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Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (July 13 – 19, 2012)
The wave of violence marginally subsided during the current week. The spree of bomb blasts across Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the insistent wave of target killing in Karachi and Balochistan continued to wreck havoc on lives of defenseless people. The data collected (through ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that as many as 138 persons got killed as a result of 60 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These incidents also left 60 people injured whereas number of wounded decreased slightly from last week 66 to 60 this week. Yet again civilians paid the major cost of the ongoing spate of violence across the country as 71 percent of the total fatalities were of civilians this week. Numerically speaking, 98 civilians lost their lives and 37 others got injured during the course of week. Militants suffered the second highest number of causalities, where 28 militants got killed, mostly due to the military vs. militants– clashes in different areas of the KP and FATA regions. Furthermore, a fragile lull was observed in drone strikes as noCIA operated drone strike was reported in any part of FATA this week. The sabotage campaign by the militants continued unabated, as militants blew up two more government schools in KP province. Like the previous week, two sectarian attacks were reported across the country killing fifteen people, all of them Shia Muslims, in Kohat and Quetta areas of KP and Balochistan provinces. Moreover, casualties due to the ferocious wave of target killings increased by eight percent (38 percent during current week against last week 41). Overall 67 percent of the total violent attacks wereof target killing in nature. The trend also underlines that the target killing persistently remains the weapon of choice in the hands of miscreants to inflict violence (seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data shows that of the total 40 incidents of target killings; a...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (July 6 – 12, 2012)
The violence once again escalated during the current week across Pakistan. Frequent clashes between militants and military in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and target killings in Karachi and Balochistan continue to make Pakistan bleed and toil. Meanwhile, the wave of target killings in Karachi has swallowed some 281 persons in the span of last ten weeks. The data collected (through ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that 143 persons were killed as a result of 48 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These violent incidents also left 66 people injured, number of injured decreased considerably from last week 71 to 66 this week. The civilian fatalities out of clashes among violent actors insistently continue to top the chart, as during the current week again civilians were the major victim of violence. In total 59 percent civilians were among the total killed. Numerically speaking, 84 civilians lost their lives and 44 others were wounded during the course of week. Militants suffered the second highest number of fatalities, wherein 42 militants got killed and another eleven wounded under different circumstances. Furthermore, for a fourth consecutive week, just oneCIA operated drone strike was reported, killing 24 suspected militants in Gorweek village of Dattakhel area, North Waziristan Agency (FATA). Militants also blew up two government schools in KP and FATA regions. Two sectarian attacks left four people, including an intelligence officer and three members of Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, dead in Karachi city this week. Furthermore dead bodies of two persons belonging to ethnic Hazara community were found in Mainghundi area of Quetta (Balochistan). Moreover, casualties due to the ferocious wave of target killings increased by 14 percent (59 percent during current week against last week 51). Overall 62 percent of the total violent attacks wereof target killing in nature. The trend...
Weekly Data Sheet (July 6 – 12, 2012)
Balochistan – The Governance Black Hole
Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad in partnership with the Association for Integrated Development (AID) organized a workshop at Quetta Press Club on July 06, 2012 to discuss the issues of governance and security in Balochistan. During the workshop, most of the speakers lamented the governance failure under the current coalition government due to rampant corruption and misuse of financial resources. The biggest indicator of financial corruption is amount of money given to each Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA). According to estimates each of some- 58 ministers and advisors enjoy the hand-outs worth at least Rs. 250 million. Also, it is the first time that the entire development budget has been distributed among MPs. Dr Ishaq Baloch, the Senior Vice President of National Party, said no attention is being paid to organize police network and to improve their capability to combat crime. He observed on the one hand a helicopter and luxury vehicles are provided to senior police officials and on the other police and Levies personnel do not have modern arms and ammunition to fight acts ofterror. 'The federal government has provided billions of rupees to the Balochistan government but still a sense of deprivation is prevailing among the local people as these funds have not been spent on the welfare of the people,' the NP leader lamented. Talking about the law and order situation, he said it is the provincial government which called in the Frontier Corps to maintain law and order in the province. He said if adequate funds had been provided to police and Levies Force and their training capacity improved, they would have been able to stop target killings and other heinous crimes in the province. BNP-M Information and Cultural Secretary Advocate Agha Hassan said criminals involved in heinous crimes like abductions for ransom, highway robberies and target killings have been operating with impunity in almost all parts of the province, including...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (June 29 – July 5, 2012)
The overall incidents of violence subsided considerably during the current week across Pakistan. Relentless clashes between militants and military in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which ate up hundreds of people during last month, were drastically down. Meanwhile, the wave of target killings in Karachi continued unabated during the week, pushing the death toll to 254 in the span of the last nine weeks. The data collected (through ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that 93 persons were killed as a result of 45 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These violent incidents also left 71 people injured, number of injured decreased considerably from last week 92 to 71 this week. The civilian fatalities out of clashes among violent actors insistently continue to top the chart, as during the current week again civilians were the major victims of violence. In total, 66 percent civilians were among the total decimated in different circumstances. Numerically speaking, 62 civilians lost their lives and 57 others were wounded during the course of week. Militants suffered the second highest number of fatalities, wherein 18 militants got killed and another three wounded under different circumstances. Furthermore, for a third week in a row, just oneCIA operated drone strike was reported, killing six suspected militants and injuring three others in Dre Nishtar village of Shawal valley, North Waziristan Agency (FATA). Thesabotage campaign, launched by the militants to dismantle state infrastructure continued unabated, as unidentified miscreants blew up a gas pipeline of eight-inch-diameter in Pirkoh area of Dera Bugti district (Balochistan). Militants also blew up three government schools in KP and FATA regions. Like in case of previous week only one sectarian attack was reported during the current week killing one person belonging to Hazara Shia Muslim community in Quetta. Moreover,...
