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Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – April 05-11, 2013
The overall wave of violence further increased substantially across Pakistan during the current week. Meanwhile, the spate of ethno-political violence in the economic hub, Karachi, significantly decreased during the week, wherein 17 persons (23 in the last week) were perished. Also, the wave of bomb blasts across the country, spree of target killings and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to mount death toll during the week. The data collected through10 newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 205 persons lost their lives as a result of 55 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 45 people injured. In contrary to the preceding week, militants were the major target of the ongoing spate of violence across Pakistan during the current week, wherein militants accounted foralmost 68 percent of the total death toll during the course of week. Numerically, 143 militants were killed and five others injured in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. This week the number of fatalities ofsecurity forces and civilians remained the same that is 31. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strike was carried out during the week. Meanwhile eight sabotage campaigns were carried out by the militants to demolish state infrastructure and undermine stability. Militants blew up railway track and two gas pipelines in Balochistan and Government College and four shops in KP. In a sectarian attack a cleric was killed in KP this week. Moreover, the loss of lives due to target killings decreased by 13 percent, (11 percent of the total dead against last week 24 percent) during the current week. Overall, 35 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature(seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 19 incidents of target killings; 42 percent took place in Karachi alone, decimating 9 persons (41 percent of the total...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Monthly Report – March 2013
March witnessed considerable decline 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 killing in Karachi, started in the last week of March 2012, continue to mount death toll during March. The deadly wave left almost 104 persons dead (due to target killing) during the current month. In total 226 persons perished in Karachi during March in different circumstances. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, suggests that some 691 people lost their lives in 330 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 615 people injured in March. A concise look into the casualty figures underlines that the civilians remained the major target of violent actors, with the civilians accounting major loss of lives as a result of various acts of violence and terror in Pakistan. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians were 64 percent of the total dead in March. The share of the civilian deaths is nearly the same as in the last month, wherein 64 percent of the dead were innocent civilians. As a whole 366 civilians were killed in different circumstances during the month. Moreover, the data suggests that the militants fighting against the state remained the second major target i.e. 28 percent (252) of the total dead. Clashes also left 73 security forces– personnel (eight percent of total deaths) dead and these were mostly recorded in insurgency infested areas of FATA, Karachi and Balochistan. Furthermore, during March, one CIA operated drone strike was reported in different areas of North Waziristan Agency (FATA), leaving two suspected militants dead. Between March 2012 and March 2013, 52 drone attacks have killed almost 353 suspected militants. Meanwhile, continuing their sabotage campaign...
Weekly Data Sheet – March 29 – April 04, 2013
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – March 29 – April 04, 2013
The deadly wave of violence further deescalated across Pakistan during the current week. Meanwhile, the spate of ethno-political violence in the economic hub, Karachi, significantly decreased during the week, wherein 23 persons (29 in the last week) were perished. Also, the wave of bomb blasts across the country, spree of target killings and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to mount death toll during the week. The data collected through10 newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 71 persons lost their lives as a result of 57 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 90 people injured. In contrary to the preceding weeks, militants were the major target of the ongoing spate of violence across Pakistan during the current week, wherein civilians accounted foralmost 61 percent of the total death toll during the course of week. Numerically, 37 civilians were killed and 41 others injured in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The week the number of fatalities ofsecurity forces and militants remained the same that is 17. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strike was carried out during the week. Meanwhile the16 sabotage campaigns were carried out by the militants to demolish state infrastructure and undermine stability. Militants blew up three power pylons five NATO container and a gas pipeline in Balochistan and two government schools, shop, NGO office, transformer, two cellular towers and a grid station in KP. Surprisingly enough no sectarian attack was reported this week. Moreover, the loss of lives due to target killings decreased by 13 percent, (24 percent of the total dead against last week 37 percent) during the current week. Overall, 35 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature(seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 20 incidents of target killings; 55 percent took place in...
For better or worse
The first three months of 2013 saw an unusual surge in violence across Pakistan. There have been an average 70 incidents of terrorism, violence and unrest every week since January. The average weekly death toll has been round 175 - most of the violence occurring in Karachi, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. Various militant groups continue their terror campaigns relentlessly, and there are threats some of them might try to disrupt the coming elections. Intelligence agencies have told the Election Commission of Pakistan that banned outfits such as Jundullah, the amorphous Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), and the Waziristan-based Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are planning large-scale terrorist attacks in Balochistan, with Nushki and Quetta as their particular targets. High-profile government buildings and security installations are among potential targets. The Balochistan Republican Army also plans to use improvised explosive devices against the government and the Frontier Corps in Dera Bugti, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad, they said. Intelligence officials also believe Usman Saifullah Kurd, a 'commander' of the Balochistan faction of the LeJ, is preparing for sabotage acts in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. In a number of public statements, the TTP has made its intentions of election day terrorism clear. In general, the group says elections and democracy are un-Islamic and wants people to stay away from the process. But it has also identified individuals and political parties it plans to target. In Karachi, the Taliban want to target leaders and members of the MQM, the ANP and the PPP. In the tribal areas, their threat is general. The group set off alarm bells when on the eve of General (r) Pervez Musharraf's return to Pakistan, it threatened to send suicide bombers and snipers to assassinate him. In a video message, Adnan Rasheed, who took part in a previous attempt to assassinate Musharraf, warned: "The mujahideen of Islam have prepared a special squad to send Musharraf...
