Whooping violence across Pakistan marked the current week. As data collected through different sources suggest that 199 people lost their lives across the country in different kinds of violence mostly resulting from frequent clashes between militants and security forces. During these clashes 128 people also got injured. (See chart 1) In total, 64 incidents of conflict and violence were reported during the week in different areas of the country and most of these attacks occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

During these incidents, almost equal number of civilians (88) and militants (87) were killed. Meanwhile, 24 security personnel also fell prey to different militant attacks, mostly in ongoing military operations in FATA. The militants fighting against state and security forces in KP and tribal region blew up four girls– primary schools in different areas as part of their sabotage campaign to dismantle state infrastructure. Moreover, following the footsteps of militants in Balochistan and KP/FATA, some unknown miscreants carried out subversive attacks against Pakistan Railway infrastructure and destroyed railway tracks on different locations in Sindh during the week, which left the rail network suspended for a while in the country.

Furthermore, the ongoing military operations against militants in KP, Balochistan and FATA resulted in the majority of causalities during the week. Figures in the above chart suggest that 98 persons, including 84 militants and 14 security personnel were dead in seven violent clashes while second major cause behind the deaths was the ongoing spree of target killings across the country with civilians heading the list of casualties. Figures in the chart shows that 41 people died as a result of 19 incidents of target killing, and 35 out of them were civilians. Three suicide attacks were also reported during the week and they were all directed against civilian targets in FATA resulting in deaths of 29 people, including women and children

Analyzing the militant’s tactics from the incidents of the preceding week it can be observed that they banked on hit and run tactics most of the times as the pie chart below suggest that the incidents of mortar attacks, grenade attacks and firing dominated the violence landscape during the week. And again, it was FATA and KP where such kinds of militant attacks topped the list. Meanwhile, no drone attack was reported in the tribal area during the week.

Moreover, the sabotage attacks against state infrastructure were the second most preferred tactic of the militants to toss up the volatility of prevailing security in the country and create fear and fright among the masses. In sum, the persistent pattern of staggering violence and its sheer ferocity in the country is witness to the fact that ¿reign of terror– has become order of the day across country and currently prospects of stemming it are daunting.

Sources

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