Weekly Data Sheet (June 29-July 05, 2012)
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Monthly Report (June 2012)
Ethno-political violence in Karachi, religio-terrorism violence in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and nationalist-separatist violence in Balochistan led to the decimation of staggering 544 persons during June. Meanwhile, renewed wave of religio-terrorism violence in FATA and KP ate up almost 324 persons during the month under review. The data collected through different sources suggests that some 545 people lost their lives in 195 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). It also underlines that the overall level of violence escalated in June in comparison to May, wherein 530 people were perished. The violent clashes also left 498 people injured across the country during the reported month. Trail through data suggests that the defenseless civilians remain the primary target of violent actors, with the civilians accounting for almost half of the total deaths in various acts of violence and terror across Pakistan. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians accounted for almost 51 percent of the total dead in June. The proportion of the civilian deaths isslightly lower than the previous month, when 54 percent of the dead were innocent civilians. As a whole, 277 civilians were killed in different circumstances during the month. The second highest number of fatalities were of militants– i.e. 38 percent of the total dead, 11 percent deaths were of the security forces and these were mostly recorded in insurgency infested areas of KP and FATA. Furthermore during June, six CIA operated drone strikes were reported in different areas of South and North Waziristan Agency (FATA), leaving as many as 40 killed, most of them reportedly suspected militants. On the contrary during last month, eight drone attacks were reported. Between March and June of this year, 18 drone attacks have left 123 suspected militants dead. Meanwhile, carrying on their sabotage campaign to disrupt and dismantle state infrastructure,...
Supplies Roll, Relations Stall?
Trucks carrying US-NATO non-lethal supplies have begun rolling across from Pakistan Karachi Port on the Arabian Sea through to Afghanistan after a seven month suspension. The United States has hailed the opening of the ground lines of communication (GLOC), while Pakistan is touting the move as a goodwill gesture by a 'responsible global player,' an act, according to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, taken in national interest. Sherry Rehman, the 180 Million strong countries– ambassador to Washington, dubbed the resumption of supply lines as an 'historic turn in the trajectory of relations with the US (interview with CNN Situation Room, June 5). Yet, while the ruling coalition projects this as a tactical victory, a storm is gathering around it, with almost all opposition parties threatening to protest theambiguous deal with the US, which they decry as a step that has bypassed the Parliament. The opposition is unhappy with the muted and conditional 'sorry' that the US Secretary of State expressed over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers killed in a US-NATO strike in November last year. The opposition also wants to know the details of the deal, but to the surprise of many, a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman told media on June 5 that a formal agreement was still in the works. This revelation also entails the question as to what has Pakistan gained after its insistence brought the supplies and the crucial relations with the NATO and US to a grinding halt. And also, whether the move will help mend and normalize relations? Can Pakistan really think beyond tactics, and can it translate tactical gains, if any, in long term strategic advantages? The prospects look grim ´ if the history of relations with the US and the known reasons for disagreements are any indicator. Despite the resumption of the ground lines of communication (GLOC), the promised 'reset ' for an enduring, friction-free partnership is not likely to come about even in the medium term. It is likely...
Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report (June 22 – 28, 2012)
No respite in violence was witnessed during the current week across Pakistan. Clashes between militants and military in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and spree of target killings in Karachi continued to make Pakistanis bleed and toil. The total death toll due to the ongoing infighting among ethno-political and sectarian factions in Karachi has peaked to 230 during the last two months. The data collected (through ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that 136 persons were killed as a result of 43 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These violent incidents also left 92 people injured, number of injured decreased sharply from last week 167 to 92 this week. The persistent wave of violence and spree of target killings across the country once again pushed the civilian death toll to the top, wherein 44 percent civilians were decimated in different circumstances. Numerically speaking, 60 civilians lost their lives and 73 others were wounded during the course of week. Militants suffered the second highest number of fatalities, wherein 40 militants got killed and another five wounded, mostly during operational attacks by the security forces in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and (FATA). Furthermore, like the previous two weeks, only one CIA operated drone strike was reported, killing six suspected militants and injuring another two in Dre Nishtar area of Shawal valley, North Waziristan Agency (FATA). The sabotage campaign, launched by the militants to dismantle state infrastructure continued unabated, as two power pylons of 500KV were blown up by the miscreants in Surizai Mera area of Peshawar city (KP); disrupting the power supply of many districts of KP province. Militants also blew up a government girls– primary school in Ghulam Banda village of Kohat district (KP). Unlike the previous week, wherein three sectarian attacks were reported, only one sectarian attack was...
Weekly Data Sheet (Jun 22 – 28, 2012)
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TESTIMONIALS
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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.