Terrorism in Pakistan

Terrorism in Pakistan has been a big problem for the country's people. It began around the year 2000 and caused many serious incidents. From 2015 to 2019, the number of attacks and deaths went down, but they increased again from 2020 to 2022. In 2022 alone, there were 971 deaths, including civilians, military personnel, and militants.

Since 2001, the Pakistan military has taken action against groups that support harmful activities. These actions brought peace to many areas, but some fighters escaped to neighboring Afghanistan. From there, they continued to attack Pakistani military positions near the border. Reports say that thousands of fighters from one such group remain in Afghanistan.

The war against these harmful activities has had a big impact. Many people lost their lives, and the economy suffered huge losses. In fact, from 2000 to 2010, the costs were about $68 billion, and by 2018, the total loss since 2001 reached $126.79 billion. Most of the recent harmful activities have happened in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Efforts to fight terrorism and prevent extreme ideas have helped lower the numbers over time.

List of terrorist incidents since 2001

Main article: List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001

This section lists important events that happened in Pakistan since 2001. These events show how difficult it has been to keep everyone safe in the country. The number of people hurt or killed in these events changed over time, with some years having fewer problems and others having more.

Causes

The roots of difficult situations in Pakistan go back to 1979 when the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan. After Pakistan helped Afghan fighters during the war, and after the war ended, some of these fighters continued their activities in the area.

A report from the Defence Ministry said that difficult situations in Pakistan increased in 2023 compared to earlier years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. After this, the group known as the Afghan Taliban took control of Afghanistan and released some members of groups that oppose Pakistan from jails in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was seen as a place where groups opposing Pakistan could move freely along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 2017, a man named Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national, was arrested by Pakistani authorities. Pakistan claimed he was involved in secret activities against Pakistan, but India said he was wrongly taken from Iran and held without proper access to support from India’s government. The situation led to international attention when the International Court of Justice stepped in to prevent severe actions against him.

War on terrorism

Main articles: Pakistan in the war on terror and Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

See also: Insurgency in Balochistan

The biggest rise in difficult and unsafe situations in Pakistan happened around 2009. After that, things started to get better because of careful actions by the Pakistan Army. By 2017, these situations had become much less common compared to 2009.

In 2013, leaders in Pakistan decided to try talking to groups that cause trouble before using force. But because these groups kept causing problems, Pakistan started a big operation called Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014. This operation targeted many groups that were causing trouble. It began in a place near the border with Afghanistan. This operation helped make Pakistan safer, and attacks from these groups became much less common after it started.

Leaders in Pakistan believe that once the border with Afghanistan is better protected, the situation will improve even more. The cost to Pakistan’s economy from these difficult times has also gone down since 2014. Many people in Pakistan have joined together to call for peace and safety.