The raging wave of violence further surged across Pakistan during the current week. Meanwhile, the spree of target killings in Karachi (Sindh), clashes between military and militants in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and series of deadly attacks against members of the Shia sect, continued to make Pakistan toil and bleed during the week. The data collected (throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that as many as 121 persons decimated as a result of 38 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).These violent incidents also left 83 people injured.

During the current week, civilians were the prime target of violent actors, as 60 civilians were shot dead and another 58 injured across Pakistan. The second highest number of fatalities were ofmilitants, where as many as52 militants got killed and 22 others were wounded under different circumstances. Furthermore, against the backdrop of fragile lull in drone strikes during the past two weeks; a considerable spike inCIA operated drone strikeswas recorded during the course of the week, as four CIA operated drone strikes left 29 suspected militants dead and another 13 injured in different areas of North Waziristan Agency (FATA) this week. No significant sabotage attack was reported in any part of the country; however militants blew up a government boys– high school in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district (KP).

Casualties due to the recurrent wave of sectarian violence rose sharply during the week, as three sectarian attacks left 27 Shia men dead in Babusar top (KP), Quetta (Balochistan) and Karachi (Sindh). Moreover, deaths due to the relentless wave of target killings also increased by 15 percent, (38 percent against last week 23 percent) during the current week. Overall, 55 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature.The trend also underlines that the target killing remains the preferred weapon in the hands of miscreants to inflict violence (seethe pie chart below).

Furthermore, data shows that of the total 21 incidents of target killings, a staggering 71 percent took place in Karachi alone, leaving 22 people dead. Militant casualties in the ongoing military operations in KP and FATA region dropped by 10 percent, as militant causalities accounted for 42 percent of the total deaths against last week 52 percent. Meanwhile, two security personnel lost their lives and two others got injured as a result of clashes with the militants during the week.

Meanwhile, seven dead bodies were also recovered from different areas of KP and Sindh provinces, and of the total seven, five dead bodies were recovered from Karachi alone. In sum, the number of violent incidents dropped considerably from last week 50 to 38 this week, the resultant fatalities however raised from 115 to 121 during the current week. While the number of wounded dropped sharply from 116 to 83 this week.

A cursory look into the data and trends of violence underscores that unabated violence continues to rock Pakistan. During the week, militants, reportedly belonging to Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) launched a pre-dawn attack against a strategic military air base at Kamra, 60 km away from Islamabad, rekindling the memories of deadly terrorist attack on Mehran Naval Base in Karachi. The incident also underscores the scale and extent of militants– outreach in Pakistan. Whereas a brazen sectarian attack against Shia passengers travelling from Rawalpindi to Skardu (Gilgit-Baltistan), while they were passing through the volatile KP province, illustrates the insistent vulnerability of religious minorities in the country. Thus at a time, when the militants are on the rampage across country, speculations of looming military operation against their safe havens in North Waziristan Agency (FATA) are gaining momentum, resulting into large exodus of locals towards the neighboring agencies for safety.

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