The overall level of violence decreased significantly during November 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, continue to mount death toll in the largest metropolis and economic hub of Pakistan. The deadly wave left almost 90 persons dead (due to target killing) during the current month. In total 115 persons perished in Karachi during November in different circumstances. Also, the militancy-ridden areas of FATA and KP continued to seethe under violence, wherein a whopping – 132 persons lost their lives during the month under review as a result of different violent clashes. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, suggests that some 342 people lost their lives in 192 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 533 people injured in November.

A concise look into the casualty figures underlines that the civilians remained the major target of violent actors, with the civilians accounting for four fifth of the total deaths as a result of various acts of violence and terror in the country. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians were almost 74 percent of the total dead in November. The share of the civilian deaths is slightly higher than the previous month, wherein 61 percent of the dead were innocent civilians. As a whole, 254 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. 16 percent (54) of the total dead. Clashes also left 34 security forces– personnel (ten percent of total deaths) dead and these were mostly recorded in insurgency infested areas of FATA, Karachi and Balochistan.

Furthermore, during November (from 02 to 29 November), no CIA operated drone strike was reported in any part of the country. While during last month, four drone attackswere reported in different areas of North Waziristan Agency (FATA), leaving as many as 37 suspected militants dead. Between March and November of this year, 36 drone attacks have killed almost 271 suspected militants. Meanwhile, continuing their sabotage campaign to demolish state infrastructure, militants blew up twelve state run schools in different parts of FATA and KP during the course of month.

In November, target killing was the major cause of deaths. Pie chart II below shows that 57 percent of all the violent incidents were of target killing in nature, accounting for 41 percent of the total death toll. Numerically, 139 persons were shot dead across Pakistan, as a result of 110 incidents of target killing. Karachi witnessed the major loss of lives as a result of target killing, wherein 90 persons (65 percent of the total dead in target killings, while 26 percent of the total death toll) were assassinated during the month. Meanwhile, deadly clashes between military and militants were the second major cause of deaths. As a result of which, as many as 44 persons perished, including 43 militants and a security forces personnel in different parts of KP and FATA. Meanwhile, in November, 27 dead bodies were also recovered from different parts of Pakistan, most of them were found in Karachi, Peshawar, FATA and Balochistan. The third major cause of the violence was bomb blasts. In total, 44 persons including 35 civilians and nine security forces– personnel perished in this form of attacks. Likewise, six suicide attacks left forty four persons dead and another 133 injured in different areas of the country.

A peer into the territory and intensity of violence underlines that Sindh witnessed major loss of lives in recent months, wherein almost 115 persons were butchered during November (as shown in bar chart below). After Sindh, surprisingly enough, Balochistan turned out to be the second major hub of violence, where nationalist-separatist and sectarian violence left almost 71 people dead during the current month. Meanwhile, violence across FATA and KP subsided significantly during the course of the month.

Moreover, the sporadic waves of sectarian violence continue to pile up misery in Pakistan. In November, 88 people (26 percent of the total dead) were killed and 224 others got injured in sectarian attacks; majority belonging to Shia minority sect, in different areas of Balochistan, Sindh, KP and Punjab as a result of 36 violent incidents. Of the total 36 attacks, 25 attacks (69 percent) took place in Karachi alone killing 43 percent (38) of the total dead in sectarian violence. Latest trends in sectarian violence across Pakistan underscore the fact that this sort of violence is on the rise once again. Shias based in Quetta and Karachi, are among the frequent targets of sectarian militants.

Meanwhile, data relating to the nature of violence suggests that almost 34 percent of the total loss of life was the direct consequence on religio-terrorism. The epicenter of faith-based violence continues to be FATA and KP. Ethno-political violence involving political parties, meanwhile, led to the decimation of 23 percent of the total deaths while both nationalist-separatist violence in Balochistan and sectarian violence across Pakistan accounted for almost 43 percent of the total fatalities. Accumulative data of last three months (September-November) shows that 1382 persons have perished across Pakistan as a result of the ongoing wave of violence. Among these, October was the most violent month, wherein large numbers of deaths occurred due to the clashes between military and militants and spree of target killings in FATA, KP and Karachi.

A thorough look into the trends and territory of violence across the country underscores that the fragility of law and order situation across Pakistan persists, despite the claims and different measures of the government. Meanwhile in November, sectarian violence across Pakistan was on the rise and scores of attacks against Shia people, immersed in taking out religious processions to commemorate Moharram rituals were witnessed in Rawalpindi (Punjab), Karachi (Sindh), and D. I. Khan (KP). Against this backdrop, there are ample chances that with the prevalent state of security, violence in the coming days will get even worse, when election season will kick off across the country.

Sources

1. The News
2. Dawn
3. The Express Tribune
4. Pakistan Today
5. Daily Times
6. The Frontier Post
7. Jang (Urdu)
8. Daily Mashriq (Urdu)
9. Aaj (Urdu)
10. The Nation