The raging wave of violence which gripped Pakistan since the start of the year further dwindled during the current week, yet Karachi continues to seethe under the ethno-political, sectarian and criminal violence which is doggedly undermining the security of the city for the last few weeks. The ensuing violence has resulted in the killing of 141 people during past six weeks. The data collected through different sources suggests that 77 people lost their lives in 65 incidents of violence across the country. Unlike past weeks Karachi witnessed majority of violence during the course of the week and 44 people perished in different areas of the city, mostly in Layari (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 160 people injured across the country. Number of injured increased from last week 111 to 160 this week. During the course of the week once again it were the civilians who paid the maximum human cost of the ongoing spate of violence, as 67 percent of the total causalities were of the civilians, whereby 52 civilians were killed and 126 others were wounded in different episodes of violence across the country. Meanwhile military vs. militants– clashes in different areas of KP and FATA region left 17 militants dead and injured 11 others. Furthermore after a respite of three weeks, CIA operated drone once again struck in Miramshah, North Waziristan (FATA) and killed three suspected militants and their operations– base, which was located in an abandoned school building. Also, sabotage attacks by the militants continued unabated as three more schools, two gas pipelines, and portions of railway track were blown up by the militants in different areas of KP, Balochistan, Sindh and FATA region during the week in focus. Contrary to the preceding week, the number of sectarian attacks decreased slightly from last week four incidents to three violent episodes during the current week. Whereby two people were killed as a result of these attacks and both of these...

Violence of various kinds, involving diverse actors, continued to undermine security and stability in Pakistan during the month of April. Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) again topped in the number of violent acts, while Karachi (Sindh), surprisingly occupied the second place, replacing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which usually records higher number of killings than Karachi. It is because of the ongoing spree of target killings ´ both ethnic and political - in Karachi, the largest metropolis of Pakistan, Karachi, which has been rocking the city since the last week of March. The data collected through different sources suggests that 453 people lost their lives in 205 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). The overall level of violence was down in comparison to March, when 639 people perished to various acts of violence, which also left some 339 people injured. A concise look into the nature of fatalities of actors involved suggests that the defenseless civilians bore the brunt of hostilities across Pakistan during the current month. In March, militants were at the receiving end and suffered a big number of causalities. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians accounted for almost 59 percent of the total dead. The sole reason for this shift is the ongoing ethno-political violence in Karachi, where large numbers of civilians (political workers belonging to the ethnic Muttahida Qaumi Movement ´MQM and the ethnic Pakhtun Awami National Party - ANP) are becoming the target of turf wars between the two parties, primarily for political influence and territorial control in the commercially crucial city on the Arabian Sea. Militants accounted for some 34 percent of the total loss of lives. While seven percent causalities were of security forces and these were mostly recorded in insurgency-hit areas of KP, FATA and Baluchistan. Furthermore, during the current month, only one CIA operated drone strike was reported in North Waziristan...

Violence across Pakistan receded somewhat during the week under review. Yet Karachi, the largest city in the south on the Arabian Sea, continues to seethe under the wave of ethno-political violence that has consumed some 97 lives since the last week of March. The data collected through different sources suggest that overall 83 people lost their lives in 56 incidents of violence across the country. The majority of the killings took place in different volatile districts of Karachi during the week (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 111 people injured across the country, up from last week 70 . During the course of the week, once again, the civilians bore the major brunt of the ongoing spate of violence, as 69 percent of the total causalities were of the civilians. Numerically, 58 civilians were killed and 88 others were wounded in different episodes of violence across the country. Meanwhile, clashes between military and militants in different areas of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KP) province and FATA regions resulted in the killing of 24 militants and injuries to eighteen others. Furthermore, for the third consecutive week, no US CIA-operated drone strike was reported in any part of the country. However, sabotage attacks by the militants continued unabated as four more schools, two gas pipelines, two electricity transformers and a power pylon were blown up by the militants in different areas of KP, Balochistan and FATA. Contrary to the preceding week, the number of sectarian attacks registered a slight decreased, with the number going down from last week seven incidents to four in the current week. And the number of causalities also dropped significantly from 14 to three. Once again, the Shia Hazara community residing in Quetta turned out to be the main target, as all the slain persons belonged to this community. Moreover, 60 percent of the total civilian deaths occurred due to the gory tool of violence i.e. target killings all over...

As compared to the past weeks, violence subsided considerably during the current week. The data collected through different sources suggests that 101 people lost their lives in 56 incidents of violence across the country. Once again, insurgency infested Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and tribal regions of Pakistan witnessed majority of violent incidents (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 70 people injured. Number of injured increased from last week 56 to 70 this week. For the third weekin a row, the civilians endured the major brunt of violence. As data depicts that 67 percent of the total perished, were the civilians: 68 civilians lost their lives and 54 others were injured in the ongoing armed conflicts of various natures across the country. The militants ranked second on the causality ladder, 30 militants were killed and 14 others injured, mostly as a result of the ongoing military vs. militants– clashes in different areas of KP and FATA. Furthermore like the preceding week, no CIA operated drone strike was reported during the current week in any part of the country. Meanwhile militants continued their sabotage campaign to demolish state infrastructure and blew up three schools in different areas of KP and FATA. Moreover, a keen look into the territory of bloodshed suggests that sectarian violence is picking up in the country, especially in Quetta (Balochistan) and Karachi (Sindh). Sectarian attacks are directed against the minority Shia people, particularly belonging to Hazara community residing in Quetta. Seven sectarian attacks, six in Quetta and one in Karachi, killing 14 (12 from Hazara community) and injured two others were reported during the current week. Like the previous four weeks, once again target killings left majority of the people dead during the current week. As 82 percent (4/5) of the total civilian causalities were the result of the ongoing spree of target killing in Karachi, Quetta and tribal regions. Data shows that 40...

In the current week, the violence subsided as compared to the previous week. The spree of target killing continued unabated in the largest metropolis of Pakistan, Karachi during the week: where the killing of a member of ethnic political party (Muthida Qaumi Movement, MQM) unleashed an awful cycle of violence in the city in the last week of March. During the week, 43 people were killed in Karachi as a result of 28 incidents of violence. The data collected through different sources suggests that 107 people lost their lives in 51 incidents of violence across the country, and once again it was the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and tribal regions, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) which witnessed majority of violence during the course of the week (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 56 people injured across the country. Number of injured fell remarkably from last week 107 to 56 this week. Unlike previous week five sectarian attacks, which killed 23 injured 54 others, the current week witnessed one sectarian attack in Balochistan in which six people belonging to Shia community of Hazara were killed. Just like the previous week, it was the civilians again who bore the brunt of the ongoing violent conflicts of various types, as 67 civilians perished and 29 others were wounded in different violent incidents. Militants suffered the second highest number of causalities with 23 killed and eighteen others injured, mostly as a result of military-militants– collisions in different areas of KP and FATA region. Furthermore, like the previous two weeks of March, the current week marked no CIA operated drone strike in any part of FATA. The sabotage attacks by the militants however continued this week as well, as two more government schools were blown up in KP province and FATA. Target killings remained the major weapon of miscreants to inflict maximum human cost for the consecutive sixth week, as once again 82 percent of the total civilian causalities were...