Terrorism in Pakistan
The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. (March 2023) |
Terrorism in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The wave of terrorism in Pakistan is believed to have started in 2000.[1] Attacks and fatalities in Pakistan were on a "declining trend" between 2015 and 2019, but has gone back up from 2020-2022, with 971 fatalities (229 civilians, 379 Security Force (SF) personnel and 363 terrorists) in 2022.[2]
Since 2001, the Pakistan military has launched a series of military offensives against terrorist groups in the
According to a report by
Pakistan officials often blame India and Afghanistan for supporting terrorism in Pakistan. India has denied Pakistan's allegations. However, Afghanistan has admitted to providing support for terrorist groups such as
As of 2022, most terrorist activities in Pakistan have been concentrated in provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. KP accounting for 64 percent of the reported casualties (633 fatalities in 2022), followed by 26 percent in Balochistan, 5.8 percent in Sindh and 2.8 percent in Punjab. [16]
List of terrorist incidents since 2001
Causes
The roots of terrorism in Pakistan can be traced back to 1979 when Soviet Union had occupied Afghanistan.[17][unreliable source?] Terrorism in Pakistan originated after Pakistan supported the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War, and the subsequent civil war that erupted in Afghanistan. The mujahideen fighters were trained by Pakistan's military, American CIA and other western intelligence agencies who continued operations in the area after the war officially ended.[citation needed]
Afghanistan
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In a report published by the
Afghanistan was identified to give unchecked and ungovernable spaces for freedom of movement for multiple anti Pakistan terrorist groups such as the TTP, JUA, BLA, BNA, BLF and ISIS–K settled and operating along the Pak-Afghan border.[19]
Alleged Indian Involvement
In 2017, Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national was arrested in March 2016 by Pakistani authorities and charged with espionage and sabotage. He was accused of operating a covert terror network within Balochistan. According to them, he was a serving Indian Navy officer who was arrested from Balochistan.[20] The Pakistani military released a video of Jadhav in which he confessed that he was tasked by India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to plan and organise espionage and sabotage activities in Balochistan and Karachi.[21]
However, India responded that he was an ex - Indian Navy serviceman, and had been abducted by Pakistan from Iran and wrongfully detained for three weeks without informing the Indian consulate. He was subsequently sentenced to death by a military court in what India called would be "premediated murder".[22][23] Pakistan also denied consular access to Jadhav, until the International Court of Justice intervened, by placing a stay the death sentence and forcing Pakistan “to cease internationally wrongful acts of a continuing character”. [24][25]
In November 2020, the
War on terrorism
The current wave of terrorism peaked during 2009. Since then it has declined as result of selective military operations conducted by the Pakistan Army.[28] According to South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP), terrorism in Pakistan has declined by 89% in 2017 since its peak years in 2009.[28]
In 2012, the Pakistani leadership sat down to sort out solutions for dealing with the menace of terrorism and in 2013, political parties unanimously reached a resolution on Monday 9, September 2013, at the All Parties Conference (APC), stating that negotiation with the militants should be pursued as their first option to counter terrorism.[29]
With the terrorists attacks continuing in late 2013 the political leadership in Pakistan initiated a military operation against terrorists named Operation Zarb-e-Azb; a joint military offensive against various militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jundallah, al-Qaeda, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Haqqani network.[30][citation needed] The operation was launched by the Pakistan Armed Forces on 15 June 2014 in North Waziristan (part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border) as a renewed effort against militancy in the wake of the 8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, for which the TTP and the IMU claimed responsibility.[31]
Operation Zarb-e-Azb has been described as turning point in Pakistan war on terrorism. The operation was successful and Pakistan experienced sharp decline in terrorism since the launch of the operation.[32] According to National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta), Pakistan experienced largest number of terrorist attack in 2010. Since 2014, terrorist attacks in Pakistan have significantly declined. Pakistani officials state that the terrorism in Pakistan will decline more once the fencing of Pakistan-Afghanistan border is complete.[32]
Pakistani newspaper,
Afghan President's spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, told reporters that the National Directorate of Security (NDS) was working with Latif. Latif was conduit for funding to TTP. Some of the funding for TTP might have come from NDS.[33] Former NDS head, Asadullah Khalid, posted a video belonging to TTP on his Twitter account where he claimed that Badaber Camp attack was tit for tat.[34]
Thousands of people participated in peace rallies in different towns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, condemning the recent attack on the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines in Peshawar and the resurgence of militancy in the province. The participants demanded that the government eliminate militancy and ensure sustainable peace. The rallies were attended by prominent leaders, including Manzoor Pashteen of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party.[35]
See also
- Operation Zarb-e-Azb
- Operation Radd-ul-Fasad
- War on terror
- Pakistan's role in the War on Terror
- Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- Sectarian violence in Pakistan
- Anti-China terrorism in Pakistan
- Rangers Anti-Terrorism Wing
- Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism
References
- ^ "Fatalities in terrorist violence in Pakistan 2003-2018". South Asian Terrorism Portal Index (SATP). Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ "Pakistan: Assessment- 2023". South Asian Terrorism Portal. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ "Once terror-hit region now ready to welcome students". Gulf News. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Pakistan says normalcy returns to former Taliban stronghold". Associated Press (AP). 27 January 2019. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Pakistani Taliban: Between infighting, government crackdowns and Daesh". TRT News. 18 April 2019. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "US Drone Kills Afghan-Based Pakistani Taliban Commander". Voice of America (VOA). 4 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed cross-border attack targeting Pakistani soldiers in North Waziristan". Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism (ITCT). 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "TTP has a foothold in Afghanistan". Dawn News. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ "Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom's Sentinel I Quarterly Report to the United States Congress I January 1, 2019 – March 31, 2019". Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoDIG). Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ "US war on terror killed at least 65,000 people in Pakistan: study". The Nation. 9 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018.
