A new report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies shows that 854 people were killed or injured in militant attacks and counterterrorism operations in Pakistan in the first three months of this year. This is half the number of fatalities and injuries that occurred in the whole of 2022. The highest number of deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by Balochistan with 64 deaths, and then Sindh, Punjab and Islamabad. The report also shows that the number of deaths among security forces in January was the highest in a decade, with the outlawed TTP carrying out at least 22 attacks causing 107 fatalities. The report says that the fatalities of security and government officials almost doubled, from 88 in the first quarter of last year to 167 in the first quarter this year.
Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek–e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are on the rise, with a recent change in strategy to target security officials and avoid civilians. The Pakistani Taliban share common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban, led by Hibatullah Akhundzada who issues edicts from his hideaway in the southern city of Kandahar.
The violence-related deaths among civilians dropped in the three-month period by more than half to 63, compared to 136 a year ago. The report suggests that Pakistan’s likelihood of enduring more violence this year was predicted in the Annual Security Report 2022.
On January 30, a bomb blast at a police mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed 84 officers inside a fortified police headquarters, an attack claimed by a group sometimes affiliated with the TTP.
