The wave of violence relatively subsided during the current week but sectarian, criminal and ethno-political violence, which has gripped Karachi since the end of March, continued to inflict heavy human and economic cost. The total death toll during the last seven weeks reached 187, and during past 17 days, to 77. Almost 155 of the total deaths were direct consequence of ethno-political violence in the city. Unlike the past week, where Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) led the wave of violence, violence during the current week saw evenly spread across all the familiar violent terrains i.e FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Karachi and Balochistan. The data collected (through the ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that 100 persons perished in 63 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These incidents also left 113 people injured across the country. Number of injured decreased from last week 128 to 113. As a common trend witnessed in the past few weeks, the civilians bore the major brunt of the violence across the country as 57 percent of the total casualties were of the civilians, whereby 57 civilians were killed and 88 others were wounded in different incidents of violence. Meanwhile military vs. militants– clashes in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA resulted in 24 deaths. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strike was reported in any part of the country. It also underlines the fact that during the current year, the American CIA has restrained its predator campaign, probably because of tensions with Pakistan over suspension of US-NATO supplies via Pakistan. So far, some 14 drone strikes are reported in tribal region during 2012, resulting in 101 deaths. Meanwhile the sabotage campaign by the militants continued to demolish state infrastructure and undermine stability; a portion of railway track and a power pylon of 132KV were blown up in Balochistan and KP provinces...

After a relative respite of two weeks, the wave of violence once again picked up across the country. Sectarian, criminal and ethno-political violence in Karachi ---which started during the last week of March continued unabated for the sixth consecutive week, ---whereby the total death toll during the last one and half month has reached 152. Almost 125 of the total dead were the result of ethno-political violence in the city. The data collected through different sources suggests that 136 people lost their lives in 45 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet). Unlike past weeks, when Karachi witnessed several violent acts and killings --- during the current week , the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) experienced a renewed surge in violence. In the said region, a whopping 108 deaths were recorded, including 18 of Pakistan Army soldiers, who were killed in North Waziristan Agency. The violent clashes also left 128 people injured across the country, down from last week 160. Once again, the civilians paid the maximum price of the ongoing spate of violence in the country. Civilians topped the list of all casualties with 67 percent; some 60 civilians were killed and 117 others were wounded in different incidents of violence across the country. Meanwhile military vs. militants– clashes in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA region resulted in 55 deaths, while during last week it were only 17. Furthermore a CIA operated drone struck in Shawal valley, North Waziristan Agency (FATA) killing eight suspected militants and injuring three others. The sabotage campaign launched by the militants to disrupt state infrastructure continues in KP and FATA, and three more schools were blown up in different areas of KP and FATA region during the week in focus. Two sectarian attacks were also reported during the week, resulting in the killing of one Shia Muslim of the ethnic Hazara community in Balochistan....

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...