2011. Also, 711 civilians were killed and 1548 other injured as a result of militant attacks in the region. During the year, security forces carried out 10 major and 38 minor operations against Taliban militants in the said areas, that border Afghanistan.
Cumulatively, last year, as many as least 725 people(roughly 324 security personnel and over 400 civilians)fell to terrorist strikes all over the province, including the successive suicide attacks on an FC Fort at Shabqadar near Peshawar on May 13th that claimed almost 100 lives on May 13. Cities such asD.I.Khan, Tank, Peshawar, Bannu, and Kohat bore the brunt of the violence, ostensibly perpetrated by TTP and its affiliates.