No respite in violence was witnessed during the current week across Pakistan. Clashes between militants and military in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and spree of target killings in Karachi continued to make Pakistanis bleed and toil. The total death toll due to the ongoing infighting among ethno-political and sectarian factions in Karachi has peaked to 230 during the last two months. The data collected (through ten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source) suggests that 136 persons were killed as a result of 43 incidents of violence across the country during the reported week (for details see data sheet).These violent incidents also left 92 people injured, number of injured decreased sharply from last week 167 to 92 this week.

The persistent wave of violence and spree of target killings across the country once again pushed the civilian death toll to the top, wherein 44 percent civilians were decimated in different circumstances. Numerically speaking, 60 civilians lost their lives and 73 others were wounded during the course of week. Militants suffered the second highest number of fatalities, wherein 40 militants got killed and another five wounded, mostly during operational attacks by the security forces in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and (FATA). Furthermore, like the previous two weeks, only one CIA operated drone strike was reported, killing six suspected militants and injuring another two in Dre Nishtar area of Shawal valley, North Waziristan Agency (FATA). The sabotage campaign, launched by the militants to dismantle state infrastructure continued unabated, as two power pylons of 500KV were blown up by the miscreants in Surizai Mera area of Peshawar city (KP); disrupting the power supply of many districts of KP province. Militants also blew up a government girls– primary school in Ghulam Banda village of Kohat district (KP).

Unlike the previous week, wherein three sectarian attacks were reported, only one sectarian attack was witnessed during the current week killing two Sunni Muslims in Karachi. Moreover, 24 percent of the total casualties occurred due to the ferocious wave of target killings and 47 percent of the total violent attacks were target killing incidents. The trend also underlines that the target killing continues to be the weapon of choice in the hands of violent actors to inflict violence and terror (see the pie chart below).

Furthermore, data illustrates that of the total 20 incidents of target killings; a staggering 80 percent took place in Karachi alone, killing 18 people, including five policemen. Militants– casualties due to the ongoing military operation in KP and FATA region were just 29 percent of the total, wherein 40 militants were killed this week against last week 38. Meanwhile, the death toll of security forces– personnel raised sharply by 86 percent, as 36 security personnel lost their lives against last week just five, as a result of clashes with the militants during the week.

Meanwhile, the phenomenon of recovery of dead bodies continued to pile misery on the residents of Karachi. During the current week 18 dead bodies were recovered, 17 of them were recovered from different areas of Karachi alone. In sum, as the number of violent incidents dropped from last week 54 to 43 this week, the number of casualties however remained the same, 136; while the number of wounded decreased to almost half, 92 against last week 167.

A concise look into the data, trends and terrain of violence suggests that the security landscape of Pakistan continues to paint a grim picture. Figures suggest that almost 542 persons have perished across Pakistan in different episodes of violence during last four weeks. Most of the dead were the direct consequence of target killings, especially in Karachi. Furthermore, bomb blasts and clashes between militants and military also emerged as the major cause of deaths. During the current week, the militants who had fled Malakand during military operation in 2009, launched cross Pak-Afghan border attacks in Upper Dir region leaving 17 Pakistan Army soldiers dead and more than two dozen militants dead. This emerging trend will have potentially serious consequences for the security of Pakistan north western borders in coming weeks.

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