With death count in Pakistan’s Peshawar suicide attack mounting to nearly 50, here we look briefly at the country synonymous with bombs and bullets.
Monday’s deadly attack is the latest in the list of violence that has plagued the country.
The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) report reveals that violence in Pakistan in the previous year was focussed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
The attacks, as per the report has been carried out by outlawed jihadist groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The terrorist group is inspired by and affiliated with the Taliban in Afghanistan — and the Islamic State.
In 2022, December was the deadliest month for the country.
The attacks spiked following the end of a ceasefire with TTP on 28 November. The terrorist group TTP carried out over a two dozen attacks in the month of December last year alone in the two provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The report also states that over 300 civilians were killed in the terrorist attacks last year in the country.
Trouble torn country ‘Pakistan’
Another report by ICM reveals that violence in the country peaked in 2009, with 1,012 security force personnel killed, along with 2,154 civilians and 7,884 insurgents and terrorists. The violence has been mainly spiked due to TTP surge.
US political scientist Neta Crawford wrote in his report on the country in 2015 said: “Fighting in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province led to massive civilian displacement and the destruction of entire towns between 2001 and 2014”
CRSS states 193 security force personnel were killed in 2019 and 163 in 2020.
Then, in 2021, the figure rose again to 270 — an escalation the Islamabad-based conflict monitoring organisation attributes “to the success of the Taliban in
Afghanistan that had bolstered the morale of Pakistani militants operating from within and outside of the country”.
Rising terror
Over the past few months, the situation in Pakistan situation has worsened, with terrorist groups like the outlawed TTP, the Islamic State group, and Gul Bahadur Group executing attacks with near impunity across the country.
The terrorists in Balochistan have also stepped up their violent activities and formalised a nexus with the TTP.
Last year, terrorist attack at the KP police’s Counter-Terrorism Department interrogation centre in Bannu and the botched suicide bombing attempt in Islamabad not only set off alarm bells in the country, but also left the world worried about the security of their nationals.
Many countries including US, UK, Australia and Saudi Arabia have issued advisories, asking their citizens to restrict movements in trouble torn Pakistan and avoid non-essential trips.
