Pakistan’s security situation has not improved in the first month of the new year, as the total number of causalities from terrorist attacks increased. Slightly fewer militant attacks occurred in January 2022 than in the month prior.
According to statistics released by Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), the number of violent attacks in January 2022 decreased to 24 from 28 the previous month, although the rate of deaths and injuries increased by 15 per cent and 37 per cent respectively, compared to December 2021.
In January 2022, militants carried out 24 attacks, in which 42 people were killed, including 22 security forces personnel, 16 civilians, and four militants, while 79 people were injured, of which 62 were civilians and 17 were security forces personnel.
The majority of attacks last month took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), followed by Balochistan and erstwhile-FATA. PICSS recorded 12 militant attacks in KP in which 15 people were killed (9 civilians; 5 security forces) and seven people were injured (4 security forces; 3 civilians).
In Balochistan, militants carried out six attacks in which 17 people were killed, most of whom were security forces (14 security forces; 3 civilians), and 32 people were injured, most of whom were civilians (26 civilians; 6 security forces). In erstwhile-FATA (tribal districts of KP) four militant attacks killed two civilians and two security forces personnel, while four security forces personnel were injured.
In Punjab, only one attack took place in Lahore’s Anarkali market, in which three people were killed including one security forces personnel, and 33 civilians were injured. One militant attack was reported in Islamabad Capital Territory in which one security forces personnel, a police officer, was killed, and three more were injured. No militant attacks were reported in Sindh in January.
In December 2021, militants had carried out 28 attacks across the country, in which 36 people were killed, including 13 security forces personnel, while 47 people were injured, of which 10 were security forces personnel.
Last year in 2021, militant attacks in Pakistan increased by 56 per cent from the year prior.
