The overall level of violence surged drastically across Pakistan during the current week. The unrelenting wave of Ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, also surged substantially during the week, wherein almost 36 persons were shot dead. Meanwhile, the wave of bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA, armed clashes between militants and the security forces in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies continued to mount death toll. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 127 persons lost their lives as a result of 58 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 111 people injured. During the current week, yet again, civilians were the prime target of violent actors, as they accounted for 75 percent of the total fatalities across Pakistan. Numerically speaking 96 civilians lost their lives and 89 others were wounded in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The second highest number of casualties were ofmilitants, wherein 24 militants perished in violent clashes. Furthermore, like the preceding week, no CIA operated drone strikewas recorded in any part of the country this week as well. No significant sabotage attack was reported in any part of the country; however militants blew up five government schools in Swat (KP), Mohmand and Kurram Agency (FATA) areas. Casualties due to sectarian violence rose sharply during the week, as six sectarian attacksleft thirteen men dead, two Bohra, seven Shia and four Sunni, in different areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Meanwhile, death toll due to target killings surged by three percent, (41 percent of the total dead against last week 38 percent) during the current week. Overall, 64 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature.The trend also suggests that target killing insistently remains the...

The violence across Pakistan and the consequent fatalities subsided considerably during the current week. Ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, also dropped substantially during the week, wherein almost 25 persons (40 were dead in the last week) were shot dead. Meanwhile, the wave of bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA, armed clashes between militants and the security forces in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to pile misery on the people. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 70 persons lost their lives as a result of 32 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 54 people injured. Yet again civilians paid the major cost of the ongoing spate of violence across the country as civilians accounted for 63 percent of the total fatalities this week. Numerically speaking 44 civilians lost their lives and 46 others were wounded in violent clashes of various kinds across Pakistan. The second highest number of casualties was ofmilitants, wherein 19 militants perished in violent clashes. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strikewas recorded in any part of the country this week. Also no significant sabotage attack was reported in any part of the country. Moreover, a sectarian attack left five activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ) dead in F.B area of Karachi city (Sindh) during the course of the week. Meanwhile, death toll due to target killings dropped by 10 percent, (38 percent of the total dead against last week 48 percent) during the current week. Overall, 62 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature.The trend also suggests that target killing persistently remains the weapon of choice in the hands of violent actors to inflict violence (seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 20...

The deadly wave of violence picked up drastically across Pakistan during the current week. Ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, however subsided slightly, wherein almost 30 persons ( compared to 43 last week) lost their lives. Meanwhile, the wave of bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA, armed clashes between militants and the security forces in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to pile up the death toll. The data collected throughten newspapers, that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 153 persons lost their lives as a result of 50 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 133 people injured. For sixth week in a row civilians paid the maximum human cost of the persistent wave of violence across Pakistan as they accounted for 56 percent (1/2) of the total death toll. In total, 87 civilians perished and another 101 injured as a result of violent clashes. The second highest number of causalities was ofmilitants, wherein 50 militants were killed and another 11 got injured. Furthermore, for the third consecutive week, just one CIA operated drone strikewas recorded, killing 26 suspected militants and injuring five others in Bulandkhel area of Orakzai Agency (FATA). Also, continuing their sabotage campaign to demolish state infrastructure, militants blew up a mosque, a community health centre and an electricity tower in different areas of FATA and Balochistan. Moreover, nine sectarian attacks left 15 persons, nine Shia and six Sunni men dead and another seven injured in Karachi (Sindh), Quetta (Balochistan) and lower Kurram Agency (FATA) during the course of the week. Meanwhile, death toll due to target killings dropped by 15 percent, (26 percent of the total dead against last week 41 percent) during the current week. Overall, 58 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget...