Introduction

The Center for Research and Security Studies is pleased to release the Annual Security Report 2021. This report, compiled with the help of open-source data such as newspapers and web-based news portals, mirrors the trajectory of various forms of violence across Pakistan to help readers understand the dynamics of terrorist and extremist violence in the country , which suffered a renewed surge in violence in the latter part of 2021. Much of it was ostensibly linked to the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. They promised to deny terrorist groups such as TTP, IMU, ETIM , and ISIK the use of Afghan soil for their operations in Pakistan, Central Asia, China, and elsewhere in the region. Yet, terrorist violence spiked after August and continued to claim casualties into 2022, particularly among Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.