Weekly Data Sheet – March 22-28, 2013
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – March 22-28, 2013
The raging wave of violence receded across Pakistan during the current week. Meanwhile, the spate of ethno-political violence in the economic hub, Karachi, significantly decreased during the week, wherein 29 persons (40 in the last week) were perished. Also, the wave of bomb blasts across the country, spree of target killings and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to mount death toll during the week. The data collected through10 newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 127 persons lost their lives as a result of 66 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 130 people injured. In contrary to the preceding weeks, militants were the major target of the ongoing spate of violence across Pakistan during the current week, wherein civilians accounted foralmost 61 percent of the total death toll during the course of week. Numerically, 78 civilians were killed and 87 others injured in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The second highest number of fatalities was ofsecurity forces, wherein 27 lost their lives and 43 sustained injuries under different circumstances. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strike was carried out during the week. Meanwhile thesabotage campaign by the militants to demolish state infrastructure and undermine stability continued as militants blew up two gas pipelines in Balochistan, two rail tracks and gas pipeline in Sindh, Basic Health Unit and filling station in FATA, and two schools in FATA and KP. Meanwhile, only one sectarian attack in KP left one dead this week. Moreover, the loss of lives due to target killings increased spike substantially by 12 percent, (37 percent of the total dead against last week 25 percent) during the current week. Overall, 58 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature(seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 38 incidents of target...
The Great Drone Debate
Unmanned aviation systems, popularly known as drones, are playing an increased role in armed conflicts.1 They are used both for collect­ing intelligence and for deploying lethal force. In 2007 there were 74 U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan.2 That year, there were five strikes in Pakistan.3 By 2012, the American military was executing an average of 33 drone strikes per month in Afghanistan, and the total number in Pakistan has now surpassed 330.4 Recently the United States has proposed further expanding its deployment of drones, developing plans to set up additional Predator drone bases in Africa that would allow these drones to cover much of the Saharan region.5 Drones have been employed in multiple theaters of the counterterrorism campaign, including Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Libya. They are now included in the arsenal of many nations including Israel, China, and Iran. They have even been operated by a non-state actor, Hezbollah, which has flown at least two drones over Israel.6 Several nations are currently developing drones that will be able to carry out highly-specialized missions, for instance tiny drones able to enter constricted areas through narrow passages. If the American military continues to move away from deploying conventional forces on the ground (in Iraq and Afghanistan) to a 'light footprint' strategy of 'offshore balancing' (as employed in Libya), drones are likely to play an even more important role in future armed conflicts. Like other new armaments (e.g., long-range cruise missiles and high-altitude carpet bombing) the growing use of drones has triggered a considerable debate over the moral and legal grounds on which they are used. This debate is next reviewed. Excessive Collateral Damage? Critics argue that a large number of civilians, including women and children, are killed by drones. Some hold that the number of civilians killed amounts to an overwhelming majority of all those killed. Syed Munawar Hasan, who heads the influential...
Weekly Data Sheet – March 15-21, 2013
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – March 15-21, 2013
The deadly wave of violence escalated across Pakistan during the current week. Meanwhile, the spate of ethno-political violence in the economic hub, Karachi, significantly decreased during the week, wherein 40 persons (compared to 38 in the last week) were perished. Also, the wave of bomb blasts across the country, spree of target killings and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies continued to mount death toll during the week. The data collected through10 newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 182 persons lost their lives as a result of 68 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 107 people injured. Contrary to the preceding weeks, militants were the major target of the ongoing spate of violence across Pakistan during the current week, wherein militants accounted foralmost 61 percent of the total death toll during the course of week. Numerically, 111 militants were killed and 26 others injured in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The second highest number of fatalities was ofcivilians, wherein 65 civilians lost their lives and 67 sustained injuries under different circumstances. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strike was carried out during the week. Meanwhile thesabotage campaign by the militants to demolish state infrastructure and undermine stability continued as militants blew up a gas pipeline in Balochistan, four CD shops, one cellular tower and shop in KP and three schools and two Hujras in FATA and KP. Meanwhile, four sectarian attacksleft three dead in Karachi and one in KP this week. Moreover, the loss of lives due to target killings increased slightly by two percent, (25 percent of the total dead against last week 23 percent) during the current week. Overall, 55 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature(seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 37 incidents of...
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I am also a member of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting. Recently, we held a meeting with the Director General of Radio Pakistan and we told them to initiate such local programs (like Constituency Hour) in regional languages to educate and inform people. Even Indian Radio can be heard in FATA which is being used for propaganda purposes and must be closed. Therefore, we should launch some standard and quality programs like CRSS that will change the taste of the listeners.