281 Pakistanis Got Killed in Terrorism Incidents In three months 

PESHAWAR: The Center for Research and Security Studies(CRSS) in its report said
that Pakistan witnessed 245 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in which 432 people were killed while 370 others including civilians, security personnel and outlaws were injured in the first quarter of the year 2024.

The CRSS issued its first 2024 quarter report mentioned that total 281 civilians and security forces personnel lost their lives in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the southwestern Balochistan provinces – both bordering Afghanistan, accounted for over 92 percent of all fatalities and 86 percent of attacks (including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations) during this period.
The data in the security report  indicated that the remaining regions in Pakisfan were relatively peaceful, suffering less than 8 percent of all fatalities in the country.

These were the key findings of the  2024 security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS),the key think-tank in Pakistan. 

The report said that the casualties of terrorism and counter-terrorism, there were also other 64 incidents of sabotage in the country targeting properties of the government, politicians, private properties, and security properties.

In 2024, Balochistan recorded a staggering 96 percent surge in violence with the number of fatalities jumping to 178 from 91 in the fourth quarter of 2023. The Sindh province also saw a nearly 47 percent rise in violence though the number of fatalities was very low.

However, the regions of KP, Punjab, and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) recorded encouraging decreases in violence by 24 percent, 85 percent and 65 percent respectively.

Despite a notable decrease in violence observed in GB in the period under review, the GB Home Minister issued a terror threat alert on March 31, 2024, regarding the possibility of attacks by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The report said that the alert came in response to a recent suicide attack on a convoy of Chinese engineers in the Shangla district of KP who were working on Dasu Dam project, killing 5 Chinese nationals and a local driver. It’s worth noting that last year, GB had suffered the highest number of fatalities in a decade, with 17 lives lost.

In 2024 so far, civilians and security forces personnel suffered over 65 percent (281) of all fatalities in nearly 200 terror attacks, compared to outlaws suffering only 35 percent (151) in around 48 counter-terror operations across Pakistan.

The attacks on security officials and civilians outnumbered the security operations conducted against the outlaws, by almost fourfold. Moreover, civilians bore the heaviest brunt of violence suffering 154 fatalities (36%) which is more than any other category of victims, and thus emerging as primary victims of violence in this period.

Compared to last quarter of 2023, the fatalities of civilians and security officials combined surged by 17 percent whereas the fatalities of outlaws, militants and insurgents combined, decreased by almost 15 percent in the first quarter of 2024.

Individually, there was a significant increase in the number of insurgents’ fatalities, by 215 percent a decrease of approximately 33 percent in militants’ fatalities.

Interestingly, militant organizations claimed responsibility for less than 20 percent of the total casualties attributed to terrorism in 2024.

Surprisingly, certain terrorist outfits such as Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), Lashkar-e-Islami (LI), and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) which were highly active the previous year, have abstained from claiming any acts of terrorism this quarter. Only the TTP and Daish (Islamic State) have taken responsibility for some attacks, while a new militant group named Jabhat Ansar al-Mahdi Khorasan (JAMK), affiliated with the Gul Bahadur group, emerged in 2024 recently.

Although the TTP claimed responsibility for only three terror attacks in Pakistan in this quarter, resulting in four fatalities, an unclaimed terror incident occurred in North Waziristan on March 16, 2024, led to the tragic loss of seven security officials, including a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain.

The insurgent groups, BLA, BLF, BRAS, and SRA, claimed responsibility for 18 attacks (three times more than the claims of the militant groups) this quarter causing 42 fatalities and 40 injuries. The prime targets of the insurgent groups were the security and government installations including Gwadar Port Complex, Mach Jail, Turbat Naval Base.

In 2024, eight incidents of sectarian violence were reported, impacting all religious communities, including Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Among the non-Muslim communities, Ahmadis endured the highest 9 casualties while three fatalities occurred among Shia Muslims due to violence.

Additionally, a Sunni Muslim was also targeted in an act of violence.