ISLAMABAD: Pakistan witnessed an increase of 17 percent in militants that hit the country in the year 2023, the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) reported this week, amid a renewed wave of violence in the South Asian country.
This was the third year in a row when the number of militant attacks and consequent casualties surged in Pakistan, according to the Islamabad-based research and advocacy think-tank.
A total of 306 militant attacks took place in Pakistan in 2023, including 23 suicide bombings, which killed 693 people and injured 1,124 others.
“These attacks marked an increase of 17 percent from the year before, and the number of people killed in these attacks also represented an increase of 65 percent from those killed in similar attacks during the previous year,” the PIPS report read.
“As many as 330 personnel of security forces and law enforcement agencies were martyred in the reported terrorist attacks in 2023 including 26 FC men, 176 policemen, 110 army officials, 11 Levies, five unspecified paramilitary soldiers, and two Rangers; another 518 personnel of security and law enforcement agencies were also injured.”
Similarly, 260 civilians lost their lives and another 559 were wounded in these attacks, according to the PIPS report.
Meanwhile, 103 militants were killed and another 47 were injured, either in suicide blasts they perpetrated, or in security forces’ retaliatory fire following some attacks.
Pakistan saw a sharp rise in militant attacks in its northwestern and southwestern parts that border Afghanistan over the last one year, which particularly increased after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its months-long truce with the government in Islamabad in November 2022.
The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. The surge in violence led Islamabad to order the expulsion of all illegal foreigners, mostly Afghans, in October last year.
PIPS said “religiously inspired” militant groups such as the TTP and Daesh (Islamic State) perpetrated a combined total of 208 attacks in 2023, which killed 579 people and injured 938 others.
“Different Baloch and Sindhi nationalist insurgent groups carried out 86 attacks – as compared to 79 such attacks in 2022 – which claimed 90 lives and wounded another 151 people,” the report read.
“Meanwhile, compared to four in 2022, 12 sectarian-related terrorist attacks were recorded in 2023 that claimed 24 lives and inflicted injuries on another 35 people.”
About 93 percent of all these militant attacks were concentrated in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces.
Pakistan recorded 17% increase in militant attacks in 2023 — report
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Pakistan recorded 17% increase in militant attacks in 2023 — report
- A total of 306 militant attacks took place in Pakistan in 2023, including 23 suicide bombings
- These attacks killed 693 people, injured 1,124 others, the Pak Institute for Peace Studies says
Fire erupts in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills, containment efforts underway
- The blaze erupted near Saidpur Darra, Jungle Number 15 and Rumli areas
- Over 70 firefighters are participating in the operation to put out the blaze
ISLAMABAD: A wildfire erupted in the Margalla Hills in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday, the Islamabad district administration said, with efforts underway to put out the blaze.
The Margalla range, part of the Himalayan foothills, often experiences bushfires in the summer months. Last year, several incidents of forest fire were reported at the hills as various parts of the country remained in the grip of intense heatwaves.
On Monday, a fire broke out near Saidpur Darra, Jungle Number 15 and Rumli areas on the hills, prompting an immediate response from the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) fire brigade and officials of the district administration.
“More than 70 firefighters are participating in the operation to control the fire,” the district administration said in a statement.
“The fire was brought under control once, but it broke out again.”
No casualties or property damage have been reported in the wake of the fire, according to authorities.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
“The fire will be brought under control again soon,” the district administration added.
Death toll from IED blast in Pakistan’s southwest rises to four
- Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades
- The attack comes days after four paramilitary troops were killed in the province
QUETTA: At least four people have been killed and 12 others wounded in a bomb blast in Pakistan’s turbulent southwestern province of Balochistan, a security official said Monday.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in a parked car in Killa Abdullah district of Balochistan, less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Quetta.
“It seems the IED exploded before reaching its intended destination,” a local security official, Ghulab Khan, told AFP.
“All those killed are civilian passersby,” he added.
