Local authorities reported the deaths of 16 terrorists in the last week alone. To the threat of the Pakistani Taliban and the demands of the population of Balochistan, new sectarian clashes have recently been added in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But the executive’s response, focused on internal political dynamics, is considered insufficient.
Islamabad () – The Pakistani government is responding to the various waves of violence within the country with a series of operations “led by the intelligence services.” In the weekend between November 30 and December 1 alone, 16 militants were killed in the various provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab, reported the army’s spokesperson agency, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
In Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, clashes with police forces killed five terrorists and injured nine others, while another attack in the Shagai area of Khyber district Three militiamen died. Another clash took place in the city of Mianwali, Punjab province, where a group of about 20 fighters attacked the Chapri police station using rocket launchers and hand grenades, according to local officials. Four militiamen died. Finally, in Sherani district of Balochistan, four more suspected terrorists from Afghanistan were killed in another military operation, according to the police.
The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a local think tank, recorded 71 armed attacks in November alone, and security forces reported the deaths of 127 officers in the same period. From January to the end of the year, there were 856 attacks, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians and members of the security forces. In 2023, the figure had stood at 645.
The increase in violence in Pakistan is due to several reasons. In the Kurram district, belonging to the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where sectarian violence broke out in recent days between Sunnis and Shiites after a stroke against a convoy, the death toll rose to 130, with 200 injured, according to authorities. The government attempted to negotiate a ceasefire, but it did not hold. Local authorities try to reconcile the conflicts (which have their origin in territorial disputes aggravated by the inclusion of the Pakistani Taliban in the region) through conversations with the elders of the different tribes. Even the Taliban (Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan or TTP), who have been attacking the government for some time because they intend to establish an Emirate similar to that of Afghanistan, have been proposed as mediators between Sunnis and Shiites, suggesting that the dispute be resolved according to Pashtun tradition. Since the return of the Afghan “cousins” to power in 2021, the TTP has felt galvanized and has increased its terrorist actions against Pakistani security forces. In July and August of this year, they claimed responsibility for more than 200 attacks per month.
In Balochistan, however, most attacks are claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army or BLA, an armed independence group designated by the government as a terrorist organization. On November 9, an attack at the Quetta railway station killed about 30 people. Shortly after, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifha announced approval of a military operation with the BLA, but without giving further details. Pressure on the Pakistani government has also increased from China, because BLA attacks frequently target Chinese workers and engineers who are in Pakistan to manage Beijing’s infrastructure projects in Balochistan, a resource-rich region from which local population feels deprived.
Already in June, Islamabad had announced the deployment of the “Azm-e-Istehkam” operation to put an end to the actions of the various terrorist groups in Pakistan, but according to several analysts, The government does not have the financial resources to carry out a large-scale operation (as it has done in the past, particularly against the TTP), so it has come to propose “intelligence-based operations.” At the same time, experts believe that the government is mainly focused on internal political rivalries.
In the last week, the Islamabad government has also had to face increasing protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, imprisoned for more than a year. Although the PTI won the last elections, it has been marginalized in the opposition. Although the situation has normalized for the moment, many commentators fear that the protests will be repeated, probably in an even more violent form.
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