- ^ Why they get Pakistan wrong Archived 9 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine| Mohsin Hamid| NYRoB 29 September 2011
- ^ a b "62pc cut in war on terror losses". Dawn News. 27 April 2018. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ Matthew Rosenberg. "U.S. Disrupts Afghans' Tack on Militants". New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ Umar Farooq (1 January 2014). "Afghanistan-Pakistan: The covert war". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014.
Latif spent much of his time since 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is believed he was a conduit for funding to the TTP. It now appears some of that funding might have come from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS)....Yet, the president's spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, openly told reporters the NDS had been working with Latif "for a long period of time." Latif, Faizi said, "was part of an NDS project like every other intelligence agency is doing."
- ^ "Former Afghan intelligence head says Badaber attack is a 'tit for tat', terms TTP militants as 'martyrs'". Daily Pakistan. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Pakistan's Alarming Rise in Terrorism Is Fueled by Afghanistan". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Terrorism in Pakistan". The Nation. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "RAW may exploit fault lines in Pakistan". The Express Tribune. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ^ "RAW may exploit fault lines in Pakistan". The Express Tribune. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ APP (30 March 2016). "Transcript of RAW agent Kulbhushan's confessional statement". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Kulbhushan Jadhav case: What you need to know before the verdict". The Economic Times. 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Kulbhushan Jadhav Kidnapped From Iran, No Evidence Against Him, Says India".
- ^ Bagchi, Indrani (21 July 2019). "How India won Kulbhushan Jadhav's case against Pakistan at the International Court of Justice". The Economic Times.
- ^ "The Verdict of ICJ on the Kulbhushan Jadhav Case".
- ^ "Specific proof of Indian terrorism in Pakistan unveiled". Dawn. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Pakistan gives UN a dossier on India, New Delhi dubs it 'lies'". Al Jazeera. Reuters. 25 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Terrorism in Pakistan decline by 89% in 8 years". ProPakistani. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "APC: Political leaders decide on Taliban talks as first step". 9 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ^ US commander commends Zarb-e-Azb for disrupting Haqqani network's ability to target Afghanistan Archived 11 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine 6 November 2014., The Express Tribune
- ^ "Gunmen kill 13 at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport". BBC News. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ a b Umar Farooq (1 January 2019). "Terror incidents continued to decline in 2018". Archived from the original on 2 January 2019.
- ^ Umar Farooq (1 January 2014). "Afghanistan-Pakistan: The covert war". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
Latif spent much of his time since 2010 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it is believed he was a conduit for funding to the TTP. It now appears some of that funding might have come from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS)....Yet, the president's spokesperson, Aimal Faizi, openly told reporters the NDS had been working with Latif "for a long period of time." Latif, Faizi said, "was part of an NDS project like every other intelligence agency is doing."
- ^ "Former Afghan intelligence head says Badaber attack is a 'tit for tat', terms TTP militants as 'martyrs'". Daily Pakistan. 19 September 2015. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Condemning peshawer attack". 6 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
Bibliography
- Hassan Abbas. Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, The Army, And America's War On Terror, M.E. Sharpe, 2004. ISBN 0-7656-1497-9
- Zahid Hussain. Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-231-14224-2
Further reading
- Ali, Nosheen. "Books vs Bombs? Humanitarian development and the narrative of terror in Northern Pakistan." Academic Search Complete, Accession number 51818440.