Riaz Khan Dawar, a senior local government official, confirmed the details to AFP, adding the explosion took place close to a paramilitary compound on Sunday evening.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The attack came days after four paramilitary troops were killed in the province.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the most active group in the region and often carries out deadly attacks against security forces, but the local chapter of Daesh and the Pakistani Taliban have also claimed recent attacks.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbor of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban deny.
In Balochistan, separatist violence has intensified, including a March attack by ethnic Baloch militants on a train carrying 450 passengers, which sparked a two-day siege and left dozens dead.
More than 241 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
‘Brothers forever’: Pakistani military acknowledges Saudi role in truce with India
- Pakistan and India this month traded missile, drone and artillery strikes over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
- The conflict alarmed world leaders and friendly nations, with a Saudi minister traveling to New Delhi and Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, has acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s role in helping secure a ceasefire with India, after the nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged heavy cross-border fire this month.
India on May 7 launched a series of strikes across the Line of Control — the de facto border that separates the Indian-controlled and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. It also hit other sites on the Pakistani mainland, targeting what it claimed were militant positions.
Pakistan retaliated with strikes on Indian military targets before the ceasefire took effect on May 10, following efforts by world powers and friendly nations, including Saudi Arabia, to quickly de-escalate the conflict.
The Kingdom’s role in mediation was “very positive and wonderful,” Lt. Gen. Chaudhry told Arab News.
Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars since their independence from British rule in 1947. Two of the wars were over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.
The recent escalation came days after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir — Islamabad denied any involvement.
As the neighbors exchanged fire, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir visited both New Delhi and Islamabad. The May 10 truce was reached shortly afterward.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan share close diplomatic and strategic relations, and the Kingdom has provided significant support to Pakistan during its prolonged economic challenges in recent years.
“The bond between the people of Pakistan and the people of Saudi Arabia is very strong, and we in the armed forces have a very close bond with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And this is a relationship that is based on respect,” Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said.
“Saudis are our brothers, brothers forever.”
Six killed, one injured as family feud turns violent in Pakistan’s northwest — official
- The deceased persons included three men and three women
- Injured woman shifted to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital
PESHAWAR: At least six persons were killed and a woman sustained gunshot wounds in a violent altercation between two families in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, rescue officials said on Monday.
The incident took place near the Khatko Bridge area reportedly over domestic issues, according to District Emergency Officer Ghayoor Mushtaq Khan.
The deceased included three men and three women.
“As a result of the gunfire, one woman was critically injured, while six others died on the spot,” Khan said in a statement.
It added the Rescue 1122 service responded to the emergency, provided first aid to the injured woman and transferred her to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.
Family feuds are common in Pakistan and that often violent and last for long in parts of the country where tribal customs and laws are followed by residents.
In June last year, 10 members of a family, including a two-year-old, were killed in a late-night attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said.
Pakistani police search for suspect in killing of Ahmadi minority doctor
- Official says the motive behind the killing remains unclear and a probe is ongoing
- There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, a nation of more than 240 million
LAHORE: Pakistani police stepped up their search Monday for the suspect in the killing of a doctor from the country’s Ahmadi minority, the latest in a string of deadly attacks targeting the community.
The physician was gunned down at a private hospital where he worked in the eastern city of Sargodha on Friday. The gunman fled the scene.
The Ahmadi faith was established in the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Pakistan’s Parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974, with their homes and places of worship attacked over the decades by hard-liners who consider them heretics.
There are about 500,000 Ahmadis in Pakistan, a nation of more than 240 million.
No one claimed responsibility for Friday’s killing but supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party have carried out many of the attacks on Ahmadis, accusing them of blasphemy.
Sargodha police official, Sikandar Ali, said the motive behind the killing of Dr. Sheikh Mahmood remains unclear. An investigation is ongoing, he said.
Mahmood’s killing was the third attack on Ahmadis in Pakistan since April, said Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.
He urged the government to protect Ahmadis, whose places of worship and even graveyards are also often desecrated by extremist groups.
