Pakistan Reports 23% Rise in Terror Attacks, Tribal Areas Witness 100% Spike

Pakistan witnessed an increase in the number of terror incidents in April with 48 terrorist attacks. The attacks resulted in 68 deaths and 55 injuries, the Dawn said, citing a report released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) on Monday.

Pakistan also witnessed 39 terrorist attacks, leading to 58 deaths and 73 injuries. April witnessed a 23% rise in terrorist attacks and 17% rise in deaths. Deaths among security personnel also rose to 35%.

The PICSS report claimed that the security forces increased their scale of operations against terrorist groups.

Pakistan is witnessing a fresh wave of terrorism, led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the terrorists have attacked security personnel even in secured locations like police headquarters.

Earlier in April, the Pakistan National Security Council (NSC) led by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to launch a “comprehensive operation” to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in all its forms from the country.

However, the report said that 41 terrorists were killed and 40 others arrested.

The security forces, according to the report, mainly focused on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province where at least 30 terrorists were killed and 14 others arrested.

“The KP remained the most affected province, with 49% of the total attacks reported during the month. In KP, the militants carried out 33 attacks which led to 45 deaths, including 23 security forces personnel, 17 militants and five civilians. Thirty-two people were injured, including 17 personnel of security forces and 10 civilians. Within KP, 19 militant attacks were reported from the mainland province, while 14 were reported in tribal districts of KP (former Fata),” the report said.

The report also said that terrorist attacks in tribal regions of Pakistan rose by 100%. The think tank reported seven attacks in March but the number of attacks rose to 14.

Balochistan witnessed 13 attacks which led to 21 deaths, which included 11 security personnel and nine civilians. At least 23 people were hurt, including 21 civilians and two security forces personnel.

The Punjab and Sindh provinces witnessed only one attack each in April, the report said.

The Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the security forces carried out 70 intelligence-based operations daily and in the first four months of 2023, 1400 suspected terrorists were arrested and 188 terrorists killed.

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